If you’re bald, put “Bald” in the hair color field on your passport application. The DS-11 form’s hair color dropdown includes “Bald” as a standard option alongside black, brown, blond, gray, and others, so there’s no need to guess at a former color or leave the field empty.1U.S. Department of State. Application for Passport Hair color is kept in the internal record but is not printed on the data page of a modern U.S. passport book, so at the border you’re identified by your photo, not by a written description.
Filling Out the Hair Color Field on Form DS-11
The physical description section of the DS-11 offers these options: Black, Brown, Blond, Gray, White, Red, Sandy, Blue, Green, Pink, Bald, and Other.1U.S. Department of State. Application for Passport If you have no hair, choose “Bald.” No documentation, no explanation, and no reference to a color you used to have is required.
Partial baldness or thinning hair is a judgment call. You can select the color of whatever hair remains. Someone with a ring of brown hair around the sides could reasonably choose “Brown.” Someone who shaves by choice but has visible stubble could pick either. The form isn’t asking for your history. Pick what most accurately describes what a person would see looking at you today.
If You Wear a Wig or Hairpiece in the Photo
Wigs and hairpieces are allowed in passport photos as long as they don’t cover any part of your face. The Foreign Affairs Manual permits them provided they don’t partially or completely obscure facial features, and unlike a medical or religious head covering, a wig doesn’t require a signed statement.2Foreign Affairs Manual. 8 FAM 402.1 Passport Photographs
One practical caution: you should look roughly the same at the border as in the photo. A passport image with a full head of hair paired with a visibly bald traveler can slow you down at customs. If you wear the wig daily and plan to keep wearing it when you travel, photograph in it. If you only wear it occasionally, photograph without it.
Match the hair color field to the photo. Photographed in a brown wig? Enter “Brown.” Photographed without one? Enter “Bald.”
Photo Tips for Bald Applicants
The real challenge for bald applicants isn’t the paperwork. It’s glare. A bare scalp reflects light in ways hair doesn’t, and photo booths aren’t designed with that in mind. The State Department requires uniform lighting with no shadows on your face, and overhead fluorescent lights at a drugstore kiosk can bounce a bright hotspot off the top of your head.3U.S. Department of State. U.S. Passport Photos
A few things help. Position the light source at face level or slightly below rather than overhead, which lights your features evenly without creating a reflective streak across your scalp. Soft, diffused light works far better than a direct flash. On overcast days, natural window light can produce a clean result with almost no glare.
If your scalp tends to be oily, blot it with a tissue or apply a light dusting of translucent mattifying powder before the photo. Skip moisturizer on your head that morning. Small adjustments, but they’re the difference between a photo that gets accepted on the first try and one that gets bounced back.
Do You Need a New Passport If You’ve Gone Bald?
Usually no. The State Department treats hair color changes and normal aging as minor changes that don’t require a new passport, and gradual hair loss falls in the same category for most people because the underlying facial structure stays the same.3U.S. Department of State. U.S. Passport Photos
The test is simple: could a stranger look at your passport photo and confidently say you’re the same person standing in front of them? If yes, keep the passport you have. Hair loss alone rarely rises to the level of a major appearance change requiring reapplication.3U.S. Department of State. U.S. Passport Photos
If you do decide to apply for a new one, you’ll use Form DS-11 and pay a $130 application fee plus a $35 execution fee at the acceptance facility.4U.S. Department of State. United States Passport Fees for Acceptance Facilities Routine processing currently runs four to six weeks and expedited two to three weeks, not counting mailing time.5U.S. Department of State. Current Processing Times