A baby can't stand against a wall, sit up straight or look at the lens when asked. Yet a passport or visa usually wants the same kind of photo as for an adult: a plain background, the whole face, and nobody else in it. This guide covers how parents set up a baby passport photo at home, where to find your document's rules for babies, and how to check the photo with Passport Cat, our passport photo app for iPhone and iPad.
For the general setup (wall, distance, glasses, no editing), see how to take a passport photo on iPhone. This guide covers what's different for a baby.
First: read the baby rules for your document
Baby rules differ much more from document to document than adult rules do. In Passport Cat, pick your document and tap Rules. Any exceptions for babies and children are in the Also list. A few examples from the rules built into the app:
- U.S. passport: "Babies may have eyes not fully open; no other person or hands in the photo."
- Irish passport: "Babies may lie on a plain white surface; no soothers, no visible supporting hands."
- New Zealand passport: "Babies: lay on a plain light sheet and photograph from above, eyes open."
- Swedish passport: "Do not bring a photo, not even for a child or baby." The police take it at the passport office.
So "closed eyes are fine for babies" is true for some documents and not for others. Rules can change, and the official pages always win, so also open the authority's own page under Official sources on the same screen.
Set up the shot
- A plain sheet. White suits most documents, but match your document's background: the New Zealand passport, for example, wants light grey or off-white. Spread it on the floor, pull it tight so there are no creases, and lay your baby on their back in the middle. Photograph from straight above.
- Or a car seat. Cover the seat with the sheet so nothing of the seat shows around the head.
- No hands in the photo. If you need to steady your baby, keep your hands well out of the frame. Leave out toys, dummies and soothers too.
- Clothes that don't match the sheet. A white top on a white sheet blends into the background. A plain, coloured top works better.
- Light from a window. Daylight from a window gives soft, even light. Turn the flash off: it causes glare and red eye. When you stand over your baby, watch that your own shadow doesn't fall across the face.
- Hold the phone level. Hold it flat above your baby, with the top of the head towards the top of the screen and the face in the middle. Don't zoom: move the phone closer or further away instead.
- Aim for eyes open. A calm, awake moment, often after a feed, is the best time. A second person can stand behind you and say their name or make a sound, so your baby looks up at the lens.
- Take lots of photos, and pick the best one.
Check it in Passport Cat
- Pick the document. On Home, tap Change on the document card and search for your country or document. If Home then says "Self-made photos aren't accepted", downloads are off for that document, but you can still use the checks to practise. That includes documents where babies are the exception: the rules built into the app for the Brazilian passport say only children under 5 bring their own photo, but downloads are off for that whole document.
- Take or choose the photo. Tap Take photo (the back camera opens first), or take a series in the Camera app and tap Choose from Photos to open the best one.
- Read the checks. Passport Cat checks a baby's photo the same way as an adult's: one face, head size and position, sharpness, head straight, Eyes open, mouth, light, shadows, focus and background. The checks don't change with age, so a photo of a sleeping baby fails Eyes open, even for a document whose rules allow closed eyes, and a failed check means no Print & download. A creased sheet can fail the background check, and if a second face shows up, you'll see "Only one person may be in the photo."
- Fix and retry. If a check fails, the button at the bottom is Retake photo or Choose another photo. If the head looks too big or too small, use the Head size slider. The photo is only cropped and scaled, never retouched or given a new background.
- Confirm and download. Turn on the points under Please confirm, such as no hat or head covering, and, for documents that don't allow selfies, that someone else took the photo. Then tap Print & download.
For more help, open the Photo guide on Home. It has a section on Children and babies. To get the photo onto paper at the right size, see how to print passport photos at home.
What it costs
In Passport Cat, taking, checking, printing and downloading are free, as many photos as you need, where the document's rules allow. There's no watermark on your photos, no ads, no account and no subscription. (The home-print PDF's printing note, under the photos, ends with "made with Passport Cat".) Passport Cat Pro is an optional one-time purchase. It lets you save each family member's photo, put several people on one family sheet, use more paper sizes, and see which other passports and visas a photo works for. More on the Passport Cat page.
Final acceptance is always up to the issuing authority, and Passport Cat isn't affiliated with any government.
Quick answers
Can I take my baby's passport photo at home?
For many documents, yes. Some don't take home photos at all: in the rules built into the app, the Swedish passport photo is taken at the passport office, babies included. Check Rules for your document first.
Do a baby's eyes have to be open in a passport photo?
It depends on the document. In the rules built into the app, the U.S. passport allows a baby's eyes not to be fully open, while the New Zealand passport asks for eyes open. Passport Cat's Eyes open check is the same at every age, so aim for eyes open.
Can I hold my baby for the passport photo?
Not where your hands show. The U.S. and Irish passport rules in the app both rule out visible hands. Lay your baby on a plain sheet or in a car seat covered with one.
How do I take a newborn's passport photo?
Lay your baby on a tight, plain sheet in your document's background colour, hold the phone level above them, and use window daylight with the flash off. Pick a shot with the face straight and the eyes open.
Try Passport Cat
Try Passport Cat: free, no watermark, no sign-up → iyio.com/apps/passport-cat