What is a "biometric passport"?

In the last decade, so-called "biometric passports" have become widespread in the world. Their distinctive feature is a special badge, which is located on the front side of the document and confirms that this passport stores the biometric data of its owner. This significantly increases the confidence in the passport holder by the visa and border officers. In other words, with such a passport you can pass the border control much faster.

The plastic page of the biometric passport has integrated personal information about its owner, their color photo, date of issue. All personal data are protected with an electronic digital signature and are encrypted, so that forgery of this document is very hard.

What kind of photos do I need for my biometric passport? What is a "biometric passport photo"?

Let the complex name not confuse you. To get a biometric passport you need exactly the same photo as for other documents, including the good old non-biometric passport. It is important that a photo can be read by special face recognition software. For this purpose, photographs must fully comply with official requirements:

• Photos should correspond to the required ratio. The most commonly used formats in different countries are 2x2 inches (US and India), 35x45 mm (UK, Europe, Australia, Singapore, Nigeria and many other countries), 5x7 cm (Canada), 33x48 mm (China). Such formats as 3x4 cm, 4x4 cm, 4x5 cm, 4x6 cm are also widely used;
• The photo should be taken on a flat background (usually white or off-white) without shadows;
• The head size must be within allowed dimensions;
• Eyes must be visible, hair, glasses or any headgear should not cover eyes;
• The face should be placed strictly in the center;
• Photo to be taken in full-face;
• The photo should include the face and the upper part of the shoulders;
• The photo must be in color.

How to take a biometric photo for a passport or other kinds of IDs?

The easiest and fastest way is to do it online without leaving your home. Visafoto.com is a service that turns an ordinary photo or selfie into a biometric passport photo.

Any homemade photo taken in full-face in even light will do. You can take it both with a camera or your smartphone. Check out the examples of inappropriate passport photos to make sure you are not mistaken.

When the photo is ready, select the document you need in our list of supported photo types. Upload your selfie, and in a couple of seconds your biometric passport photo will be ready. Visafoto will crop the image, make the right size of the head, position the face correctly, will replace the background, improve the quality and do other needed things for your photo. The service gives a guarantee: if the photo is not accepted, it will be replaced free of charge or you will get your money back.

If you have any questions, please contact our 24-hour support: support@visafoto.com