WinPhoto

Passport, visa and ID photos · United States

N-400 photo: check and make yours

Your N-400 photo, checked against the official rules, framed and sized, ready to print. Official size: 51 x 51 mm (2 x 2 inches). Background: white to off-white. Rules read on uscis.gov on 5 November 2026.

  1. Take or choose a photo
  2. We check it against the official rules and frame it
  3. Download the exact file and a print sheet

Free check. Your N-400 photo, €6.99, only once it passes: the ready file and print sheet, unlimited retakes for 30 days. Refund if the authority rejects it.

Your photo: 602 x 602 px

Your photo stays on your device: nothing is uploaded, and no face is recognised.

Before you take it

  • Stand a step in front of a plain white wall, with nothing behind you.
  • Face a window or soft light: even light on the face, no shadows on it or behind.
  • Phone at eye level, about 1.5 m away: ask someone, or hold it at arm's length.

Check and make your photo

The first photo loads the face finder and the background outline from this site, about 15 MB, once.

The face finder and the background outline run in this page from files served by this site (sources and licences). They find where a face is in the photo; they never recognise who it is.

Meets the published spec as checked on 5 November 2026. WinPhoto is not affiliated with any government.

Most Form N-400 applicants send no photo: USCIS takes it at a biometrics appointment. Two identical 2 x 2 inch colour passport-style photos are needed only if you apply from outside the U.S. as a current or former member of the U.S. armed forces, a military spouse, or the spouse of a U.S. citizen working abroad for a qualifying employer, or if USCIS later mails you a request for physical photos. USCIS asks for unretouched photos. This page only frames and resizes your photo to 2 x 2 inches; it never retouches it or changes its background, so take it against a plain white or off-white wall.

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The rules at a glance

For the U.S. naturalization photos, Form N-400 (Application for Naturalization), applicants residing outside the U.S., as the official rules state them.

Size
51 x 51 mm (2 x 2 inches)
The file we make
602 x 602 pixels
Background
White to off-white.
Head size
50% to 69% of the photo's height, chin to top of head
Edits
None allowed by the official rules (“Unretouched means the photos must not be edited or digitally enhanced.”): we only frame and resize.
All the official rules and sources
Printed size
51 mm wide, 51 mm tall (2 x 2 inches)
This page makes
A 602 x 602 pixel JPEG file (the printed size at 300 dpi)
Head height
50% to 69% of the photo's height, from the chin to the top of the head
Eye line
56% to 69% of the photo's height, measured up from its bottom edge
Background
white to off-white
Glasses
Not stated on the official page
Expression
Not stated on the official page
Head covering
head bare unless wearing headwear required by your religious denomination
Colour
Colour only
  • two identical colour passport-style photos, 2 x 2 inches, full face, frontal view
  • printed on thin paper with a glossy finish; unmounted
  • unretouched: not edited or digitally enhanced
  • name and A-Number (if any) lightly printed on the back in pencil or felt pen
  • only for applicants residing outside the U.S. in the listed military or qualifying-employment categories, or when USCIS mails a request for physical photos after filing; everyone else is photographed at a biometrics appointment
  • service members stationed outside the U.S. may instead send two FD-258 fingerprint cards with two passport-style photos taken by the military police or DHS officials at a U.S. embassy or consulate (those photos are not made here)

For: Form N-400 filed while residing outside the U.S. by a current member of the U.S. armed forces, their spouse, a former member who served during a designated period of hostilities, or the spouse of a U.S. citizen working for a qualified employer abroad (two identical printed photos); physical passport photos sent after filing, when USCIS mails a request for them with instructions.

Official source: www.uscis.gov, checked on 5 November 2026.

Form N-400 Instructions 01/20/25
USCIS may require you to appear for an interview and provide biometrics (fingerprints, photograph, and/or signature) at any time to verify your identity
Photograph Requirements for Applicants Residing Outside the United States
Certain applicants for naturalization may be eligible for naturalization even though they reside outside the United States, including current members of the U.S. armed forces, their spouses, former members of the U.S. armed forces who served during a designated period of hostilities, and spouses of U.S. citizens working for a qualified employer outside the United States.
If you are applying from outside the United States because you are in one of those categories, you must submit two identical color passport-style photographs of yourself taken recently.
The photos must have a white to off-white background, be printed on thin paper with a glossy finish, and be unmounted and unretouched.
The photos must be 2 by 2 inches with a full face, frontal view.
Head height should measure 1 to 1 3/8 inches from the top of your hair to the bottom of your chin, and eye height should measure between 1 1/8 and 1 3/8 inches from the top of your eyes to the bottom of the photo.
Your head must be bare unless you are wearing headwear required by your religious denomination.
Using a pencil or felt pen to lightly print your name and A-Number (if any) on the back of the photos.

Official source: www.uscis.gov, checked on 5 November 2026.

01/20/25. You can find the edition date at the bottom of the page on the form and instructions.
Two passport-style photographs (if you reside outside the United States)
Biometrics: Applicants who file Form N-400 must generally submit biometrics unless we waive the requirement.
If we determine you are eligible for naturalization, we may use the photograph taken at the ASC on your Certificate of Naturalization.
Photographs: Based on processing needs, you may need to submit physical passport photographs after you have already filed your Form N-400.
We will send you a request for physical photographs with instructions on how to submit them.
If you are stationed outside the United States, you may submit 2 properly completed FD-258 fingerprint cards and 2 passport-style photos taken by the military police or officials with the Department of Homeland Security at a U.S. embassy or U.S. consulate.

Official source: www.uscis.gov, checked on 5 November 2026.

ALERT: Please remember that photos submitted to USCIS must be unmounted and unretouched.
Unretouched means the photos must not be edited or digitally enhanced.

Meets the published spec as checked on 5 November 2026. WinPhoto is not affiliated with any government. Rules change: check the official page before you apply.

How to use it

  1. Stand facing the camera in front of a plain, light wall, with even light on your face.
  2. Tap Take the photo and follow the outline and the tips on screen, or choose a photo you have. The page finds your face and frames it to the rules.
  3. Fix anything the page lists, each with its own tip. Adjust the framing if you need to, and move Top of head if the dashed line is not at the top of your head.
  4. Tick what only you can confirm.
  5. Save the file, or the print sheet to print at 100% on 4 x 6 inch photo paper.

Questions

What size is the N-400 photo?
Printed, 51 x 51 mm (2 x 2 inches). The head takes 50% to 69% of the photo's height, from the chin to the top of the head. These are the official rules as checked on 5 November 2026. This page makes a 602 x 602 pixel JPEG file (the printed size at 300 dpi).
What background does the N-400 photo need?
White to off-white.
Can I wear a head covering in my N-400 photo?
Head bare unless wearing headwear required by your religious denomination.
Can I take my N-400 photo at home?
The official rules, as checked on 5 November 2026, ask for no photographer or studio, so a photo taken at home can meet them if it meets every rule on this page.
Is my photo uploaded?
No. The photo is read and checked in your browser, and any file is saved on your device. The page tells our server only that a photo was checked, that it passed, or that a file was saved; never the photo, your face or any measurement. It finds where your face is in the photo; it never recognises who you are.
How is the head measured?
The page finds your chin and eyes in the photo and estimates the top of your head from your forehead, since hair hides it: the dashed line shows the estimate. If it is not at the top of your head, move it with Top of head and the checks follow.
Will my photo be accepted?
Only the issuing authority decides. A photo that passes every check here meets the published size, head and background rules as checked on 5 November 2026; you confirm the rest, such as glasses, expression and how recent the photo is.
How do I print it?
Save the print sheet: a 4 x 6 inch (10 x 15 cm) photo at 300 dpi with as many copies as fit and thin lines to cut along. Have it printed at 100% (actual size) on 4 x 6 inch photo paper at a photo lab or shop, then cut out the copies you need.
What does buying your N-400 photo add?
Your N-400 photo, €6.99: the exact 602 x 602 px file, the 4 x 6 in print sheet, the acceptance report, the Detail check, unlimited retakes and the whole family's photos for this document for 30 days. Pay only once your photo passes. Refund if the authority rejects it. Paid once, with no subscription. In the Detail check our AI model, run in the EU, checks glasses, expression, shadows and more if you choose to send it the photo. Without buying you can check any photo and save a small preview with a watermark.