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Guide

Passport photo background color by country

As of November 3, 2026, most agencies want a plain white or off-white background, but not all: 26 of the 41 documents in the table say white only, and others accept light gray or a light color. Check the row for your document; each links to the official page.

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DocumentBackgroundSource
U.S. passport photoPlain white or off-white, no shadowstravel.state.gov
U.S. visa photoPlain white or off-whitetravel.state.gov
U.S. baby passport photoPlain white or off-white sheet or wall, no shadowstravel.state.gov
U.S. online passport renewal photoPlain white or off-white, no shadows or texturetravel.state.gov
DV lottery photoPlain white or off-whitetravel.state.gov
Green card photoWhite to off-whiteuscis.gov
Form I-131 photoWhite to off-whiteuscis.gov
Form I-131A photoWhite to off-whiteuscis.gov
Form I-130 photoWhite to off-whiteuscis.gov
Form I-129F photoWhite to off-whiteuscis.gov
Form N-400 photoWhite to off-whiteuscis.gov
Form N-600 photoWhite to off-whiteuscis.gov
Form N-565 photoWhite to off-whiteuscis.gov
Work permit (EAD) photoWhite to off-whiteuscis.gov
Indian passport photoWhiteindianembassyusa.gov.in
OCI card photoPlain light color, not whiteociservices.gov.in
UK passport photoPlain cream or light gray (printed); plain light color (digital)gov.uk
Schengen visa photoOne bright color, ideally neutral graygermany.info
China visa photoWhite or near-white, no borderus.china-embassy.gov.cn
Chinese passport photoWhiteus.china-embassy.gov.cn
India e-Visa photoPlain light-colored or white, no shadowsindianvisaonline.gov.in
Philippine passport photoLight blue, taken at the consulatepcgsanfrancisco.org
Dominican passport photoWhiteconsulatedrwest.gob.do
Vietnamese passport photoWhitevietnamembassy-usa.org
Canada visa photoPlain white or light-coloredcanada.ca
UK visa photoPlain light color, in clear contrastgov.uk
UK ETA photoPlain light-colouredgov.uk
Jamaican passport photoPlain; white or pastel by complexionpica.gov.jm
Nigerian passport photoWhitepassportintl.immigration.gov.ng
Ghana passport photoWhitepassport.mfa.gov.gh
Japan visa photoPlain, untexturedevisa.mofa.go.jp
Korean visa photoWhite or off-whiteoverseas.mofa.go.kr
Thailand e-Visa photoPlain whitethaiconsulatela.thaiembassy.org
Brazil e-visa photoWhitebrazil.vfsevisa.com
Vietnam e-visa photoWhiteevisa.gov.vn
Irish passport photoPlain light grey, white or creamireland.ie
NZeTA photoPlain, light-colourednzeta.immigration.govt.nz
New Zealand passport photoPlain, light-colouredpassports.govt.nz
Saudi e-Visa photoPlainksavisa.sa
Tanzania e-Visa photoPlainvisa.immigration.go.tz
Russia e-visa photoPlain, light-coloredevisa.kdmid.ru

A document missing from the table has no background rule written on the pages we read. A background removed or painted with an app can be refused even when the color is right.