DS-11 photo requirements

The specification

Editing and retouching

Do not change your photo using computer software, phone apps or filters, or artificial intelligence.

Department of State, quoted from the official source

What the official source does not say

Do NOT staple or attach the photo yourself on the DS-11 route. State says: "Do not attach or staple your photo to the form. The acceptance agent or passport employee will review the photo and staple it for you." That is the opposite of the DS-82 mail-in instruction, so the guidance must be route-specific. Separately, no eye-height rule is published for US passport photos, genuinely not specified, rather than a figure we could not locate.

What the DS-11 form itself says about the photo

The DS-11 asks for exactly one color photograph, 2 x 2 inches, attached to the application, and lists its own requirements in Section D: taken less than six months ago, head measuring 1 to 1 3/8 inches from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head, head facing the camera directly with the full face in view, no eyeglasses, head coverings, or uniforms, printed on matte or glossy photo quality paper, on a plain white or off-white background. The form even ships its own ruler: a photo template printed on Application Page 1 to check the head measurement against.

Two exceptions are spelled out in the form's footnote. A head covering is acceptable with a signed statement that it is part of recognized, traditional religious attire customarily worn continuously in public, or with a signed doctor's statement verifying daily medical use. Glasses are acceptable only with a signed doctor's statement explaining why they cannot come off, such as during recovery from eye surgery.

Just as interesting is what the form does not say. It publishes no eye-height measurement and contains no retouching or AI language at all; for the full rule set it points to travel.state.gov/photos, which is where the no-software, no-filters, no-AI rule binds from. And you write nothing on the back of a DS-11 photo; for hand-carried applications, the acceptance agent signs the back, not you.

Questions about the DS-11 photo

Do I write my name on the back of a DS-11 photo?

No. The DS-11 has no instruction for the applicant to write anything on the photo; for hand-carried applications the acceptance agent signs the back. Writing your name on the back is a USCIS-form habit (I-485, I-130, N-400 abroad), not a State Department one.

How do I know my DS-11 photo head size is right?

The form carries its own ruler: the instructions direct applicants to the photo template printed on Application Page 1 to check head sizing. The head must measure 1 to 1 3/8 inches from chin to top of head. Or check the digital file before you print.

Do I staple the photo to the DS-11?

Submit one color 2x2 print with the application, undamaged: no holes, creases, or smudges, since damaged prints are rejected. The DS-11 is filed in person, and you sign only when the authorized agent tells you to.

Are the DS-11 clothing rules different from the general passport rules?

No. Same rules: no eyeglasses, no head coverings, no uniforms, with the religious-attire exception, with a signed statement, and the medical exception, with a signed doctor's statement.