How many passport photos do you need?
It sounds like a detail until you turn up with the wrong number. The answer is not the same in any two of the countries on this list, and one of them does not want a print at all.
Country by country
The count follows how the application is submitted rather than anything about the photo itself:
- Canada: two identical and unaltered prints
- Australia: two identical prints
- United States: one print for a paper application, or one digital file for an online renewal
- United Kingdom: a digital photo for an online application, or one print for a paper form
Why two, and why identical
Where a second print is required it is not a spare. In Canada one of the two is signed on the back by your guarantor, which is why the pair has to be identical rather than merely taken in the same session. Two photos from the same sitting but different frames are two different photos, and that is a refusal.
The digital shift
The direction of travel is away from prints. A UK online application takes the file directly, and so does a US renewal. If you are applying online, a print is not something to buy at all, and the thing that matters instead is the file: its pixel dimensions and its size in kilobytes, both of which are checked by the upload rather than by a person.
Ordering prints without wasting the sheet
Print shops sell passport photos by the sheet, and a standard sheet holds more than any single application needs. If you are getting prints anyway, the leftovers are only useful while the photo is still recent enough to submit, which is six months in most countries and one month in the UK.
Questions
How many photos do I need for a Canadian passport?
Two identical and unaltered prints. One is signed on the back by your guarantor, which is why they must match exactly.
Does the US need one photo or two?
One. A paper application takes a single 2 by 2 inch print, and an online renewal takes a single digital file.
Do I need a printed photo for a UK passport?
Not if you apply online. The application takes the digital file directly, at least 600 by 750 pixels and between 50 KB and 10 MB.
Can I use leftover photos from a previous application?
Only while they are recent enough. Most authorities want a photo from the last six months, and the UK asks for one taken in the last month.