Costco, as one of the biggest wholesale stores in the U.S. providing a wide range of services, used to be a popular place to take biometric photos. A Costco passport photo is an official image compliant with American government identification document requirements. With branches spreading around the whole country, citizens could find a convenient one in the neighborhood. However, the development of mobile devices forces Costco to adjust its business strategies. Move on to learn more about Costco’s photo center and some alternatives to making passport photos.
Does Costco Take Passport Photos?
Costco, equipped with official photo templates, used to provide full photo service where customers could take, edit and print photos. The employees would adjust lighting, guide you to pose, and crop it to the proper size, which makes it quick and easy to make compliant Costco passport photos.
However, Costco witnessed a decline in the number of in-store photo orders which is part of the reason why Costco shut down its offline photo service. That is to say, customers can no longer take pictures in physical stores since February 14, 2021.
Does Costco Print Passport Photos?
Although in-spot services are no more available, you can still print out passport photos at the Costco website or mobile application. First of all, you need to create an account on the online photo center and store the photo on the cloud. The problem is that you have to wait for the delivery because you cannot pick them up in the stores and it usually takes 5-12 days.
In addition to passport photos, Costco provides a variety of photo products, such as canvas prints, framed prints, posters, photo books, cards, and calendars, thus making impressive keepsakes and gifts at affordable prices.
6 Alternatives to Costco Passport Photos
As photo centers in Costco are closed, how could you take qualified passport photos? Here are some other options.
Walmart
Walmart is another widespread chain supermarket in the United States and it is known as an affordable and high-quality alternative to Costco passport photos. There are both shooting and printing services available by paying $7.44. If there is a Walmart supercenter in the neighborhood, just go to the photo center and the staff would help you. If you already have prepared a passport photo, just upload it online and pick it up at the nearest store or wait for it to ship to you.
UPS Stores
UPS is a well-known express company that provides photo services in physical stores. The full service involves taking photos, printing and sending out application forms on the spot. There are thousands of stores spreading around the United States opening from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm. Use the UPS store location tool to find one near you. Full service costs $11.99 for 2 paper copies while the printing service costs $0.2-$0.35 for 2 copies.
FedEx Office
FedEx Office provides walk-in passport photo service in every location. Just find the nearest one with Office Finder tool, Then visit the store during opening hours (usually from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm on weekdays, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm on Saturdays) and take the photo. Two standard U.S. passport photos (2×2 inches) cost $14.95 while printing the prepared photos costs less. More conveniently, you can also send out the application form at FedEx Office.
Walgreens
Walgreens stores offer passport photo shooting and printing services without requirements, but you are still recommended to make a call before visiting and make sure the service is available. Some would even help customers apply for passports. Supposing that you have prepared all documents and go to Walgreens for photos, it takes less than 1 hour to get ready your passport application, and the service costs $16.99.
CVS
CVS pharmacies set up thousands of branches all over America to fast-shoot and print passport photos. It costs $16.99 for two photos. All photographers at CVS are acquainted with the U.S. official photo requirements for passports, visas and ID cards, so you don’t have to worry about whether it would be accepted or not.
Rite Aid
Rite Aid offers both passport photo-taking and printing services. Not all stores could take photos but all of them could print out photos, and no appointment is required. It costs about $8.99 for full service while the 4×6-inch template printing costs 19 cents.
Online Passport Photo Maker
Photos made by smartphones at home are also a favorable replacement for Costco passport photos, but how to convert home-made portraits into compliant passport-style photos? That’s what AipassportPhotos do.
The biggest strength of this AI-powered online passport photo maker is to ensure that the photo is 100% acceptable by following the guidelines of dress code, facial expressions and posture to take a full-face photo. Upload it and let the intelligent expert check the compliance and automatically adjust the background and size.
In this case, you can make the photo on your own at home, which saves money and time to visit a photographer. Once logged in for the first time, you will be given 5 credits and each downloading costs 2 credits. That is to say, new users could get the digital photo for free.
FAQs:
1. How Much Does Costco Passport Photo Cost?
It costs 17 cents for each but has to order in bulk.
2. When Does Costco Open?
Opening hours from Monday to Friday is 10:00 am – 8:30 pm, 9:30 am – 6:00 pm on Saturday and 10:00 am – 6:00 pm on Friday. But the online photo center is 24 hours available.
Summary
After reading the passage, we hope you can find the answer to the question “Does Costco do passport photo”. Although you can’t take pictures there, you can also print it out online. Or there are still various alternatives to make high-quality and qualified photos, such as shopping malls, pharmacies and online tools. Just choose the most suitable one according to your location and budget.
Dolores Xiao