You can’t travel to other countries if you don’t have a visa or passport. And you need to prepare passport or visa photos as your important biometric identification. Therefore, the photo should meet certain passport photo requirements according to different rules in different countries. What to wear in passport photos is important. If you do not comply with certain passport photo rules, your passport application will be rejected and your travel to other countries may be suspended or cancelled.
Can I wear head coverings in my passport photo for religious reasons? Well, the question is not hard to answer. In this article, we will reveal passport photo rules for religious head coverings. Read below to help you figure out if you can wear head coverings when taking a passport photo.
Can I Take a Passport Photo with Head Coverings?
In the United States, there are many Muslim women who wear head covering every day, such as hijab, niqab, and burka, which cover their head or face to a different extent. However, according to the passport photo requirements of the State Department, your full face must be visible to ensure accurate biometric information. And if you wear your hat or head cover in the photo, they can’t cast shadows or cover part of your face.
You may keep a hat or head covering for religious purposes in your passport photos, but you must submit a signed and valid statement that the hat or head covering is part of recognized traditional religious clothing and that you must wear it customarily and continuously in public. But it is not allowed to completely cover your face with the hijab in your photo to ensure that all biometric information should be readable on machines.
How to Get a Passport Photo Wearing a Hijab
If applicants must wear a hijab while taking a passport photo, there are some adjustments you may need to know. Follow these tips below and get your passport photo in compliance.
- You need to make sure all the faces are visible. Before you take the picture, check and adjust the head cover around your face in the mirror to show every facial feature, such as forehead, eyes, mouth, ears and chin. You need to provide a clear picture of your face.
- You also need to check for shadows. It is not allowed to cast shadows from the covers on your face. Therefore, you should find somewhere with enough natural light.
- You should wear a dark hijab color that stands out a lot and contrasts well with a white background. Because you don’t want to see a white hijab for a passport photo mixed in with the background.
Follow these rules above, you will make the photo meet the passport photo requirements. But if you are afraid to reveal your face in the photo shop or it is religiously forbidden to reveal it in front of a strange man, you can take your passport photo at home with your friends and family. And various online passport photo tools will help you prepare your passport photo in compliance, then print them at the nearest printer shop.
Make a Compliant Passport Photo with AiPassportPhotos
After you have your photo taken, this is the first step in completing your passport photo. Next, you need to resize your photo and get a passport photo that is compliant. Here AiPassportPhotos, the online AI technology photo maker, offers an effective solution to generate your digital biometric photos online in seconds, which will meet the official passport requirements. When you take a photo with hijab, upload it to AiPassportPhotos and let it test if it qualifies for the passport photo. With a simple and automatic processing, it can convert the photo into a 100% compliant picture. Check the instructions below to help you.
- Launch AiPassportPhotos on your devices.
- Select country and select document photo type.
- Upload a photo from your photo library. The process takes some time and they will grow automatically and intelligently.
- Save printable templates on your device.
- Print the photo in local Photoshop, cut it out and use it.
You will find that AiPassportPhotos, a professional online passport photo maker, can scan all the face, light situation, hijab and distance between the edges, giving you a 100% guarantee that your passport photo will not be refused by the official. And with affordable AiPassportPhotos, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get two printed passport photos in a professional photography shop. What’s more, if your photo can’t meet the requirements of passport photos, this tool will deny it and show you the reasons why it can’t go through compliance.
Written Statement When Wearing a Hijab in a Passport Photo
According to the State Department, if you want to take a passport photo in a hijab, you must provide written reasons in a statement to wear a head covering in the passport picture. And you need to confirm that you wear these hijabs for religious reasons on a daily basis. You must send this signed statement to the passport authorities with the passport application items: application form, printed passport photos, other supporting documents.
Can I Wear a Niqab in My Passport Photo?
No. That’s because niqabs cover too much of the applicant’s face. According to the rule, the applicant’s entire face must be visible to take a recognized biometric photo. When you wear niqabs to take a passport photo, you must remove the veil first, so that the whole face can be seen in the photo.
Can I Wear a Burka in My Passport Photo?
No. A passport photo is not allowed when wearing a burka, as it also covers the applicant’s entire face. Based on passport photo rules, applicants must remove the main headpiece when taking a photo, to ensure that all faces are visible in the photo.
Conclusion
In this article, we have shown you specific passport photo rules for religious head coverings. Hijab is allowed to be worn for religious purposes as long as your face is fully visible. But you need to provide a signed statement. If you take a passport photo with a hijab at home, use AipassportPhotos to help you check the photo taken based on official requirements, to ensure that your taken photo won’t be rejected by passport authority.
Dolores Xiao