Tips for taking passport photos of adults

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Transcript: “Tips for taking passport photos of adults”

Video length: 2:07 minutes

An animated blue sky background appears with a few clouds and a small depiction of a Canadian passport.

Narrator: It can be challenging to take a good passport photo.

Two photos of the same man, one has a green checkmark and the other has a red X in the upper right hand corner.

Narrator: Here are some important tips:

Photos disappear and are replaced by a light bulb. The background changes to a simple two colour pattern. “The clothing” appears as text along with an animated shirt.

Narrator: You should wear brightly coloured clothing to ensure contrast with the background. Avoid white.

Background changes to white and a seated man is shown wearing a pink shirt. He is replaced by a woman wearing a white shirt. She has a red X to the right of her head.

Simple two colour background with the text “The Face” and an illustrated face silhouette.

Narrator: Your entire face must be visible and square to the camera.

A woman has a rectangular frame drawn around her face and upper body with a quartered circle framing the face.

Narrator: Have a neutral expression. That means no smiling!

She smiles and a red X appears at top right of her head.

Narrator: Avoid wearing sparkly jewelry or shiny lip gloss. If you tend to have a shiny face, you may want to wipe it down with a tissue or handkerchief before the picture is taken.

A close up of a woman wearing a large gold necklace appears. A close up of another woman’s lips is then shown followed by a man wiping the sweat off of his forehead. Scene changes to a split screen of the same woman wearing glasses.

Narrator: Glasses may be worn as long as the eyes are clearly visible and there is no glare, but removing your glasses may improve your chances of a good photo.

The split screen merges into a single frame and the woman removes her glasses.

Narrator: Tinted eyeglasses cannot be worn to ensure that the applicant’s eyes are well defined and clear.

A man wearing tinted glasses appears. A graphic in the top right hand corner shows a pair of tinted glasses with a red X through them. The man then removes his sunglasses.

Narrator: If you have long hair, it may be down but it may not cover any part of your face.

A woman with long hair is shown. She brushes the hair away from her face.

Narrator: Make sure there are no shadows on your face, shoulders, ears or in the background.

An animated blue sky background with a few clouds and a photo of a man appears. The photo shows various shadows around the man’s face.

Narrator: Remember that the photo should be a true reflection of your appearance to facilitate travel.

A headshot of a woman with long hair is shown.

Photos are valid for six months from the date they were taken.

A diagram depicting a person’s head neck and shoulder is shown. Two face types are represented: round and oval. There is a dotted line under the chin and a dotted line at the top of each face type’s head.

There is an arrow on the left connecting the dotted lines of the round face type, and an arrow on the right connecting the dotted lines of the oval face type.

The text “Valid for 6 months” appears on the screen.

Narrator: If you do not think that the photo meets all the requirements, ask the photographer to take another photo.

A photo of a woman appears and is surrounded by question marks.

Narrator: For more information on photos for Canadian passports, please visit our website.

The text “Canada.ca/passport” appears.

Background fades to black, the copyright message “Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2015.” is displayed followed by the Canada wordmark.