facing forward and looking straight at the camera

in close-up of their face, head and shoulders with a recommended head height (the distance between the bottom of the chin and the crown of the head) of between 29 and 34 millimetres

with a neutral expression and with the mouth closed (no smiling, frowning or raised eyebrows)

with their eyes open and clearly visible (no sunglasses or tinted glasses and no hair across the eyes or eyebrows)

free from reflection or glare on glasses, and frames must not cover eyes, we recommend that glasses are removed for the photo

showing their full head, without any head covering, unless they wear one for religious beliefs or medical reasons

with no other objects or people in the photo. This also applies to a photo of a baby or young child and babies should not have toys or a dummy in the photo

without shadows in the picture, across the face or backgroung

without anything covering the face – nothing should cover the outline of the eyes, eyrbrows, nose or mouth

not showing any ‘red-eye’

be taken against a plain cream or plain light- grey background

be printed to a high quality, such as photos printed by a booth or studio (photographs printed at home are unlikely to be of a high enough quality)

be clear and in sharp focus

be taken within the last month

not be torn, creased, or marked, and

not have any writing on the front or back, except when one of the photos needs to be certified.