If you are going to take your own photo we have some tips and tricks to make sure you get it right first time. The full passport photo requirements are available on our website. This guide is for an iPhone, we suggest using an iPhone 5 model or newer. While your selfies look great they won’t do for your passport. Get a friend or one of the whanau to take your photo for you; it’s much easier to get an acceptable photo with someone else’s help. Finding a suitable background is important. Find a plain, light coloured background. Pale blues, greys and creams work better than white. When setting up the shot, make sure your photographer has your whole face and shoulders inside the frame. Make sure there are no shadows on the face or behind the head. To minimise shadows, avoid standing directly under a light source. You can get the best photos when the light source is behind and above your photographer. Stand about half a metre in front of your background and have the photographer stand about one and a half metres away from you. Keep the camera at eye level. When you have taken a few photos, open the photos application on your phone and select your best one. We are looking for a neutral expression, no blur and no shadows behind you. When you have your best image, you may need to crop the image slightly. This step is nice and easy. First select the Edit button, Next press the crop button. If needed, you can straighten your photo by dragging the dial under the image. Here is where we get a tiny bit technical. Press the aspect ratio button, it will bring up a list of options. You should select 3:4. This is the aspect ratio required for the online passport system Now you can drag any corner of the frame to crop your photo. Make sure your face is in the middle of the image, and there is a gap around your head and under your chin. Make sure you do not crop out your hair or your ears. When you are happy with the changes press Done to save your photo. Nice Job! To make sure the photo is suitable for your online application you should upload it to the Online photo checker on our website. Your photo will still need to be assessed by a passport officer when you apply online. You’re almost there. It’s easier to complete your application on a computer or laptop. You can send your photo to yourself, and then save it to a computer or laptop. Press the export button to send the photo to yourself Send the photo to yourself using your phones email function Enter your chosen email address and push send Make sure you select “Actual Size” when you send your photo to maintain the quality of the image. Next, Log into your email account on your computer or laptop. Open the email and attached photo and save your photo. We recommend saving the photo where it is easy to find again, such as your desktop. Now you can complete your passport application online and upload your photo. Go to our website to begin - www.passports.govt.nz