Free diagnostic
Why was my photo rejected?
Upload the rejected photo as you submitted it, pick the authority, and get the likely causes in order with a fix for each.
1 Your photo
Checked as submitted, no re-crop
JPEG, PNG, WebP or HEIC. Drag a photo here instead. Nothing is uploaded.
Camera tips before you shoot
- Someone else holds the phone about 1.5 m away at your head height. No selfies at arm's length.
- Daylight from a window in front of you; no flash, no overhead-only light.
- Plain light wall, half a metre behind you, no shadow on it.
- Shoulders in frame, space above the head; the tool crops.
- Use the original file, not a screenshot or a messaging-app copy.
2 Likely causes
No photo yetAre glasses worn in this photo?
3 Fix it
Hands the photo to the tool in memory for the selected document. Nothing is stored.
The usual reasons, in order
- Head too small or too large. Most authorities want the head 70–80 per cent of the frame; booths and phone crops often leave it small.
- Background not plain, not light, or with a shadow behind the head. Stand half a metre from the wall and face the light.
- Uneven lighting or shadows on the face. One side darker than the other, or a shadow under the nose from overhead light.
- Glasses. Banned outright for US documents and China; glare or frames over the eyes elsewhere.
- Eye position or crown margin for documents that define them (US, India, Japan, China).
- Low resolution, blur, screenshots and scans. Use the camera's original file.
- Expression and gaze. Mouth open, teeth showing, eyes not fully open, looking off-camera.
- Edited photos. Smoothing, filters and replaced backgrounds where the authority forbids them.
Frequently asked questions
How does the diagnostic work?
It runs the same compliance checker as the tool on your photo exactly as you submitted it, without re-cropping, for the authority you choose. Failures are listed first, ordered by how often each rule causes real-world rejections, each with the fix.
Does it see the rejection letter?
No. It only sees the photo. If the letter names a reason, find it in the list; if the list shows nothing, the cause is usually something the photo cannot show, such as age of the photo, paper type or an application mismatch.
Is the photo uploaded?
No. The analysis runs in your browser. The hand-off to the tool is in memory only.
What if no face is found?
The photo is probably too small, heavily cropped or not front-on. Use the original file from the camera, not a scan or a screenshot.
Can it fix the photo?
The tool can re-crop, straighten and (for documents that allow it) replace the background. It cannot fix lighting, blur, closed eyes or glasses; those need a retake, and the fix text says so.
Is this free?
Yes, always. Only clean exports from the tool are paid.