Glasses in Passport Photos: The Complete Ban Explained

The 2016 Eyewear Ban

If you rely on your glasses from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep, the idea of removing them for official identification feels unnatural. You might worry that a border agent won't recognize you without your signature frames. However, the U.S. State Department fundamentally disagrees. As of November 1, 2016, the United States officially implemented a complete and total ban on wearing eyeglasses in all passport and visa photographs.

Why Were Glasses Banned?

Before 2016, glasses were the single leading cause of acceptable photo delays. The government determined that millions of applications were being held up every year due to two persistent problems linked to eyewear:

• Glare: Camera flashes and harsh lighting constantly bounced off glass lenses. Even the smallest speck of glare obscuring the iris or pupil of the eye causes facial recognition software to fail. The human eye is the cornerstone of biometric scanning.
• Frame Shadows: Even if glare was successfully eliminated, thick or dark frames often cascaded dark shadows down the cheek or across the eye socket, corrupting the geometry of the face. Frames also frequently covered portions of the eyebrows, another critical data point for identity verification algorithms.

By banning glasses outright, the government removed the variable entirely, drastically speeding up the time it takes to process applications globally.

What If I Need My Glasses to Function?

The ban is remarkably absolute. Even if your eyesight is severely impaired, you must remove them for the split second it takes to capture the photograph. This includes:

• Prescription everyday reading glasses
• Bifocals and trifocals
• Non-prescription fashion glasses
• Sunglasses and tinted transition lenses (these have always been banned, but now standard lenses join them)

The Extremely Rare Medical Exception

There is exactly one scenario in which the government permits a passport photo featuring glasses: severe, documented medical necessity. This is not for bad eyesight. This exception is almost exclusively reserved for applicants who have recently undergone highly sensitive ocular surgery and cannot expose their eyes to light without suffering medical harm.

To qualify for this exception, you cannot simply write a note. You must submit a signed medical statement from a licensed medical professional or health practitioner. The government provides specific language that this doctor's note must contain. If you are not recovering from eye surgery, do not attempt to use this exception; you will simply lose weeks of processing time.

The PhotoStudio Solution

Remembering every obscure rule—like the glasses ban—is stressful. When you use PhotoStudio, our platform is built around the latest 2024 biometric guidelines. We recommend taking several photos at home (without your glasses!) and running them through our compliance engine. If your eyes are perfectly level and your head size is correct, our software will confirm it instantly.