UN Laissez-Passer & Grounds Pass Photos in Washington, DC
UN laissez-passer and grounds pass photos in Washington, DC. Two different standards: the UNLP bans glasses, the grounds pass allows them.
What a UN Laissez-Passer & UN Grounds Pass photo has to be
Every figure below is quoted from the issuing authority, and the source is linked at the bottom of this section. Where the official sources do not agree, we say so instead of picking one.
| Photo size | 51 x 51 mm · 2 x 2 in |
|---|---|
| Head height | Grounds pass: 25–35 mm chin to top of head. Laissez-passer: no measurement published; the SOP defers to ICAO standards. |
| Eye position | Grounds pass: eye height 28–35 mm from the bottom of the photo. Laissez-passer: not published. |
| Background | Grounds pass: plain white or off-white. Laissez-passer: plain white with NO shadows visible. |
| Glasses | THESE DIFFER. Grounds pass: prescription glasses and hearing devices permitted if worn daily; no tinted or non-prescription lenses. Laissez-passer: applicants MUST NOT wear glasses at all. |
| Expression | Both: full-face view directly at the camera, neutral expression, both eyes open. The laissez-passer adds that teeth must not be visible, because it affects biometric scanning. |
| How recent | Taken within the past 6 months |
| Digital file | Grounds pass: JPEG, 600x600 px minimum, 1200x1200 px maximum, 240 kB or less, 24 bits per pixel, sRGB, compression 20:1 or better. Laissez-passer: printed photo, no digital spec. |
| Copies needed | Grounds pass: one digital image. Laissez-passer: one recent printed photograph on photo-quality paper. |
The things that actually fail
Not general advice, just the specific traps in this document’s own rules.
- If you need both, you need two different photos. The grounds pass is a digital JPEG that permits prescription glasses; the laissez-passer is a physical print that permits none.
- The UNLP explicitly rejects colour copies, digitally scanned images, snapshots, full-body shots and anything visibly electronically altered.
- The grounds pass has an attire rule that catches security and military personnel constantly: wear what you normally wear daily, and avoid uniforms and camouflage.
- The same standard covers UN Certificates and Family Certificates, not just the laissez-passer.
Hold a time, and it’s yours.
Live availability straight from our studio calendar. A reserved appointment is $200 and always includes both the digital file and your prints. Same-day times show here when we have them.
Other documents we do
Get it right the first time.
We shoot it, check it against UN Laissez-Passer & UN Grounds Pass’s own specification, and you leave with a photo that passes. If it is ever rejected, we reshoot it free.