Do you need a new photo to renew a UK passport or change the name?
A UK renewal and a name change both need a new photo from the last month. When you can keep the old passport, what to send, and how to get a Photo Code.
Yes. Renewing an adult UK passport, and changing the name on one, both need a new photograph taken in the last month. You need that photo because you are getting a new passport, even when your face has not changed. You can keep the passport you have, and skip a new photo, for an address change, a new job, dyed hair, a beard, a title on its own, or a marriage or divorce where the name stays the same.
Updated 25 October 2026. Fees below are the adult figures on the linked GOV.UK pages, checked that day. Passport Photo Code is independent of GOV.UK and HM Passport Office. HM Passport Office makes the final decision on every photograph.
When do you need a new passport, and when does that include a new photo?
A new photograph comes with a new passport. Photos for passports says you must get a new photo taken in the last month whenever you get a new passport, even if your appearance has not changed. Change your name or personal details says you need a new passport if the name changes, the gender changes, or you cannot be recognised from the photo, for example after plastic surgery. A replacement is a new 10-year adult passport. Time left on the old one is not added.
| What has changed | New passport | Photo from the last month | Countersignature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expired, or too little time left for the trip | Yes. Renew | Yes | Only if you cannot be recognised |
| Change of name | Yes | Yes | No |
| Change of gender | Yes | Yes | Only if you also cannot be recognised |
| Appearance you cannot be recognised from | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Address, job, hair dye, a beard, a title alone, or the same name after marriage or divorce | No | No | No |
On a paper form, sign one print on the back and leave the other blank. This table is an adult application in the UK. For a child, see UK passport photos for babies and young children. A first passport is not a renewal: see first adult UK passport photo. From abroad, see renewing a British passport from abroad.
What does an adult renewal ask you to prepare?
Renew if the passport has expired, or if your destination wants more validity than you have left. Check that country’s entry rules. Do not book travel until your new passport arrives. A lost or stolen passport uses another form.
Renew online for £102, paid to HM Passport Office. You need a digital photo, a card, and your passport, and you send the old passport. Any other valid passport goes as a colour copy of every page, or as the document itself. A paper renewal on that page costs £115.50. Get the form from a Post Office Check and Send branch or the Passport Adviceline, and send 2 new identical prints. Pay by card, or by cheque to “HM Passport Office”.
Those figures are the passport fee, separate from the photograph. Check and Send adds the Post Office’s charge: use the amount on how Check and Send works. On a renewal, carry the returned passport if it holds a visa. Russia is the exception on that page. After a name change, ask the embassy, because those visas may no longer be valid.
What is different when the name changes?
The photo job is the same as a renewal: a new picture from the last month, of you as you are. Changing your details prices the adult application at £102 online and £115.50 on paper, the same public figures as a renewal on 25 October 2026. Sign in the name you want printed.
If you hold a non-British passport as well, the name and gender on it have to match. Change that passport first when they differ.
Online, the file has to meet photos for passports: colour, sharp, no filters, at least 600 by 750 pixels, 50KB to 10MB, with head, shoulders and upper body left uncropped. On paper, printed photos means two identical prints, 45mm high by 35mm wide, head 29mm to 34mm from crown to chin, on plain white photographic paper, cream or light grey background, posted loose. Use a booth or a shop for those prints. A Photo Code does not replace them.
How do you handle a marriage or civil partnership?
Apply in the new name before or after the ceremony, and book travel in that name. Documents are on the marriage or civil partnership page. Afterwards, send the marriage or civil partnership certificate. That includes a double-barrelled surname.
You may apply up to 3 months beforehand. The old passport is cancelled and the new one is post-dated, so you cannot use it until the ceremony. Some countries will not visa a post-dated passport. Send a “passports for newly weds and civil partners” form signed by the minister or registrar. If you must travel before the day, apply afterwards, because neither passport works in the gap.
Leave the ceremony photograph out. Take a separate frame in ordinary clothes: you alone, plain expression, plain wall. A veil or fascinator comes off, because it is not a religious or medical head covering. If the name stays the same, keep the passport you have.
Which documents go with a previous surname, a deed poll or a gender change?
Going back to a previous surname is still a new passport and a new photo. That page asks for your birth certificate, a signed statement that you have returned to the surname “for all purposes”, evidence you use it (a payslip or a council letter), and the marriage or civil partnership certificate showing both names. Order a copy of the certificate if you need one.
A deed poll, statutory declaration or affidavit covers another change of name, with proof of earlier changes and evidence you use the name. Other name changes uses the same examples.
Titles and small changes covers Jane to Jayne, reordering forenames, or dropping middle names. Send two documents from that page’s list: a council or government letter, a driving licence, a bank statement, or a baptism or confirmation certificate. A title on its own does not replace the passport. On an application you are making anyway, a professional title, honour or decoration goes in the “other title” box, with evidence, and sits on the observations page. Only a title of nobility is part of the name.
A change of gender also means a new passport and a new photo. Send a Gender Recognition Certificate, a new birth or adoption certificate in your acquired gender, or a doctor’s or consultant’s letter that the change is likely to be permanent. A letter plus a name change also needs evidence of the name, such as a deed poll, and evidence you use it. The gender change page links further guidance for transgender and transsexual applicants.
What if only your appearance has changed?
Dyed hair and a beard can wait until the passport is due for renewal, and the new photo should show them. Do not edit them out to match the old picture. If you cannot be recognised, you need a new passport, a new photo, and a countersignature. Where a disability means a photo rule cannot be met, passport services if you’re disabled explains the note and the letter. That route is separate from a name change.
How do you take the photo before you apply?
Use a plain light wall: cream, light grey or off-white. Move hooks and shelves out of the background first. How to take a digital passport photo sets the distances.
- Stand about 50 centimetres from the wall, so the shadow falls off the background.
- Put the phone about 1.5 metres away, rear camera, level with your face. Someone else should take it. On your own, use a timer. An arm’s-length selfie widens the face.
- Face a window and switch the ceiling light off. If one cheek is darker, turn and shoot again. Skip the phone flash.
- Include head, shoulders and upper body, with space above the head. Do not crop to a passport rectangle.
- Plain expression, mouth closed, eyes open, looking at the lens. A small smile still counts as a smile. Keep hair off the eyes.
- Glasses off unless you have to wear them. If they stay, no tint, and no glare or frame across the eyes.
- One person. A partner at the edge, or a hand on a shoulder, is a second person.
More on the room is in how to take a UK passport photo at home, and on expression and background in 8 common UK passport photo mistakes.
What should you change before you pay the passport fee?
| What you were about to send | What to do instead |
|---|---|
| The photo already in the passport, or a scan of it | Take a new one from the last month. |
| The ceremony photo, or a crop of the couple | A new frame of you alone, plain expression, plain wall, no veil. |
| A filtered or smoothed selfie | Filters and portrait mode off. Upload the original. |
| Glare in the glasses | Glasses off, or move until the eyes are clear. |
| A hard shadow behind the head | About 50 centimetres off the wall, facing the window. |
| A home print for a paper form | Two identical booth or shop prints, 45mm by 35mm, posted loose. |
| A file cropped tight around the face | A wider original. The form does the crop. |
How do you put the photo on the online form?
Have the photograph ready before you open the form. You enter a Photo Code or upload a file. Where the code goes is in what a UK passport Photo Code is.
From the homepage, choose Create my photo & code, or open the create page. We check and format the upload so that it meets GOV.UK photo rules. The price is £2.99 once, for the Photo Code and the digital passport photo together. There is no subscription. The same order is on online passport photos. The code can be used for an HMPO online application. See the requirements page and how to get a UK passport photo code online.
- Upload the original, without resizing it, and check the preview. Retake a shadow, a second person, hair across an eye, or a smile.
- Copy the code, every letter, number and dot, and download the digital photo.
- On the passport form, paste the code and confirm the picture is you.
- Use it while the file is held. Photos are kept for as long as the service needs them, normally 48 hours.
On a paper form, send the two prints. The code does not replace them.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a new photo to renew a UK passport?
Yes. Take a new photo in the last month, even if you look the same. Online, provide a digital photo. On paper, provide two identical prints.
Do I need a new photo to change the name on my passport?
Yes. It is a new passport, so take a new photo from the last month and sign in the name you want printed. Time left on the old passport is not added.
Can I use my wedding photograph?
Take a new photo of you alone, with a plain expression and a plain light background. A ceremony picture usually includes another person, a smile and a veil.
Do I need a new passport if I marry and keep my name?
Keep the passport you have when you marry, form a civil partnership or divorce and the name stays the same.
Does a name change need a countersignature?
A name change on its own does not, and nor does adding a title. You need one when you cannot be recognised from the photo already in the passport.
Can I renew online with a Photo Code?
Enter a Photo Code so the online form retrieves the digital photo, or upload a file. The code can be used for an HMPO online application. A paper form still needs two prints.
What if I am applying from outside the UK?
Use the overseas service. The photo rules are the same. The form and the postal address are in the guide to renewing from abroad.
Will the photo in my old passport be reused?
Provide a new photo from the last month. A scan of the old passport photo is the wrong file.