How much does a UK passport photo code cost in 2026?
A Photo Code and digital passport photo is £2.99 online. Published shop and booth prices, what Post Office Check and Send includes, and when you still need prints.
A UK passport Photo Code and the digital passport photo cost £2.99 on this site, paid once, and that price does not include the passport fee. On 27 October 2026 Timpson lists staffed passport photos starting at £12.99 and Max Spielmann lists £12.99 in a shop or £10 at its booths, with prints included. You can also take the photograph during the GOV.UK application with no separate photo charge.
Updated 27 October 2026. Shop and booth figures below were read from the linked pages that day and can change. Passport Photo Code is independent of GOV.UK and HM Passport Office. HM Passport Office makes the final decision on every photograph.
What does each passport photo price include?
A Photo Code is a short reference. You type it into an online passport application and the form retrieves the digital photograph. Prints are a separate product. You need them for a paper form, and you can skip them when the application is online.
Digital photos says an online application needs a new photograph from the last month. You can get it from a booth or a shop before you apply, or take it on your own device during the application. The same page says a photograph from a booth or shop is more likely to succeed than one you take on your own device. HM Passport Office still examines the photograph after you submit. What happens at that stage is in what HM Passport Office checks after you submit.
| Where | Price on 27 October 2026 | Code | Prints | Who takes it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| During the GOV.UK application | No separate photo charge | You take or upload the photo in the form | No | You, with a helper, while you apply |
| This site, from home | £2.99 once, for the Photo Code and the digital passport photo | Yes | No | You, beforehand |
| Timpson shop | Starts at £12.99 for adults and children | Yes. The page includes a digital code with the prints | Printed copies. The price answer does not say how many | Staff. No booking on their page |
| Max Spielmann shop | £12.99, same price for adults and children | Yes | 4 | Staff |
| Max Spielmann booth | £10.00 on the comparison table. The FAQ says booth sets start from £10 | Yes | 4 | You, in the booth. The table says booths are not suitable for babies or toddlers |
| Max Spielmann online prints | £9.99 | No. The page says these prints have no digital code | 6 | You order prints from a photo you took |
| Snappy Snaps | No single price. The page says it varies by shop | The page says every passport photo includes a digital ID code, with prints | Ask that shop | Staff |
| Post Office Digital Check and Send | £16.00 on top of the passport fee. GOV.UK says this includes the photo | Staff take the photo and help you finish the online form in the branch | Included in the £16 | Post Office staff |
| Post Office Paper Check and Send | £16.00 on top of the passport fee and on top of your photo cost | You bring the application and the photographs | You buy them first. The £16 leaves them out | You, or a shop, beforehand |
The £9.99 row is a print order with no code. An online application still needs a digital photograph.
What do the passport fee and Check and Send add?
The photograph and the passport are different payments, to different organisations.
Renew an adult passport online costs £102, paid to HM Passport Office. The paper renewal on that page costs £115.50 and asks for two new identical printed photos. A child passport costs £66.50 online and £80 on a paper form, and it is valid for 5 years. Those four figures were on the linked pages on 27 October 2026.
Add the photo price yourself before you compare channels. These sums use only the figures above.
| Route for an adult renewal | Passport fee | Photo or Check and Send | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online, photograph taken during the GOV.UK form | £102 | No separate photo charge | £102 |
| Online, Photo Code from this site | £102 | £2.99 | £104.99 |
| Online, Max Spielmann booth at the £10 table price | £102 | £10 | £112 |
| Online, Max Spielmann or Timpson at £12.99 | £102 | £12.99 | £114.99 |
| Online, Digital Check and Send | £102 | £16, photo included | £118 |
| Paper form, Paper Check and Send, shop photos at £12.99 | £115.50 | £16 plus £12.99 | £144.49 |
Timpson’s price starts at £12.99, and the booth FAQ says sets start from £10, so treat those rows as the published floor. Both chains use the same photo price for a child as for an adult. The child’s online passport fee is £66.50. Check and Send is free if you qualify for a free passport, and GOV.UK says the service does not decide the application. A renewal or a change of name still needs a new photograph from the last month: see do you need a new photo to renew or change the name.
When should you pay £2.99 for a code?
Pay it when you are applying online, you can take a new photograph this month, and you want the file checked and formatted before you open the form. You leave with a Photo Code and the digital passport photo. You do not leave with prints.
From the homepage, choose Create my photo & code, or open the create page. The same order is on online passport photos. 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 code can be used for an HMPO online application.
You still took the photograph yourself. The passport fee is a separate payment to HM Passport Office.
- Take the photograph first, on the rear camera, with the distances in the next section. Leave it uncropped and leave filters off.
- Upload the original and look at the preview. Retake a shadow, a second person, hair across an eye, or a smile before you pay.
- Pay once. 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. Where to type it is in what a UK passport Photo Code is.
- Use it while the file is held. Photos are kept for as long as the service needs them, normally 48 hours. The same steps sit beside the form on how it works and in how to get a code online.
When should you pay for a shop, a booth or the Post Office?
Pay the shop price when you need the prints, or when you want someone else to take the photograph.
A paper form needs two identical prints, 45mm high by 35mm wide, on plain white photographic paper, sent loose and not stuck to the form. The head is 29mm to 34mm from crown to chin. The background is plain cream or light grey. Those rules are on printed photos. A Photo Code does not replace the two prints.
Take a baby or toddler to a counter if you are not confident at home. Max Spielmann’s table says its booths are not suitable for babies or toddlers. Expression and eye rules change with age, in UK passport photos for babies and young children. One child in the frame, with no toy, no dummy, and no visible supporting hand.
A booth suits an adult who can stand and follow a screen. Max Spielmann’s page puts a booth sitting at about 3 minutes and a staffed sitting at about 5 minutes, with up to 10 booth retakes. Those times are the shop’s. A fixed camera is awkward if you need to sit. Use a phone at face height, or a shop that can lower the camera.
Digital Check and Send is £16 on top of the passport fee. Staff take the photograph and help with the online form, so that visit already includes the photo. Paper Check and Send checks the form and the documents. Buy the prints first. Snappy Snaps publishes no national price: ask the branch. The page includes prints and a digital ID code. Some branches, and Max Spielmann shops, describe help finishing the form for an extra fee with no number published. Ask before you add it.
Timpson and Max Spielmann also list driving licence photos at £12.99. In Great Britain that is a different job. DVLA uses the photograph held for your UK passport, or a new upload, which is set out in can I use a passport photo code for my driving licence. Timpson’s page says a problem with the passport photo means another sitting at no extra cost. Max Spielmann’s shop page says up to 10 retakes in the sitting. Both notes were on their pages on 27 October 2026, and neither changes the passport fee.
How do you take the home photograph so the fee is worth paying?
How to take a digital passport photo sets the distances. The faults that waste the fee are ordinary: a shadow, a smile, a second person, glare.
- Use a plain light wall and move hooks and shelves out of the frame. Digital photos ask for a light background with clear contrast. Prints use cream or light grey. If a brilliant white wall swallows the hair, move closer to the window. Do not add a lamp behind you.
- Stand about 50 centimetres from the wall, so the shadow falls off the background.
- The person with the phone stands about 1.5 metres away, rear camera, level with your face. On your own, use a timer. An arm’s-length selfie widens the face and cuts off the shoulders.
- Face the window and switch the ceiling light off. Skip the flash. If one cheek is darker, turn and shoot again.
- Include head, shoulders and upper body. Do not crop. The form does that.
- Plain expression, mouth closed, eyes open, looking at the lens. Keep hair off the eyes.
- Glasses off unless you have to wear them. If they stay, they cannot be tinted. Turn until the window is no longer a white block in the lenses.
Snappy Snaps’ FAQ describes a clear white background. Follow GOV.UK: cream or light grey for prints, plain and light for a digital photo. More of the room is in how to take a UK passport photo at home.
A file you upload yourself on GOV.UK has to be in colour, at least 600 pixels wide and 750 pixels tall, and between 50KB and 10MB. The same page says it must be unaltered by computer software, so leave portrait mode and skin smoothing off. You do not resize it for this site. Retake a shadow, a second person, glare or a smile before you pay, and take a new photograph from the last month rather than scanning the one already in the passport.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a UK passport photo code cost in 2026?
£2.99 once on this site, for the Photo Code and the digital passport photo. On 27 October 2026 Timpson lists shop photos starting at £12.99, and Max Spielmann lists £12.99 in a staffed shop or £10 at a booth, with prints included.
Does that price include the passport fee?
No. An adult renewal online is £102 to HM Passport Office. A child passport online is £66.50. The photograph is a separate payment.
Do I get printed photos for £2.99?
You get the Photo Code and the digital passport photo. A paper application still needs two identical prints from a booth or a shop.
Can I take the photograph on GOV.UK without paying for a code?
Yes. You can take it on your own device during the application, with no separate photo charge. That page says a booth or shop photograph is more likely to succeed than one you take that way. £2.99 is the order for a checked file, a Photo Code and the digital photo before you start.
Does a photo booth include a code?
Max Spielmann’s booth row says £10 includes four prints and a digital code, and that the booth is not for babies or toddlers. The FAQ says sets start from £10, so read the price on the machine.
Is Post Office Check and Send the same as buying a photo?
Digital Check and Send is £16 on top of the passport fee, and that £16 includes the photograph and help with the online form. Paper Check and Send is £16 as well, and you bring your own photographs.