Northern Ireland pharmacies: how to offer a UK passport photo code

A pharmacy in Northern Ireland can issue a UK passport Photo Code for a British passport. The customer types that code into the HM Passport Office online application, and the form retrieves the digital photograph. The same counter is also asked for a driving-licence code and for an Irish passport photograph. Keep those as separate jobs.

Updated 26 October 2026. Passport Photo Code is independent of GOV.UK, HM Passport Office, the Driver and Vehicle Agency and the Irish Passport Service. HM Passport Office makes the final decision on every British passport photograph. The rules are on photos for passports, how to take a digital passport photo and Photo standards (version 51.0, updated 4 March 2026). Checked on 26 October 2026. If an official page changes, it wins.

Which form is open on their phone?

Ask before anyone stands on the mark. "Photo code" arrives from three offices, and a guess hands over a reference the form cannot retrieve.

What they are applying for	Who runs the form	What you hand over
British passport, online	HM Passport Office, on GOV.UK	A digital photo that meets GOV.UK photo rules, a Photo Code for the HMPO application, and prints if they want paper
British passport, on paper	HM Passport Office, by post	Prints 45mm high by 35mm wide
Driving licence in Northern Ireland	DVA, on nidirect	A code only if your shop is on the nidirect list
Irish passport	Irish Passport Service	A file or prints to their guidelines. Their code comes from the booths they name

The British row is the Passport Photo Studio job. Pin the four rows beside the camera.

Why does this counter hear all three?

The customer is usually mid-queue, and a screen has told them to get a code. Photos for passports tells a British applicant to get a digital photo from a booth or shop, with a code, before they apply. They enter the code and the photo is added. GOV.UK presents that route as the one to prefer over a photo taken on their own device during the application. Prints alone send them onwards, and the print sale goes too.

A metre of plain wall and a browser covers the British job. The footprint is on the pharmacy page.

What do you ask before the first frame?

Say the price first. Prints plus a Photo Code is the British package, with a print-only line for paper. How to set the card is in what to charge for prints plus a code. A listed DVA outlet keeps that code on its own line.

1. Which form is open? British passport, Irish passport, or a Northern Ireland driving licence. Ask them to show the site if they are unsure.
2. Online or paper? Online needs a Photo Code. Paper needs prints, 45mm high by 35mm wide. Photo standards say two prints, unless a renewal needs one and there is no countersignature. Their form wins.
3. Who types the code? Read it back. Watch 0 and O, and 1 and I.
4. When will they apply? The British photograph has to be from the last month, including a renewal or a name change. See renewal and name-change photos.
5. Glasses and head covering? Glasses come off unless they have to stay. A religious or medical covering stays, with the face clear. Detail is in glasses and head coverings.
6. One person, one code. Finish the slip before the next customer.

How do you take the British passport photograph?

The position is the same across the UK. How to take a digital passport photo asks for a light grey or cream wall, with no pattern or object. Stand the person about 50 centimetres off that wall. Put the camera about 1.5 metres away, level with the eyes. Keep the head, shoulders and upper body in frame, and leave the crop to the software.

Step them off any poster until the frame is only wall, or hang a cream cloth and smooth the creases. Light the face from a window or a lamp beside the camera. A ceiling spot leaves a patch behind the head, so check the wall at full size.

Turn portrait mode, beauty filters and flash off. Photos for passports says the file has to be unaltered, in colour, clear and free of red-eye, at least 600 pixels wide and 750 tall, and between 50KB and 10MB. Leave a margin around the head and shoulders.

Which faults mean you shoot again?

Look once, at full size, before you take the money. These are shop faults.

What you see	What you change
Shadow of the head on the wall	Move the light or the person, then shoot again
Glare on glasses	Glasses off if they can come off. Otherwise move the light, wipe the lenses, and reshoot. Leave the pixels alone
Hair or a frame across an eye	Move the hair. Check thick frames at full size
A second person, a hand or a bag	Clear the frame
A poster, shelf or door frame	Move them, or hang the plain cloth
Portrait blur or a beauty filter	Turn it off and shoot the original
A smile, or an open mouth	Plain expression, mouth closed, eyes open
Red-eye	Flash off, then another frame

A flag in the preview means look at that row. HM Passport Office still makes the decision. Under six, a child need not look at the camera or hold a plain expression, and under one the eyes may be closed. A customer in a chair still faces the lens at face height.

How do you issue the code from the till?

Use the shop login. The £2.99 order on this website is a Photo Code and the digital passport photo for someone at home. A walk-in is a studio job.

1. Open Passport Photo Studio on the till browser. A locum uses the same page.
2. Upload the frame you would put the shop's name to. The workspace formats a digital passport photo to the UK specification.
3. Shadow, a second person, red-eye or a filter means another frame from the table above.
4. Create the Photo Code and show them the photograph the form will retrieve.
5. Read the code aloud. On the slip: the code, the date, the shop phone, and "British passport, GOV.UK".
6. Print the sheet on the printer you already own when they want paper.
7. Tell them to type it when the British application asks for a photo code, check the photograph, and remember HM Passport Office still decides.
8. Finish the slip before the next customer.

What do you hand over for an Irish passport?

People here can hold a British passport, an Irish passport, or both. A British Photo Code points at HM Passport Office. Checked on 26 October 2026, the Irish photo guidelines say:

• Their photograph has to be from the last six months. A British job still uses one month when the same person wants both.
• Online they can use a photo someone else took, a shop file by email or USB, or a code from a Photo-Me or ID Station booth. The guidelines name those two, in Ireland and the UK.
• A shop file is a colour JPEG, at least 715 pixels wide and 951 tall, under 9MB, from head to mid-torso, with space around the head. A scan of a print sits outside those rules.
• Glasses may stay on when the frames leave the eyes clear and there is no glare. Dark glasses are out. For a British passport, glasses come off unless they have to stay. Shoot that frame to the British rule.
• A paper form needs four identical photos. The witness writes the form number on two and signs those two. The size range on the page is 35mm by 45mm up to 38mm by 50mm.

Do the British job in the workspace. For the Irish application, supply a file or prints that meet those guidelines, or point them to a booth the guidelines list. Keep the British Photo Code off the Irish slip.

What do you say about a driving licence?

A Northern Ireland driving licence uses the DVA. The nidirect photo page says the code is bought at an outlet on its list, so the DVA can download the photograph. Checked on 26 October 2026, the list includes pharmacies. Use the live page, because names change.

Passport Photo Studio issues a Photo Code for an HMPO online passport application. It does not place a pharmacy on that list. If the list names you, use the process that listing gave you. If it does not, show the customer the page. Either way, keep the licence off the British passport button. Someone who needs both still needs a passport photograph from the last month, done in the studio workspace. The applicant-facing comparison, including Great Britain, is in can I use a passport photo code for my driving licence.

What should you look for in the software?

The job arrives between prescriptions. The tool has to open on the till and give a locum the same steps as the manager. See the studio software guide.

• Three outputs from one British frame. A digital photo that meets GOV.UK photo rules, a Photo Code for the HMPO online application, and a print sheet.
• Your own printer. One-click printing should use the counter printer. Camera shops use the same workspace: camera shops.
• A locum login. When the trained colleague has gone home, decline the job. See pharmacies.
• A cost that follows real sittings. Compare a quiet month with an annual pack on pricing. The door price stays yours.
• A slip that names the form. "British passport, GOV.UK" keeps the other two jobs off that code.

How do you start this week?

1. Open Passport Photo Studio from the studio overview. Use the shop login.
2. Mark 50 centimetres from the wall and 1.5 metres to the camera. Photograph a colleague and fix the poster, the crease and the shadow.
3. Run that frame to a Photo Code and a print sheet. Read the code aloud.
4. Pin the four-row card where the camera lives.
5. Teach one sentence: "This code is for a British passport on GOV.UK. Check the photograph is you. HM Passport Office still decides."
6. Shop plans are on pricing, or email [email protected]. They are quoted for locations and volume.

Frequently asked questions

Can a pharmacy in Northern Ireland issue a UK passport photo code?

Yes, for a British passport. The code can be used for an HMPO online application. The photograph still has to meet GOV.UK photo rules, and HM Passport Office makes the final decision.

Do the photo rules change because the shop is in Northern Ireland?

A British passport uses the same GOV.UK rules as the rest of the UK, including a photograph from the last month. The online application is the GOV.UK service.

What should staff say when someone asks for a photo code?

Ask which form is open. Issue a passport Photo Code for a British application, use the nidirect list for a DVA licence code, and follow the Irish photo guidelines for an Irish passport.

Can this Photo Code be used on a Northern Ireland driving licence?

A DVA code comes from an outlet on the nidirect list. A Photo Code from Passport Photo Studio is for an HMPO online passport application, and issuing it leaves the shop off that list unless the list already names the shop.

Can the customer type this code into an Irish passport application?

The Irish guidelines name Photo-Me and ID Station for a photo code. A British passport code points at HM Passport Office, so supply an Irish file or prints, or send them to a booth those guidelines list.

Should the shop use the £2.99 order for a walk-in?

That £2.99 price is one Photo Code and the digital passport photo for someone at home. A counter customer is a studio job, and shop plans are on the pricing page.

What goes on the slip, and what size are British prints?

Write the code, the date, the shop phone and "British passport, GOV.UK". Photo standards set the prints at 45mm high by 35mm wide, usually two. Glossy or textured paper can cause haze when the print is scanned.

Which pages should staff keep open?

Photos for passports, how to take the photo and Photo standards for a British passport. The DVA photo page for a driving licence. The Irish photo guidelines for an Irish passport. Checked on 26 October 2026.

Before you put it on the door

Ask which form is open, then offer the British job from a plain corner of the shop. Start at the studio overview.