About PhotoCheck

At a glance

What PhotoCheck does

• Verifies a photo against the published photo requirements of the destination authority for nine standards: US, Schengen, UK, Canada, China, Australia, Japan, and South Korea (K-ETA) visas, plus USCIS Form I-765 for OPT/EAD applicants.
• Returns a structured report scoring the photo against 8 criteria (dimensions, background, head position, eyes, expression, coverage, lighting, image quality) with the rule applied and a recommendation for each failure.
• Optionally — for a one-time $1 — produces a submission-ready JPG resized and recolored to the country’s exact spec, plus a 4×6 inch print sheet with four copies for cutting at home or a photo kiosk.

What PhotoCheck does not do

• Does not guarantee photo acceptance. The final decision rests with the consulate, the visa application center, or the USCIS officer.
• Does not modify the subject during Prep. Glasses, hair, head tilt, closed eyes, or facial expression — none of these are changed. Only the background and lighting are corrected. Those other issues need a fresh photo from the applicant.
• Does not store photos beyond one hour, run facial recognition for identity, or use uploaded images to train models.
• Is not a government service and is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of State, USCIS, UK Visas and Immigration, the European Commission, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China.

How it compares

Retail passport-photo services typically charge $15–$30 to produce a single submission file, and most do not offer a free pre-check. PhotoCheck is structured the other way around: the check is the free product, and the $1 Prep tier is optional for applicants who want a finished file rather than retaking the photo themselves.

Where the rules come from

Each destination’s rule set is encoded from its official source — State Department, USCIS, UK Home Office, the European Commission Schengen Visa Code, IRCC, and the Chinese MFA — and re-verified periodically. The full list with source URLs and last verified dates lives on /methodology. The per-country pages also link the original source at the top of each page.

Status and roadmap

PhotoCheck launched in 2026 and currently supports the standards listed above. A small daily rate limit applies to the free check. There is no subscription tier and no plan to add one. A B2B API and bulk packs for travel agencies are on the v0.2 roadmap; until then, each Prep is a one-off $1 purchase.