Can You Smile in a Passport Photo? (2026 Rules Explained)

The ICAO Doc 9303 standard — the framework used by 190+ countries for machine-readable travel documents — specifies that the facial expression should be neutral, with mouth closed, and eyes open and clearly visible. This is not an arbitrary rule.

Smiling displaces the geometry of your face in several ways:

• Your cheeks rise, widening the mid-face area.
• The nasolabial folds (lines from nose to mouth corners) deepen and shift.
• Eye shape changes as the lower eyelid rises and the outer eye corners lift.

Modern biometric facial recognition systems measure the relative distances between key facial landmarks — the corners of the eyes, the nose tip, mouth corners, and chin outline. If those distances shift significantly between your passport photo and your live face at an e-gate scanner, the match confidence drops. A broad smile can reduce recognition accuracy enough to trigger a manual secondary check.

United States

The US State Department is one of the most permissive. Their official guidance states that applicants should have "a neutral facial expression or a natural smile." Both are explicitly accepted. The mouth must remain closed — teeth must not be visible — but a gentle, natural upward curve of the lips is acceptable.

United Kingdom

HMPO (His Majesty's Passport Office) updated its guidance in 2022 to explicitly permit "a natural, relaxed expression." Their official guidance notes that a slight smile is fine. This is a deliberate policy shift toward photos that look more like a natural representation of the person. Teeth must not be visible.

Germany, Switzerland, Austria

All three countries follow the ICAO standard strictly: the expression must be neutral, with mouth closed. Neither a slight smile nor a relaxed expression that raises the cheeks is acceptable. German Bundesdruckerei guidance explicitly states "neutraler Gesichtsausdruck, Mund geschlossen."

France

France applies one of the strictest interpretations. ANTS (Agence Nationale des Titres Sécurisés) requires a strictly neutral expression. The mouth must be closed, and teeth must never be visible. Even a subtle relaxed expression that lifts the cheeks can lead to rejection at the mairie photo check.

Australia

DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) guidance asks for a "neutral expression." In practice, a very slight natural relaxed expression is unlikely to cause rejection, but any noticeable smile — especially one that raises the cheeks or narrows the eyes — should be avoided.

Regardless of which country you are applying in, visible teeth are grounds for rejection. This applies universally — including in the US and UK where a natural smile or relaxed expression is permitted. The key distinction is: a closed-mouth natural expression is acceptable in some countries; an open-mouthed smile showing teeth is not acceptable anywhere.

A rigid, tense expression can make your photo look unnatural and may actually be harder to match biometrically than a relaxed neutral face. Here is a simple technique:

• Look slightly above the lens — not directly into it. This avoids the "staring" effect and keeps your expression naturally soft.
• Breathe out slowly before the photo is taken. Exhaling naturally relaxes the facial muscles, including the jaw and cheeks.
• Part your lips slightly inside your mouth, keeping them closed on the outside. This prevents jaw tension that can make the lower face look stiff.
• Blink deliberately once just before the shot — this resets your eye aperture and avoids wide, tense eyes.