Head Coverings, Hats and Jewellery

Religious and medical head coverings are accepted in essentially every country. Everything else is not, and the distinction is about why it is worn rather than what it looks like.

What is permitted

Religious head coverings worn daily as part of religious practice — hijab, turban, kippah, and others. The US, UK, Canada, Schengen countries and Australia all permit these.

Medical head coverings — a head wrap after treatment, a medical bandage. Several countries ask for a signed statement from a medical professional, and the US does.

Some countries ask for a written statement confirming a religious covering is worn daily; most do not, and none requires proof of faith.

The condition, which is the whole rule

The full face must be visible, from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead, with both edges of the face clear.

In practice:

• No shadow cast by the covering across the face. This is the most common failure and it comes from overhead light.
• The hairline or forehead visible — a covering pulled low to the eyebrows is rejected.
• Both sides of the face unobscured, so the outline of the jaw and cheeks can be traced.
• Nothing across the chin.
• No face covering. A niqab or veil covering the face is not accepted anywhere for an identity document.

The requirement is not about how much hair is covered. It is about whether the face can be measured.

Avoiding the shadow

A head covering with any projection — a brim, a fold, a raised edge — casts a shadow onto the forehead and eye sockets under overhead light.

The fix is the same one that fixes most passport photo lighting: face a window rather than standing under a ceiling light. Frontal light removes the shadow entirely, and it is why an overcast day is the most forgiving condition there is.

More on this in the background, which covers the shadow problem in more depth — it fails more photos than colour does.

What is not permitted

• Hats and caps of any kind worn for fashion
• Hoods
• Headbands, unless very thin and clear of the forehead
• Bandanas
• Sunglasses, and glasses generally in the US
• Hair accessories that alter the outline of the head or cast a shadow

Jewellery

Permitted, with the same underlying logic: it must not obscure or distort the face.

• Earrings are fine, including large ones, as long as they do not cover part of the face.
• Facial piercings are generally accepted. They form part of your normal appearance.
• Necklaces are fine — outside the frame in most crops anyway.
• Anything reflective enough to produce a bright spot near the face can cause a problem, which is a lighting issue rather than a jewellery rule.

The general principle across all of this: your photo should show how you normally look, provided every facial feature required for measurement is visible and unshadowed.

Hair

Not covered by these rules, but it fails photos for the same reason.

• Hair must not cross the eyes.
• Large volume is allowed. In the US it counts toward head height — the measurement runs to the top of the hair, so voluminous hair can push a photo out of range.
• Hair falling across one side of the face obscures the outline and is a rejection.

Checking the result

Look at the photo and ask whether a stranger could trace the outline of your face and see both eyes, both cheeks, the chin and the forehead. If yes, the covering is fine.

The rest of the requirements are in why passport photos get rejected, and the crop — frame size and head height, the two things that cannot be judged by eye — is what the passport photo tool handles for any of thirty countries.