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I submitted my citizenship application through NCS today. Unfortunately, it looks like the officer there made an unacceptable mistake. He told me to trimm the passport photos to get rid of the white border. I asked him is it a problem if I cut a little bit of image and he said "No". I cut it and there is no doubt that at least 1mm has gone off. Latter, today after the appointment I was thinking about it and to my shock this what I found a few minutes ago:

"The photographs must be:
• 45 millimetres (mm) high x 35 millimetres (mm) wide (however, please do not trim your photographs to meet this condition)"
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/estates/security/s ... graphs.pdf

I can't believe how incompetent that officer is. He made a mess. What to do now? If I just wait and see what will happen, that will for sure cause delay in getting passport because the HMPO is very strict and it will reject my photos. What are other options?

And another question. If the HMPO rejects my photos, will my referee need to countersign the new photos?

If HO need new photos they will write to you.

Really don't worry about it. The photographs I submitted for my DCPR were nowhere near meeting the requirements but they accepted them anyway.

Thank you both for responding.

ohara wrote:Really don't worry about it. The photographs I submitted for my DCPR were nowhere near meeting the requirements but they accepted them anyway.

DCPR is dealt by UKVI. Passport applications are considered by HMPO and it's much stricter than UKVI. On other forums you can see people testifying their photos were rejected by HMPO due to only 1mm off the prescribed size
Mod edit: 3rd party forum link removed

You shouldn't worry too much as other members have already advised.

I can confirm that when I received my first British Passport, the photos submitted were trimmed (no blank / white area). Mine was a direct application with HMPO via post, it all went without issues.

The guidance actually advises applicants not to trim their photos to fit this size in case they are slighty bigger. If your photos have been taken at a proper photo shop or a certified photo booth (Passport-size photographs), they will be the right size anyway (the actual photo) and therefore once you get rid of the white area around it, you should be just fine.

Good luck with the Naturalisation application!

dapto10 wrote:You shouldn't worry too much as other members have already advised.

I can confirm that when I received my first British Passport, the photos submitted were trimmed (no blank / white area). Mine was a direct application with HMPO via post, it all went without issues.

I don't worry about getting rid of the white area, I am talking about the image. Are you sure you didn't cut a little bit of the actual photo?

Good luck with the Naturalisation application!

Thank you.

There could have been a few microns as I've always used scissors, and you can't be 100% precise with them.

I have only used photo booths at my local Sainsbury's for pretty much all of my IDs, including my Driving Licence years ago, I've had a Registration Certificate with the Home Office before, then a DCPR and never had any problems with photos. All government bodies have pretty much the same requirements. I would usually remove the white area with scissors, try and be as precise as possible.

On a technical note, even if the photos are somewhat unacceptable (which I honestly doubt because they will be more concerned about the background, any reflections, spectacles, and or scarfs or other religious clothing or accessories if you wear such, etc.), this won't affect your Naturalisation Application in any way. The photograph attached to your Referee page is for reference only. They will have your photo taken along with the biometric information.

Worst-case scenario would be getting a request from HMPO for a new set of photos, and that would probably be after you've attended your Citizenship Ceremony.