While the CVS pharmacies remain the most popular option for getting your passport photo done offline with thousands of stores open across the U.S, there are a few other ways you could go about having your passport picture done and save money.
Take Your Passport Photo Online
Normally a set of two photos at CVS will cost you about $14.99. You can definitely use coupons to get it cheaper, vouchers are available at most locations.
Otherwise you could try cutting the price by following a couple easy steps:
- Take your photo using a smartphone or your camera at home
- Upload it to Visafoto online passport photo service
- Most likely you need a US passport photo, but you can select any other passport or visa photo for any country in the world
- The photo is processed online automatically, so you’re not required to do anything manually
- Receive a perfectly compliant passport photo. You get a digital photo and a template of four, which you can reuse later!
By getting your U.S passport photo online, you receive a perfectly valid product for only $7.
Remember the main requirements for a U.S passport photo:
- Plain white background: either a wall, sheet or blanket is fine
- Face uncovered, eyes facing the camera
- No glasses
- No head coverings other than for religious reasons
- Contrasting clothing, preferably black against the white backdrop
Once you have your digital photo, you can use the CVS printing services to print it out and use as needed.
Printing a Digital Photo at a CVS Store
Most U.S offline photo printing centres have similar prices for their services: CVS and Walgreens take $14.99 for two printed photos, FedEx and USPS take $14.95 and $15 respectively.
Who wants to pay that much for a photo you can only use once? By getting your photo online as previously mentioned, you’re not only saving $10, but getting a decent digital version of your photo that you can keep for other purposes.
To get a printed photo from CVS for only $0.35 follow these basic steps:
- Get your digitized photo ready
- Go to your nearest CVS or use their mobile app
- Pick the “Prints and Enlargements” service
- Save your photo template and choose 4×6 print
- Submit your paid request and pick up the order at your closest pharmacy
4×6 print size is enough to get 4 perfect passport sized photos that you can use however you find best!
There you go, now you have a great passport photo as well as roughly $10 saved.
Pros of Getting Your Photo Done Online
Pros of online passport photo services:
- You get a digital copy
- No need to go out
- You are taking your own photo: you are in charge of how you’re gonna look in the picture!
- Only 5 minutes in total to process: from upload to download
- Roughly $7 per photos and extra $0.35 for print outs
- There’s a refund guarantee if the photo doesn’t comply
Besides, an online service allows you to take photos for any other country as well. You can get perfectly acceptable photos from the comfort of your home, just read the requirements and get yourself ready.
Obviously, you will need to go out to print out the photos, but that’s still better than getting a low-quality quick CVS photo.