Two separate changes are routinely mixed up on this topic. Since January 2022, Form N-600 applicants inside the United States have had the photo taken at an Application Support Center (ASC) instead of mailing prints, and N-400 filers inside the country were already photographed at the same appointment. What changed on 12 December 2025 is reuse: for Forms I-90, I-485, N-400 and N-600, USCIS will not reuse an older biometrics photo at all, so a fresh capture is required every time. None of that removes the photo requirement for applicants living outside the United States, who still send two prints with the form.
Fast diagnosis
The first mistake is assuming nobody sends photos any more: if you live outside the United States there is no Application Support Center to attend, so Form N-400 still needs two identical colour passport-style photographs with your name and A-Number pencilled on the back. The second is the 30-day rule — a supplied photo must be taken within 30 days of filing, not within six months. The third is assuming a biometrics photo from an earlier filing can be reused; since December 2025 it cannot, regardless of age.
This is not a historical rule — it is the current one. If you reside outside the United States there is no Application Support Center to attend, so Form N-400 requires two identical colour passport-style photographs with your name and A-Number written lightly in pencil on the back of each. A religious head covering is allowed, but your facial features must stay exposed.
Form N-400 and Form N-600 both sit with I-485 and I-90 in the group of filings where USCIS requires a freshly captured photo every time, even if you attended an ASC appointment for a different filing recently. This is stricter than the rule for a work-permit (I-765) filing.
The standard USCIS rule applies: glasses are not permitted at the biometrics appointment unless you cannot remove them for a documented medical reason, supported by a dated letter from your eye doctor.
Even when you file from inside the United States, USCIS may ask for printed passport photographs after your application is already filed. It sends a written request with instructions — missing that request delays the case.
Where a print is sent — filing from outside the United States, or in answer to a later USCIS request — the background must be plain white or off-white, the same rule as a US passport photo.
The naturalization checklist asks for two identical photographs from applicants filing outside the United States. Sending one, or three, is treated as an incomplete filing and delays processing.
Where a supplied photo is required, USCIS asks for one taken within 30 days of filing — not the six months a passport photo is allowed. A print left over from an earlier application is almost always already too old.
It depends on where you live. Filing from inside the United States, the photo is normally captured at your Application Support Center biometrics appointment — though USCIS can still write to you afterwards asking for printed photographs. Filing from outside the United States, there is no Application Support Center to attend, so you send two identical colour passport-style photographs with the form, taken within 30 days of filing.
On reuse, yes. Form N-600 sits in the same group as N-400, I-90 and I-485: since 12 December 2025 USCIS will not reuse an older biometrics photo for any of them, even one taken recently for a different filing. The move from mailing prints to capturing the photo at an appointment happened earlier for N-600, back in January 2022, which is why the two changes are often confused.
Only with a documented medical exception. Bring a dated letter from your eye doctor if you cannot remove your glasses; otherwise expect to be asked to take them off before the photo is taken at your appointment.
Upload a fresh portrait — Anfas.Pro applies the correct crop, background and biometric framing automatically and shows the result before you pay.