Searching "passport photo near me" usually surfaces five places: CVS, Walgreens, USPS / Post Office, Costco Photo, and Walmart Photo. All five charge between $7 and $17 for a pair of 2×2 inch photos. Online services like Photo-Visa.Online deliver the same State-Department-compliant 2×2 in photo for $3–$4. This guide compares all options on price, time, acceptance rate, and convenience for 2026.
| Service | Price | Time | Acceptance rate | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walmart Photo Center | $7.44 | 1 hour | ~95% | Cheapest in-store option |
| Costco Photo | $5.99 (member) | 1 hour | ~95% | Costco members |
| CVS Pharmacy | $16.99 | 10 min | ~93% | Walk-in convenience |
| Walgreens Photo | $16.99 | 10 min | ~92% | Walk-in convenience |
| USPS / Post Office | $15 | 15 min | ~94% | Combine with passport submission |
| FedEx Office / UPS Store | $14.95 | 10 min | ~90% | If you're already there |
| Online (Photo-Visa.Online) | $3 digital / $4 print-ready | 2 minutes | ~99% | Lowest cost, highest pass rate |
At any pharmacy or photo lab, the process is identical: you pay first, an associate takes the photo with a basic camera, prints two 2×2 in copies on a 4×6 in sheet, cuts them, and hands them over. The associate is not a trained photographer — pass rates depend on how many passport photos that location does per day and whether the associate uses the photo software's auto-validation.
Both CVS and Walgreens use the same Kodak Picture Maker software, which has a built-in template overlay for U.S. passport photos. The photo is taken against a portable white screen, two prints come out in under 10 minutes. Both offer a money-back guarantee if the State Department rejects the photo — but you'll still have lost the original processing time and need to redo your passport application.
Walmart Photo Center charges $7.44 — less than half of CVS. Costco is $5.99 for members. Both take 30 min to 1 hour because passport photos go into a print queue with regular orders. The acceptance rate is the same as CVS/Walgreens — the Kodak/Fujifilm passport software is industry standard.
If you're applying for a first-time passport (DS-11), you must visit a Passport Acceptance Facility (most are USPS branches). Many offer photos for $15. Bundling photo + application is convenient but not cheap. Make an appointment first — walk-ins often face 2-hour waits.
Online passport photo services have one major cost advantage: no physical store, no associate, no paper printer rental. The photo is generated by an AI face-detection model that crops to exactly 2×2 in, replaces the background to State-Department white, and validates head height and eye position before payment. You pay only when the photo is provably compliant.
Total cost: $3 (digital only) to $4.39 (digital + 4×6 in print at CVS). Compared to $16.99 at CVS for the in-store option, online saves 75–82%.
Online services run automated biometric validation against the State Department's exact rules — head height in pixels, eye line position, background uniformity, color cast detection. The store-employee process at CVS/Walgreens depends on the associate's training and willingness to retake the shot. PhotoAiD, Passport Photo Online, and Photo-Visa.Online all report 98–99% first-time acceptance rates. The State Department's own photo tool data shows in-store rejection rates of 5–8%.
Three cases where "passport photo near me" beats online:
For most U.S. residents in 2026, the best passport photo workflow is:
Total: under $5, vs $17 at CVS or Walgreens. Same 2×2 in photo, same State Department compliance, higher first-time acceptance rate.