UK Passport Photos in Penang

Anyone looking to renew a UK passport will quickly become aware of the VERY stringent requirements Her Majesty's Passport Office (HMPO) sets for a passport photo to be accepted.  Not only must the dimensional requirements be met but also those for the colour of the background - light cream or light grey.

There are many photo and printing shops in Penang where you can get passport style photos done BUT you need to be aware that many are unable to provide photos that comply with the UK's HMPO requirements, the background colour posing a particular problem.  And while some can get the overall size right there can often be errors with regard to the min/max dimensions WITHIN the picture.  Having done some scouting around though I came across one shop that could supply them.

The shop is called HK Photo and it is located on the first floor (this means the first level up, not the ground floor which '1st' often means here) of the Midland One-Stop shopping Centre on Jalan Burma. The centre is just past Penang Adventist Hospital on the opposite side of the road. On entering the shopping centre via the main steps you go straight down and take the passage way to the left which will bring you inside the covered shopping area with escalators, go up to the first level and HK Photo is on that floor, straight ahead on the left as you go up the escalator

The staff are very friendly and helpful and, importantly, as soon as I mentioned UK passport photos they immediately pulled out the the current details of requirements and with what I was wearing etc. even suggested the cream background.  The photo's are taken on-site and can be collected after just a 15-20 minute wait and cost just RM 20.  For this you will get your 4 passport photos plus a disc with the images should you wish to save them and print more yourself for other purposes.

The phone number for HK Photo is: +60 4 227 3120 and there are also two mobile numbers that you can use +60 16 470 0341 (John C. H. Tan) and +60 12 459 2953 (Tony Tan).  They have a website and you can email them at: digitalprintinggift@gmail.com.  While this article is about UK passport photos HK Photo can supply photos for any passport and also provide a wide range of other printing services.