Passport and visa photo sizes by country
Exact passport and visa photo sizes for the US, UK, Schengen, Canada, Australia, India and China: photo size, head size, background, and the digital pixel sizes for online forms.
Most rejected passport photos aren't blurry or badly lit. They fail on measurements: the head is a few millimetres too small, the photo is the wrong shape, or the background is the wrong shade. The rules are strict because the photo has to work with face-matching systems at border control, so an official won't let a near miss through.
Below are the sizes for the countries people ask about most, what "head size" actually means, and how to take a photo at home that passes.
Sizes at a glance
| Document | Photo size | Head (chin to crown) | Background |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States passport and visa | 2 × 2 in (51 × 51 mm) | 1 to 1⅜ in (25–35 mm) | White or off-white |
| United Kingdom passport | 35 × 45 mm | 29–34 mm | Plain cream or light grey |
| Schengen visa, most EU passports | 35 × 45 mm | 32–36 mm | Plain and light (light grey is common) |
| Canada passport | 50 × 70 mm | 31–36 mm | Plain white or light-coloured |
| Australia passport | 35–40 × 45–50 mm | 32–36 mm | Plain white or light grey |
| India visa | 2 × 2 in (51 × 51 mm) | 25–35 mm | White |
| China visa | 33 × 48 mm | 28–33 mm (head width 15–22 mm) | White |
35 × 45 mm with a 32–36 mm head is the international (ICAO) layout, so if your country isn't listed, that's the most likely size. Always check the issuing office's own page before you print: rules do change.
What "head size" really means
This is where most home-made photos go wrong. Head size is measured from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head, the crown. It's not measured to the eyebrows or the hairline, and it doesn't include a big hairstyle sticking up above the skull. If your hair is voluminous, the crown is roughly where the top of your skull would be.
On a 35 × 45 mm photo, a 32–36 mm head fills about 70–80% of the height. That's much closer than most people expect. A typical phone snapshot, cropped to the right shape, leaves the head at maybe half the height, which is too small. On a US 2 × 2 inch photo the head takes 50–69% of the height, so there's a bit more room around it.
The eyes matter too. The US asks for the eyes to sit between 1⅛ and 1⅜ inches from the bottom of the photo, which in practice means a bit above the middle.
Rules nearly every country shares
- Recent. Taken in the last six months, showing how you look now.
- Neutral face. Mouth closed, eyes open, looking straight at the camera. A slight natural smile is fine for the US; most others want no smile.
- Even light. No shadows on the face or behind the head, no shine on the forehead, no red eyes.
- No filters or retouching. Phone beauty modes count. Turn them off.
- Glasses. The US doesn't accept glasses at all, except with a medical statement. The UK asks you to take them off if you can. Elsewhere they're usually allowed if there's no glare and the frames don't cover the eyes, but taking them off is the safe choice.
- Head coverings only for religious or medical reasons, with the full face visible from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead.
Taking the photo at home
You don't need a studio, but you do need a second person. Selfies are taken at arm's length with a wide-angle lens, which makes the nose look bigger and the ears smaller. Photo checkers and officials notice.
- Stand about half a metre in front of a plain, light wall. Standing away from the wall keeps your shadow off it.
- Face a window during the day, so the light falls evenly on your face. Avoid overhead lamps; they put shadows under the eyes.
- Ask someone to stand about 1.5 metres away and hold the phone at your eye level. Use the back camera, and its 2× lens if it has one.
- Take several shots. Pick one where both ears show evenly and your shoulders are level.
Then crop it to the exact size with the right head size. That's the fiddly part, and it's what our passport photo maker does for you: it finds your face, sets the head size for the country you pick, and can swap the background for plain white or grey.
Try it: Passport & visa photoMake a passport or visa photo for the US, UK, Schengen, Canada and more: white background, right head size, print sheet.Printing it
Don't print a single photo on a full sheet. Order a standard 4 × 6 inch (10 × 15 cm) print at a pharmacy or photo kiosk, with several passport photos laid out on it. Six US photos or eight 35 × 45 mm photos fit on one, and it usually costs less than a single photo at a studio.
The one thing to check is scaling. The print must come out at 100%. If an app or printer "fits to page", every photo shrinks and the head size is wrong again. After printing, measure one photo with a ruler before you cut them out.
Digital photos for online applications
Online forms usually want a file rather than a print, and they set pixel and file-size limits instead of millimetres:
- US visa (DS-160): a square JPEG, at least 600 × 600 and at most 1200 × 1200 pixels, no bigger than 240 KB.
- UK passport online: at least 600 pixels wide and 750 pixels tall.
- Exam and job portals often ask for something like 200 × 230 pixels under 50 KB, plus a signature at its own size.
Keep the original, high-quality photo, and make a smaller copy for each form. Squeezing one file down again and again makes it blotchy, and some systems reject photos that look over-compressed.
Try it: Photo & signature resizerGet a photo or signature to the exact pixels and KB an online form asks for. Change the background to white or blue.Official pages
Requirements in this guide were current when we wrote it, but the issuing office always has the final word. Before you submit, check:
- United Kingdom: gov.uk/photos-for-passports
- United States: travel.state.gov (Passports, then Photos)
- Canada: canada.ca (Canadian passports, then Passport photos)
- Australia: passports.gov.au (Photo guidelines)
- Schengen visas: the website of the embassy or visa centre you're applying through