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Passport and visa photo sizes by country (official rules, with sources)

By Cuelark Team · · 6 min read

Passport size photo print sheet · free, runs in your browser, nothing uploaded

Photo rules are set by the country that issues the passport or visa, not by the country you live in. This table collects the size rules from each government's own pages, with a link to the page each row comes from. It covers the printed size, the head size, digital upload rules where the government publishes them, and whether you may edit the photo yourself.

Checked 10 November 2026. Rules change. Before you print or upload, open the official link for your document and follow it if it differs from this page. This page is a summary, not an official source, and no tool can promise a photo will be accepted.

Printed photo size by country

DocumentPhoto sizeHead size (chin to crown)Source
United States passport2 × 2 in (51 × 51 mm)1 to 1 3/8 in (25–35 mm)U.S. Department of State
United States visa (printed photo, e.g. DS-260 immigrant visa)2 × 2 in (51 × 51 mm)1 to 1 3/8 in, or 50–69% of the image heightU.S. Department of State
United Kingdom passport (paper form)35 mm wide × 45 mm high29–34 mmGOV.UK
Canada passport (in person or by mail)50 mm wide × 70 mm high (2 × 2¾ in)31–36 mmGovernment of Canada
Australia passport35–40 mm wide × 45–50 mm high32–36 mmAustralian Passport Office
Schengen visa, German missions35 × 45 mmFace 32–36 mm (70–80% of the photo)German Federal Foreign Office
China visa33 mm wide × 48 mm highHead 28–33 mm high, 15–22 mm wideEmbassy of the P.R. China
India passport, applicants under 4 at a Passport Seva Kendra4.5 × 3.5 cmNot stated on that pagePassport Seva, Government of India

Digital photo and upload rules

DocumentDigital ruleSource
United States passport, online renewalJPG, JPEG, PNG, HEIC or HEIF; 54 KB to 10 MB; colour; taken in the last 6 monthsU.S. Department of State
United States Diversity Visa entryJPEG, 600 × 600 pixels, square, 240 kB or less. A scanned 2 × 2 in print must be scanned at 300 pixels per inchU.S. Department of State
United Kingdom passport, onlineAt least 600 px wide and 750 px tall; 50 KB to 10 MB; unaltered by softwareGOV.UK
India passport, applications through Indian missions abroad (from 1 December 2025)630 × 810 pixels, white background, face 80–85% of the photo. The Embassy in Bern adds a 250 KB maximumConsulate General of India, Toronto, Embassy of India, Bern

Can you edit or crop the photo yourself?

This is where most free photo tools get the rules wrong. Several governments say plainly that the photo must not be altered:

  • United States: "Submit the original, unedited photo without filters or digital changes." The online renewal page says the same: no filters or retouching.
  • United Kingdom: digital photos must be "unaltered by computer software". If you take the photo on your own device during the application, "Do not crop your photo - it will be done for you." Printed photos must not be a cut-down version of a larger picture.
  • Canada: photos must be taken by a commercial photographer or photo studio, professionally printed, and be "an original photo that isn't altered or edited in any way". The page says this includes photo editing software, filters and AI tools, and that photos printed at home are not accepted.
  • Australia: no retouching. Prints must be made by dye sublimation (not an inkjet printer) on glossy paper of at least 200 gsm, and the Passport Office does not recommend online passport photo services or mobile apps, warning that they may put you at risk of identity fraud.
  • India (missions abroad): the Embassy of India in Bern says photos can be taken at any professional studio, and an applicant who cannot visit one may use a paint tool to make the background uniform (preferably white) and crop the photo so the face covers about 85% of the image. Instructions are published by each mission, so follow the page of the mission you apply to.

What this means for you: for a UK, Canadian, Australian or US passport, do not edit the photo. Use an online tool only to check it: measure the pixel size, the file size and the format against the table above, and if it fails, take a new photo or go to a photographer. A print layout tool such as our photo print sheet only arranges copies of a photo you already have at the size you choose. It does not make a photo acceptable.

Pixel sizes at 300 DPI

Most rules give a printed size in millimetres or inches. If you need the pixel count to print at that size, multiply the size in inches by the print resolution. These are our own calculations at 300 DPI, not part of any official rule:

Printed sizePixels at 300 DPI
2 × 2 in (51 × 51 mm)600 × 600
35 × 45 mm413 × 531
50 × 70 mm (Canada)591 × 827
33 × 48 mm (China visa)390 × 567
35 × 40 mm413 × 472

Our resize image in cm tool does the same arithmetic for any size and DPI, and the print size calculator shows how large a photo can print sharply.

Head size: why it matters most

The head-size range is the rule photos fail most often, because it depends on how far away the camera was, not on how the file is cropped afterwards. The governments in the table measure from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head (the crown). Cropping a file tighter or looser changes the head size on paper, which is why the UK and Canada tell you not to crop and why a professional photographer, who knows the target range, is the safer route for those passports.

Sources

All pages opened or read on 10 November 2026 unless noted.

Found a rule that changed? Email contact@cuelark.com and we will re-check the official source and update the table.