What a passport photo requirement actually contains
A passport or visa photo specification is really five separate rules, and an application fails if any one of them is broken:
- Physical or pixel dimensions. Either a print size in millimetres (35 × 45 mm is the international standard) or a pixel range (600 × 600 to 1200 × 1200 for the US). Millimetres are meaningless without a resolution, which is why this tool writes DPI metadata into the file.
- Aspect ratio. 35 × 45 mm is 7:9. The US wants square. Japan wants square at 45 × 45 mm. These are different shapes, so a photo cannot simply be resized between them.
- File size. Often a ceiling, sometimes a window with a floor as well.
- Head size in frame. Stated as a percentage of image height, and it varies more between countries than anything else on this list.
- Composition. Background colour, expression, glasses, head coverings, shadows, recency.
The tool above handles the first four automatically once you pick a requirement. The fifth is on you, but every requirement page lists exactly what to check.
Head size is the rule people get wrong
Dimensions and file size are at least visible in your file manager. Head size is not, and it is the reason a photo that "looks fine" comes back rejected.
| Requirement | Head height | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| US passport & visa | 50–69% | Head and shoulders, noticeably zoomed out |
| Schengen visa | 70–80% | Tight crop, face fills most of the frame |
| India Passport Seva | 60–75% | Between the two |
The dashed guides on the crop box mark the correct positions for whichever requirement you selected. Line the top of your head up with the upper guide and your chin with the lower one.
Taking a photo that will pass
You do not need a studio. You need even light and a plain wall.
- Face a window during the day. Soft, even, front-on light with no shadows. This single choice fixes most rejections.
- Stand about half a metre from the wall. Standing right against it casts a shadow that reads as a patterned background.
- Camera at eye level, about a metre away. Closer distorts facial proportions; a phone held at arm's length is roughly right.
- No flash. It creates a hard shadow behind you and reflections in glasses.
- Neutral expression, mouth closed, both eyes open, looking straight at the lens.
- Remove glasses. Most countries, including the US and UK, now refuse photos with glasses entirely.
- Shoot wide. Include your whole head and shoulders with room to spare, then crop here. You cannot crop back what you did not capture.
The background rule is stricter than you think
"Plain white" does not mean "a white wall". It means a background with no visible texture, gradient or shadow. A white wall with a shadow on one side is a two-tone background and gets rejected.
The requirements also differ by country, and this catches people out: the UK asks for light grey or cream and discourages pure white, while Schengen guidance calls for light grey or light blue. A photo that passes in the US can be refused in Europe purely on background colour.
After you have your photo
Check the downloaded file's size in your file manager before uploading, that is the number the portal reads. If your application also needs a signature, the signature tool handles the same problem for scanned ink. If you need to send supporting documents, the PDF compressor will get them under the portal's limit.
Requirements do change. Every requirement page links to the official source and shows when we last checked it, confirm there before you submit anything that matters.