What each preset is built from

Each preset in the checker is built from one row of the first table below. These are the most widely quoted official values: we last checked the sources in September 2026 and re-read the India and China ones on 1 October 2026. Consulates revise their rules and read edge cases in their own way, so use the tables to prepare and the issuing authority’s page to decide.

Measured by the five checks

Preset	Print size	Pixels	Head size, crown to chin	Background	File limits
US passport & visa	2×2 in (51×51 mm)	600–1200 px square	25–35 mm (≈49–69%)	plain white / off-white	≤240 KB JPEG (DS-160)
UK passport	35×45 mm	≥600×750 px	29–34 mm (64–76%)	plain light grey or cream	50 KB–10 MB
Schengen / EU visa	35×45 mm	portal-specific (checker: ≥400×514 px)	32–36 mm (71–80%)	plain light	varies by consulate
China visa	33×48 mm	354–420 × 472–560 px (Macau CVASC guide)	28–33 mm (58–69%)	white	~40–120 KB JPEG (COVA)
India passport	35×45 mm print (paper forms, under-4s; no file limits)	630×810 px upload (ICAO guideline, missions abroad), the file this preset checks	face fills 80–85% of photo	white	uploads only: ≤250 KB at Bern; format not stated
India e-visa	digital only (square)	≥350×350 px	no official band	plain light-coloured or white	JPEG, 10 KB–1 MB

Left to you: rules the checker can’t measure

Preset	Photo age	Glasses	Expression
US passport & visa	≤6 months	not allowed	neutral, mouth closed
UK passport	≤1 month (online)	allowed when needed, no glare	neutral, mouth closed
Schengen / EU visa	≤6 months	discouraged	neutral, mouth closed
China visa	≤6 months	not allowed (Macau CVASC form guide)	neutral
India passport	recent	ICAO: taken off; paper forms: no coloured or dark glasses	natural, mouth closed
India e-visa	recent	without spectacles	not stated

Where the numbers come from

Each figure traces back to an official page. The print rule and the upload rule can sit on different pages, and application centres sometimes add their own limits, so open the page for your document before you shoot:

• United States: the State Department’s photo requirements.
• United Kingdom: GOV.UK’s rules for passport photos.
• Schengen / EU: Annex VI of the EU Visa Code sets the 70–80% head-height rule, and the Commission’s visa policy pages point on to visa guidance. Upload rules come from your consulate or visa centre.
• China: the Macau visa centre’s application form guide gives the 354–420 × 472–560 px window and says not to wear glasses; a CVASC online-form FAQ limits that form to 354×472 px. Your own centre’s limits come first.
• India passport: Passport Seva’s ICAO photo guideline (630×810 px, face 80–85%, white background), its instruction booklet for prints on paper forms, and its FAQ on photos taken at a PSK, which also covers children under 4.
• India e-visa: the e-Visa photo FAQ sets 10 KB–1 MB and a square crop, and the official sample application form adds the 350×350 px minimum. The older /visa/VSS_IMAGE.pdf covers the regular visa, not the e-Visa.

When a portal’s live instructions disagree with these pages, the portal wins — and please tell us, so the tables can be corrected.

India: photos taken at the PSK

Most passport applicants in India never bring a photo. Staff at a Passport Seva Kendra or Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (PSK/POPSK) photograph everyone aged 4 and over during the visit (Passport Seva FAQ). Children under 4 are the exception: they need one recent 4.5 × 3.5 cm colour print on a white background (how to apply; photo guideline for minors). Paper applications handed in at a District Passport Cell (DPC), Speed Post centre (SPC) or Citizen Service Centre (CSC) also need one recent colour print of that size, with a plain white background, on good-quality photo paper; the instruction booklet refuses computer printouts and eyes hidden behind coloured or dark glasses, and the print must not be signed.

India: the 2025 switch at missions abroad

The 2025 change happened at Indian missions abroad, not in India. Embassies and consulates replaced their older, mission-by-mission photo rules with Passport Seva’s ICAO guideline, each on its own date — for example Vienna and Cairo from 1 September 2025, and Bern (with uploads capped at 250 KB) and Doha from 1 December 2025. Cairo and Doha tied the change to their move to the new mission portal, GPSP 2.0. The guideline asks for 630×810 px, a face filling 80–85% of the photo and a white background. It names no file format and no minimum size, so the checker only warns above Bern’s 250 KB cap and treats JPEG as the safe choice. Some mission pages still carry older 2×2 in wording (Vienna’s photo-requirements page is one), so go by your own mission’s newest notice. The India e-visa upload is separate and remains square: JPEG, 10 KB–1 MB; its official sample application form gives a minimum of 350×350 px. India sources re-read on 1 October 2026.

China: why only 354×472 px passes

The Macau centre’s form guide allows 354–420 × 472–560 px, but a CVASC online-form FAQ dated 26 August 2026 says that form accepts nothing larger than 354×472 px. The China preset therefore passes 354×472 exactly and warns on a larger file that still sits inside the wider window. The limits printed on your own centre’s form take priority.

What the head-size check measures

Head size is the one number you set by hand. In the checker, click the crown — the top of the hair, not the hairline — and then the bottom of the chin; if your browser has a face detector, it suggests the two points first and labels the result as an estimate. The gap between the two marks, taken as a share of the photo’s height, is compared with the preset’s band. That share differs a lot between documents: 25–35 mm on the 51 mm US photo is roughly half to two-thirds of the height, while Schengen’s 32–36 mm on a 45 mm photo comes to about 71–80%. A crop tuned for one country therefore tends to fail the next one’s band, which is why the checker asks for the preset before it measures anything.

How the pixel and file checks apply upload limits

On paper only the print size matters; an online form adds pixel and byte limits on top. This is how the checker treats them, preset by preset:

• US visa (DS-160 / CEAC): the form takes a square JPEG from 600×600 up to 1200×1200 px, no larger than 240 KB. The resolution check tests the 600 px minimum only, so shrink a large phone photo yourself — more pixels do not help here — and expect the file check to fail anything over 240 KB.
• UK online renewal: a JPEG of at least 600×750 px, between 50 KB and 10 MB. The file check warns under 50 KB, the floor that heavily compressed photos fall through.
• Schengen / EU visa: each consulate’s portal sets its own pixel and byte limits, so the resolution check uses the checker’s own floor of 400×514 px, and the file check applies no byte limit and only flags a file that isn’t JPEG.
• China (COVA upload): a JPEG of 40–120 KB. The Macau centre guide’s window of 354–420 × 472–560 px is a ≈3:4 shape, wider than the 33×48 mm print, while some current centre forms stop at 354×472 px — the one size the China preset passes outright.
• India passport through a mission abroad: 630×810 px with the face at 80–85% of the frame, per Passport Seva’s ICAO guideline, and no more than 250 KB in Bern; because only Bern’s notice sets that cap, the file check warns above it instead of failing. The guideline names no file format and no minimum size, so JPEG is simply the safe choice. Applicants at a PSK in India never prepare this file: the photo is taken there, and under-4s bring a print. Preparing a 4.5 × 3.5 cm print instead, for a child under 4 or a paper form? Use the same preset for the 7:9 shape and the 80–85% head band, and ignore its pixel-window and 250 KB results, which apply only to uploads.
• India e-visa: a square JPEG of 10 KB–1 MB; the official sample form asks for at least 350×350 px. It is a separate spec that is still current, not a variant of the passport one.

Using a preset for a country that isn’t listed

Plenty of countries reuse one of these sizes. Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France and Germany use the 35×45 mm print with a 32–36 mm head, so the Schengen preset is the nearest match (national details vary slightly). Canada is the exception at 50×70 mm with a 31–36 mm head: no preset here fits it, and neither does a US or EU crop. Brazil uses 5×7 cm. For anywhere else, look up two numbers, the print size and the head height; the remaining rules usually follow the ICAO pattern of a plain light background, a neutral expression, a recent photo and no retouching.

What the checker can and can’t tell you

The checker on the homepage holds six presets (US, UK, Schengen/EU, China, India passport and India e-visa) and reads five things from a file: its proportions or pixel window, its resolution, the head height you mark, the background tone and the file size. A file can’t show your expression, shadows on your face, how old the photo is or glare on your glasses; the rejection reasons guide covers those. For the full US State Department rule list with the rejection behind each item, see the US requirements checklist; for how the print sizes above convert into the pixel dimensions an upload portal measures, see passport photo pixel size.

Frequently asked questions

Do passport photo rules differ from country to country?

Yes, though less than you might fear. A 35×45 mm print with the head taking up about 70–80% of the frame covers most of Europe and much of Asia. The US wants a 2×2 in square and China a 33×48 mm print. India uses a 4.5 × 3.5 cm print on its own paper forms, while its missions abroad have moved to a 630×810 px ICAO photo. Two documents with the same print size can still differ in head-size band and file limits, so pick the preset for the exact document you are applying for.

What does 'head size' actually measure?

The distance from the top of the head, hair included, down to the bottom of the chin. Rules give it either in millimetres on the print or as a share of the photo's height: the US asks for 25–35 mm on its 51 mm photo (about 49–69%), Schengen for 32–36 mm on a 45 mm photo (about 71–80%). In the checker you set it with two clicks, crown first and then chin, unless your browser's face detector offers an estimate first.

Do online uploads follow different rules from prints?

Often, yes. Paper has no byte count, but the online form you fill in first usually sets one. The US visa form (DS-160) takes a JPEG of 600–1200 px under 240 KB. The UK portal wants at least 600×750 px and a file of 50 KB to 10 MB. Indian missions abroad that accept uploads ask for 630×810 px, and the embassy in Bern caps the file at 250 KB. India's e-visa takes a square JPEG of 10 KB to 1 MB, at least 350×350 px according to its official sample form. A file has to clear the pixel rule and the byte rule at once.

Is a white background always required?

Almost always something plain and pale. The US, China and India ask for plain white or off-white, the UK accepts light grey or cream, and Schengen guidance asks for a plain light background. Patterns, textures, scenery and shadows are refused by every authority, and a busy wall is one of the most common reasons a photo comes back.

How recent must the photo be?

For US passports and visas, Schengen visas and most other documents: no more than six months old. UK online applications want a photo under one month old. India's passport rules set no number of months; Passport Seva asks for a recent photo that shows how you look now. Whatever the limit, a real change in appearance — glasses you now have to wear, a large change in weight, facial surgery — calls for a new photo, however recent the old one is.

Can I reuse the same photo for different countries?

Only where two specs overlap, and that is rare. A 2×2 in US photo has to be re-cropped before it can serve as a 35×45 mm Schengen photo, and even then the head-size bands differ enough that the same framing can fail. Shoot once, crop a separate copy for each document, and run every copy through the checker with its own preset.