Passport and visa photo sizes, country by country
Updated 19 September 2026
Photo rejections are almost never about the camera. They are about size, head height and background — three things that are easy to get right once you know the numbers for the country you are applying to.
Sizes
Every one of these is a preset in the Passport Photo tool, with the head-height band drawn on the picture as you position it.
| Country | Size | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Schengen area, EU passports | 35 × 45 mm | Head 70–80% of the height |
| United Kingdom | 35 × 45 mm | Head 29–34 mm chin to crown |
| United States | 51 × 51 mm (2 × 2 in) | Square; head 25–35 mm |
| Canada | 50 × 70 mm | Head 31–36 mm; taller frame than most |
| Australia | 35 × 45 mm | Head 32–36 mm |
| India | 51 × 51 mm | Square, like the US |
| Bangladesh | 45 × 55 mm | Used for passport and most government forms |
The rules that actually cause rejections
- Background: plain white or off-white for most countries, light grey for some. Any pattern, shadow or doorframe behind you fails.
- Head size: the most common failure. Too far away is rejected as often as too close.
- Expression: neutral, mouth closed, both eyes open and visible.
- Glasses: refused outright by the US, UK and Schengen countries since 2016. Take them off.
- Age of photo: most authorities require one taken within the last six months.
- Head coverings: permitted for religious reasons, but the full face from chin to forehead must be visible.
Taking one at home that passes
- Stand about two metres from a plain white wall, facing a window. Daylight from the front removes shadows behind you.
- Have someone take the photo from around 1.5 metres away at eye level — not above, and not with a phone held at arm’s length, which distorts the face.
- Crop to your country’s size with the head inside the guide band.
- If the wall is not clean enough, replace the background rather than rescheduling the photo.
Questions
- Can I use a phone photo for a passport?
- Yes — no authority requires a studio. They require the size, head position, background and lighting to be right. A modern phone in daylight exceeds the resolution needed.
- Why do the US and India use a square photo?
- Both settled on 2 × 2 inches (51 × 51 mm) rather than the 35 × 45 mm ISO size used across Europe. A European photo cropped square will usually fail the head-height rule, so crop from the original instead.
- Does the photo need a white background everywhere?
- Most countries want plain white or off-white. A few accept light grey or pale blue. Check the authority’s own page — this is the second most common reason for rejection after head size.