One photo, twenty destinations
We took the specifications on this site and laid them side by side: twenty passport and visa authorities, the frame each one asks for, the key figures each one enforces. The point is not that the numbers differ. It is that they differ far less than the internet suggests, and that the differences sit in three specific places.
What the matrix shows
10 of 20 destinations want exactly the same frame: 35 × 45 mm, which is 35 × 45 mm. 10 passport offices, one photograph. If you live in one of those countries and only need one of those documents, the size question is already answered.
Across all twenty destinations there are only 8 distinct print frames and 6 distinct aspect ratios. The smallest frame is 33 × 48 mm (China), the largest 50 × 70 mm (Canada and Brazil). Everything else is one of five sizes in between. A single source image shot at 591 × 827 px is large enough to crop down to every frame on this page.
7 of 20 destinations ask for a digital file at all. The rest take paper. That matters because the digital rules are where the file-size ceilings, pixel windows and format requirements live, and they are frequently stricter than the print rule for the same document.
The 8 frames, and who asks for them
| Print frame | At 300 DPI | Destinations | Asked for by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 35 × 45 mm | 413 × 531 px | 10 | France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Philippines, Russia, Schengen visa, South Korea, United Kingdom |
| 50 × 70 mm | 591 × 827 px | 2 | Brazil, Canada |
| 51 × 51 mm | 600 × 600 px | 2 | India, United States |
| 40 × 60 mm | 472 × 709 px | 2 | Indonesia, Vietnam |
| 35 × 40 mm | 413 × 531 px | 1 | Australia |
| 33 × 48 mm | 390 × 567 px | 1 | China |
| 50 × 60 mm | 591 × 709 px | 1 | Türkiye |
| 43 × 55 mm | 508 × 650 px | 1 | UAE |
Read the top row first: it is the default. If a country is not on this page, the odds are it accepts 35 × 45 mm.
The three rules that actually differ
1. Background colour is the real minefield
This is not a matter of taste, and it is not consistent. The United Kingdom asks for a plain light colour — cream, ivory or light grey. France asks for a light colour and states that pure white is forbidden. Germany asks for one bright solid colour, ideally neutral grey, chosen to contrast with your hair and skin, which means the correct background depends on the person in the photograph. Brazil accepts white and states that blue is not accepted. The Philippines note that the older blue-background rule no longer applies to current ePassport applications. China, Indonesia, Nigeria, Türkiye, the UAE and Vietnam all want plain white.
The practical consequence: a white-background photo that works for the United States is the wrong photo for France and arguably the wrong photo for the UK. Reusing one file across destinations is exactly how people end up with a rejected application that looked fine on screen.
2. Head proportion is given in two units that disagree
Some authorities state the head height in millimetres, some as a percentage of the frame, and several state both. The United States asks for a 25–35 mm head, or 50–69 per cent of the frame. The United Kingdom asks for 29–34 mm, or 70–80 per cent. Japan asks for roughly 34 mm, or about 75 per cent. Canada asks for 31–36 mm but only 45–50 per cent of the frame, because the frame itself is taller. Russia asks for a 25–30 mm head sitting close to the top edge.
Two numbers that look compatible can therefore describe incompatible photographs: a 30 mm head fills 71 per cent of a 35 × 45 mm frame and 59 per cent of a 51 × 51 mm frame. Always use the unit that belongs to the frame you are filling, and when a page gives both, check that the pair is internally consistent before trusting either.
3. The digital ceiling, where one exists
Where a digital upload is required, the limits are narrow: India asks for 10–300 KB, Canada 200 KB–4 MB with a 3:2 portrait composition, Nigeria under 2 MB at 600 × 800 px, the UAE 508 × 650 px with no published KB cap. Where no digital upload is required, the print rule is the only rule, and a file-size ceiling quoted for that country usually belongs to a different channel — a visa portal, not the passport office.
The channel matters as much as the country. Portal upload limits collects the ceilings enforced by the receiving systems themselves, which is a different list from the ones below.
The matrix
One row per destination. Every cell is taken from that destination's page on this site, which names the official source and the date it was checked.
| Destination | Print frame | At 300 DPI | Digital upload | Background | Head |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 35 × 40 mm | 413 × 531 px | 1200×1600 px | Plain, light-coloured background (e.g. cream or pale blue), no patterns or shadows. | 32-36 mm |
| Brazil | 50 × 70 mm | 591 × 827 px | 591×827 px | Plain white (fundo branco); blue backgrounds are not accepted | 70-80% |
| Canada | 50 × 70 mm | 591 × 827 px | 1200×1800 px, ≤4 MB | Plain white or light-coloured, uniform, no patterns or shadows | 31-36 mm, 45-50% |
| China | 33 × 48 mm | 390 × 567 px | 390×567 px, ≤1 MB | Plain white, uniform, no shadows or patterns | 28-33 mm, 58-69% |
| France | 35 × 45 mm | 413 × 531 px | Print only | Plain, light colour such as light blue or light grey. Pure white is explicitly forbidden. | 32-36 mm |
| Germany | 35 × 45 mm | 413 × 531 px | Print only | One bright, solid colour, ideally neutral grey and contrasting with your hair and skin (medium grey for light hair,... | 32-36 mm |
| India | 51 × 51 mm | 600 × 600 px | 350×350 px, 10-300 KB | Plain white or off-white, no shadows | 25-35 mm, 60-70% |
| Indonesia | 40 × 60 mm | 472 × 709 px | 400×600 px, 100-200 KB | White background (latar belakang putih) for passports. Note: a red background photo is for the Indonesian national ID... | 30-36 mm, 50-60% |
| Japan | 35 × 45 mm | 413 × 531 px | 413×531 px | Plain, unadorned background; white or light neutral colour, no shadows | 4-6 mm, about 75% |
| Mexico | 35 × 45 mm | 413 × 531 px | Print only | Plain white or very light solid colour (fondo blanco), no shadows | 70-80% |
| Nigeria | 35 × 45 mm | 413 × 531 px | 600×800 px, ≤2 MB | Plain white background, no shadows or patterns. | — |
| Philippines | 35 × 45 mm | 413 × 531 px | Print only | Plain white background (the older blue-background specification no longer applies to current ePassport applications). | 32-36 mm, 70-80% |
| Russia | 35 × 45 mm | 413 × 531 px | Print only | White, even, with no stripes, spots, foreign objects or shadows (some consulates accept a plain light background). | 25-30 mm |
| Schengen visa | 35 × 45 mm | 413 × 531 px | Print only | Plain, light/white background (white or light grey); no patterns, shadows or objects. | 32-36 mm |
| South Korea | 35 × 45 mm | 413 × 531 px | 413×531 px | Uniform white, no ink marks or patterns, borderless | 32-36 mm, 71-80% |
| Türkiye | 50 × 60 mm | 591 × 709 px | Print only | Pure white, patternless, with no shadows. | — |
| UAE | 43 × 55 mm | 508 × 650 px | 508×650 px | Pure, uniform white background, no shadows, patterns or reflections. | 70-80% |
| United Kingdom | 35 × 45 mm | 413 × 531 px | 413×531 px, ≤10 MB | Plain light colour — cream, ivory or light grey (not patterned, not textured) | 29-34 mm, 70-80% |
| United States | 51 × 51 mm | 600 × 600 px | 600×600 px | Plain white or off-white, no shadows, texture, lines or objects | 25-35 mm, 50-69% |
| Vietnam | 40 × 60 mm | 472 × 709 px | 472×709 px, ≤4 MB | Plain white, uniform, no shadows or patterns | 40-48 mm, 67-80% |
How to use this page
- Pick the frame, not the country. Identify which of the frames above your document needs, then look up the destination's background and head rule on its own page. The frame tells you the canvas; the other two decide whether the photo passes.
- Shoot once, large. A source image at 591 × 827 px or above can be cropped to every frame here without upscaling. Shooting at the smallest frame and enlarging later is the single most common quality loss.
- Do not carry a background across a border. White for the United States and China; light cream, ivory or grey for the United Kingdom; light colour, never pure white, for France; neutral grey chosen for contrast for Germany.
- Check the channel. A passport office and a visa portal for the same country can publish different pixel boxes and file ceilings. If the destination asks you to upload, read the portal page as well.
Tools for each frame: the passport photo tool covers crop, background and file-size targets; the twenty destination pages linked in the matrix carry the per-country detail.
Method and known gaps
This page is a rearrangement, not new research: every figure is lifted from the corresponding destination page, each of which cites its passport authority or immigration department and records when it was last checked. Where a destination publishes no figure, the cell says so rather than being filled with a common estimate.
Two known limits. First, print and digital rules are separate regimes and this table shows the print frame alongside the digital window; a destination can enforce a pixel box that does not correspond to its print size. Second, a widely repeated figure is not a source: if a number is not on the destination's official page, it is marked as unconfirmed there, and stays out of this matrix.
Corrections go to [email protected] and are recorded on the change log. What we can and cannot guarantee is set out in the methodology.