Passport Photo Sizes by Country (2×2 in, 35×45 mm and More) — Make One at Home

A passport photo from a studio costs anywhere from $10 to $20 for something you can make in five minutes with a phone and a plain wall. The hard part isn’t taking the picture — it’s knowing the exact size your country wants, how big your head must be inside that frame, and how to print it without the printer quietly rescaling it.

This guide gives you the official dimensions for the most requested countries, explains the rules that actually get photos rejected, and shows how to produce a correct file (and a printable sheet) for free, in your browser, without uploading your face anywhere.

Passport photo sizes by country

Most of the world has converged on one format: 35×45 mm. A few large countries use their own. Here are the sizes you’ll meet most often, with the pixel equivalent at 300 DPI (the resolution print shops and most online portals expect):

Country / document	Photo size	Pixels at 300 DPI	Head size (chin to crown)
United States (passport & visa)	2×2 in (51×51 mm)	600×600 px	1–1⅜ in (25–35 mm)
United Kingdom	35×45 mm	413×531 px	29–34 mm
EU / Schengen visa	35×45 mm	413×531 px	32–36 mm (70–80% of height)
India (passport)	35×45 mm	413×531 px	about 25–35 mm, face ~80%
India (OCI / US-style visa)	51×51 mm	602×602 px	25–35 mm
Australia, Japan, New Zealand	35×45 mm	413×531 px	32–36 mm
China (passport & visa)	33×48 mm	390×567 px	28–33 mm
Canada	50×70 mm	591×827 px	31–36 mm
Brazil	50×70 mm	591×827 px	per consulate guidance

Rules change, and some offices are stricter than the official minimum, so always confirm on the government page for your specific application before printing. But if your country isn’t listed, 35×45 mm is the safe bet — it’s the default for most passports and almost every Schengen visa.

The rules that actually get photos rejected

Size is only half the check. Officials (and automated validators) reject photos for the same handful of reasons everywhere:

• Head too small or too large. This is the number-one reason. Your face must fill a specific share of the frame — the “head size” column above. A selfie taken from too far away leaves a tiny head floating in a big background.
• Background not plain. Use a white, off-white or light-grey wall with no patterns, door frames or shadows. The US and Canada want white or near-white; the UK prefers light grey or cream.
• Shadows on the face or behind the head. Face a window in daylight rather than standing under a ceiling lamp. Stand about half a metre in front of the wall so your shadow falls away from it.
• Expression and pose. Neutral expression, mouth closed, both eyes open, looking straight at the camera, head not tilted.
• Glasses. The US has banned glasses in passport photos since 2016; many other countries allow them only with no glare and no tinted lenses. The simplest rule: take them off.
• Photo too old or edited. Most countries require a photo taken in the last 6 months, with no filters, beauty mode or retouching. Turn off your phone’s portrait/beauty effects.

How to take the photo with your phone

1. Ask someone else to take it. Arm’s-length selfies distort the face (the nose looks bigger) and often get rejected. If you’re alone, use a timer with the phone propped at eye level.
2. Distance: about 1–1.5 m (3–5 ft) from you, zoomed in slightly if needed. This gives natural proportions.
3. Framing: leave generous space around your head and shoulders. You’ll crop later — you can always crop in, but you can’t add background that isn’t there.
4. Light: soft, even daylight from the front. No flash directly at the face if it causes glare.
5. Check: zoom into the photo and make sure it’s sharp, eyes are open and there are no shadows on the wall.

Make the official-size photo in your browser

Once you have a good picture, open the Passport photo maker:

1. Select your photo.
2. Choose the size: 35×45 mm (EU, UK, India, Japan, Australia), 2×2 in (USA), 33×48 mm (China), 50×70 mm (Canada, Brazil) or 51×51 mm (India OCI/visa).
3. Keep framing on “Keep the head (upper part)” so the crop centres on your face, not your chest.
4. Pick Single photo for an online application, or Photo + 4×6 in print sheet if you need paper copies.
5. Download the JPG — it’s exported at a true 300 DPI, which is what print labs and most portals expect.

All the processing happens on your device. Your photo is never uploaded, which matters for something that ends up in an official identity document.

Printing it at home or at a kiosk

The 4×6 in (10×15 cm) sheet is the standard photo-print size, so it costs a few cents at any pharmacy, supermarket or photo kiosk, or you can print it on glossy photo paper at home. Two things matter:

• Print at 100% / “actual size”. If the printer or kiosk uses “fit to page” or “fill”, it will scale the sheet and every copy will be slightly the wrong size. Check one copy with a ruler before you cut.
• Use photo paper, not plain paper. Most passport offices reject photos printed on standard office paper.

Then cut along the guides with a craft knife or sharp scissors. Most applications ask for two identical copies.

Uploading it to an online application instead

More and more renewals and visa applications are online, and portals often add their own limits on pixels and file size (e.g. “JPG, 600×600 px minimum, under 240 KB”). If the file from the passport photo maker doesn’t match:

• Use Resize image to hit the exact pixel dimensions the portal lists.
• Use Compress image to get under the KB limit — aim slightly below the maximum (for a 240 KB limit, 200–220 KB).

For a full walkthrough of the error messages these portals throw (“invalid dimensions”, “file too large”, “photo does not meet requirements”), see our ID photo upload guide. If the limit is tiny, the guide on compressing a photo to 20 KB explains how to get there without the face turning to blocks.

Quick checklist before you submit

• Correct size for your country and document (passport vs. visa can differ — India is a good example).
• Head size inside the required range; face centred; shoulders visible.
• Plain light background, no shadows, no glare.
• Neutral expression, eyes open, no glasses (or no glare if allowed).
• Taken in the last 6 months, no filters.
• Printed at actual size on photo paper — or resized and compressed to the portal’s exact limits.

Get those right and a home-made passport photo is accepted just as readily as a studio one — at a fraction of the cost, and without your face passing through anyone else’s servers.