Visa Photo Requirements: Sizes and Rules by Country

Your visa checklist asks for a photo, and the size depends on who issues the visa. Schengen consulates ask for 35 x 45 mm, a US embassy for 2 x 2 inches and China for 33 x 48 mm on glossy paper, while a UK visitor has the photo taken at the visa center. Below are the size, background, glasses and age rules for 7 visa authorities, and the cases where you need no print at all.

Visa photo sizes by country

“Check the official page” marks a value not confirmed on that authority’s own pages as of October 2026.

Visa	What you hand in	Size and head	Background	Glasses	Taken within
Schengen (German missions’ spec)	1 print; Italy in London asks for 2	35 x 45 mm, face 70-80% of the photo, 32-36 mm chin to crown	Bright, one color, ideally neutral gray (white on Germany’s India and Dhaka checklists)	Allowed if the eyes are clearly visible: no tinted lenses, no frame across the eyes	6 months on most checklists
US visa	1 color print, brought to the interview	5 x 5 cm (2 x 2 in); head size: check the official page	Light or white	Not allowed	6 months
UK Standard Visitor	No print: taken at the visa center	n/a	n/a	n/a	Taken on the day
Canada visitor visa, printed photos	2 identical prints	At least 35 x 45 mm, head 31-36 mm chin to crown	Plain white or light	Non-tinted prescription glasses, eyes clearly visible, no sunglasses	6 months
China	1 print on glossy paper	33 x 48 mm, head 15-22 mm wide and 28-33 mm high	White or near-white, no frame	Allowed, but not thick-rimmed, tinted or with glare	6 months
India, regular visa	1 JPEG upload, 10-300 KB	Square, head 25-35 mm	Plain light or white	Check the official page	Check the official page
India e-Visa	1 JPEG upload, 10 KB to 1 MB	Square	Plain light or white	No spectacles	Check the official page
Australia, online	1 jpg upload per applicant, 70 KB to 3.5 MB	Check the official page	Check the official page	Check the official page	Check the official page

Schengen visa photo size and rules

The Visa Code sets the standard but no print size, so consulates state one: the Dutch, German, Italian and Maltese checklists all say 35 x 45 mm. The German missions’ spec adds a neutral expression with the mouth closed, headwear only by exception and a print of at least 600 dpi. Italy’s London checklist caps the head at 36 mm, wants the pupils 8-10 mm apart on a white background and forbids any editing.

The German spec prefers a neutral gray background, but Germany’s India and Dhaka checklists ask for white, so follow the checklist of the mission you apply to.

An inadmissible file is not a refusal, so the visa fee (€90 for adults as of October 2026) comes back. After a visa refusal, which the consulate decides once it has examined the file, the fee does not come back.

How many photos a Schengen visa needs

Count the photos on the checklist of the consulate you apply to, the same checklist that sets the rest of your Schengen document list. The handbook tells consulates to collect 1 photo, and a live photo taken when you give fingerprints can meet the requirement. The Netherlands needs no print at its external service provider, which takes a digital photo at the appointment, while Italy’s London checklist asks for 2.

US visa photo: 2 x 2 inches, no glasses

The US Embassy in Iceland asks visitor visa applicants to bring their passport, the DS-160 confirmation page and a 5 x 5 cm (2 x 2 inch) color photo, taken in the last 6 months, on a light or white background. You cannot wear glasses in it. Every applicant, children included, needs their own DS-160 and their own photo.

UK visa photo: taken at the visa center

For a UK Standard Visitor visa you apply online and then attend a visa application center, where you have your fingerprints and a photo taken. You bring no printed photo for this visa.

A UK passport is different: a paper application takes 2 identical passport photos, 45 mm high by 35 mm wide, on a cream or light gray background and taken in the last month.

Canada visa photos: 2 prints of at least 35 x 45 mm

Canada’s visitor visa photo specifications ask for 2 identical prints on quality photographic paper, in a frame of at least 35 x 45 mm (1 3/8 x 1 3/4 inches), taken in the last 6 months. Canada also accepts black and white, where the US and China ask for color. Photos that miss the spec have to be replaced before the application is processed.

China visa photo: 33 x 48 mm on glossy paper

China sets its own frame, narrower and taller than a Schengen print, and its own paper.

India and Australia visa photos: digital uploads

India’s regular visa form takes a square JPEG of 10-300 KB: full face, front view and eyes open, with no shadows or borders. The e-Visa takes a square JPEG of 10 KB to 1 MB with no spectacles, plus the passport bio page as a separate PDF of 10-300 KB.

Australia’s ImmiAccount needs a facial image for every applicant, children included, as a jpg file of 70 KB to 3.5 MB.

Do you need a printed visa photo?

Decide whether you need a print, and how many

1. Check whether you apply fully online: Australia’s ImmiAccount and the India e-Visa take a digital file within a size limit, not a print.
2. Check whether the photo is taken at your appointment: a UK visitor’s is, and so is a Dutch applicant’s at the service provider. If your Schengen checklist still lists a photo, bring one.
3. Count the prints: 1 for a US interview, China and most Schengen consulates, 2 for Italy in London and for Canada’s printed photos.
4. Print to the authority’s size: 35 x 45 mm for Schengen, 2 x 2 inches for the US, 33 x 48 mm on glossy paper for China.
5. Time the photo so it is under 6 months old on the day you hand it in.
6. Attach it as the checklist says: Germany’s Dhaka mission says do not glue or staple it, while Switzerland’s India checklist wants it pasted on the form.

Can one photo work for 2 visa applications?

Only when the specs match. A 35 x 45 mm print with the head at 32-36 mm meets both the German missions’ size rule and Canada’s 31-36 mm head range.

Age is the other limit: with a 6-month rule at the US, Canada, China and most Schengen consulates, a print from an application a year ago fails even at the right size. The passport in the same file runs on a different clock: for a Schengen visa it must have been issued in the last 10 years and stay valid 3 months after you leave, under Article 12 of the Visa Code.

This is an invented sample. Tanvir Ahmed lives in Dhaka and plans a trade fair in Germany in May 2027 and a factory visit in China in June 2027. On 1 March 2027 he has one photo session against a white wall, glasses off, and orders 2 sets of prints.

Check	Germany (Dhaka checklist)	China
Prints	1, loose, not glued or stapled	1, on glossy paper
Size	35 x 45 mm	33 x 48 mm
Head	34 mm chin to crown, about 75% of the frame	30 mm high, 19 mm wide
Background	White	White
Age when handed in	3 weeks (lodged 22 March)	8 weeks (lodged 26 April)

Neither print fits the other application: the Chinese one is 2 mm too narrow for a 35 x 45 mm frame, and the German one is 3 mm too short for China.