Passport photo rules, taken from the government source
Crop to the official specification and measure head height against the published rule — here, in your browser. Every figure is read off the issuing authority's own page.
Of the 13 passport routes below, 6 photograph you at the counter or take an upload instead. The tool above only carries the standards where you actually supply the file.
Countries
- 🇮🇳 India — passportYou do not bring a photo.
- 🇮🇳 India — visaYou bring a printed photo.
- 🇵🇰 Pakistan — passportYou do not bring a photo.
- 🇵🇭 Philippines — passportYou do not bring a photo.
- 🇵🇭 Philippines — visaYou bring 1 printed photo, 50.8 × 50.8 mm.
- 🇮🇩 Indonesia — passportYou do not bring a photo.
- 🇮🇩 Indonesia — visaYou upload 400 × 600 px — nothing is printed at home.
- 🇧🇩 Bangladesh — passportYou do not bring a photo.
- 🇳🇵 Nepal — passportYou do not bring a photo.
- 🇳🇬 Nigeria — passportYou upload 600 × 800 px — nothing is printed at home.
- 🇻🇳 Vietnam — passportYou bring 2 printed photos, 40 × 60 mm.
- 🇯🇵 Japan — passportYou bring a printed photo, 35 × 45 mm.
- 🇰🇷 South Korea — passportYou bring a printed photo, 35 × 45 mm.
- 🇵🇱 Poland — passportYou bring a printed photo, 35 × 45 mm.
- 🇪🇸 Spain — passportYou bring a printed photo.
- 🇮🇹 Italy — passportYou bring a printed photo.
Comparing figures instead? Every size, route and background in one table — 21 routes across 13 countries.
One rule, compared across countries
Measurements are not what most applications fail on. These pages take a single rule and show what each authority actually writes about it — the answers do not agree.
- Can you wear glasses in a passport photo?4 refuse it outright · 4 allow it with conditions
- Can you smile in a passport photo?2 refuse it outright · 1 allows it with conditions · 3 regulate only part of it
- Can you wear a head covering in a passport photo?2 refuse it outright · 3 allow it with conditions · 1 regulates only part of it
- Can you wear jewellery or makeup in a passport photo?3 refuse it outright · 1 allows it with conditions · 2 regulate only part of it
- How old can a passport photo be?6 allow it with conditions · 5 say nothing at all · 2 photograph you at the counter instead
What ICAO Doc 9303 actually says
Every commercial photo site invokes “the ICAO standard”. We quote it: the 70–80% head rule and what it is really measured against, the 45 × 35 mm figure that is a recommendation rather than a requirement, and the rules — glasses, expression, head coverings, photo age — that are not in the document at all.