Indian Passport Photo Size

If you apply at a Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) or a Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK), you don't bring a photo: it's taken there. You need your own photo in two cases:

• An upload for passport services: 630 x 810 pixels, in color, with a white background, the head and the top of the shoulders, and the face filling most of the frame.
• A printed photo pasted on a form handed in at a DPC, SPC or CSC: 4.5 cm long by 3.5 cm wide, in color, on a plain white background, with dark clothes.

What India checks

1. Head in the center of the frame with both ears visible.
2. A natural expression: no grinning, frowning or raised eyebrows, and the mouth closed.
3. Glasses off, to avoid reflections.
4. No dark background, uniform, or colored glasses.
5. Not altered by computer software. Printed photos must come from a photo lab, not a computer printer.

The Embassy of India in Washington DC sends passport applicants to the GPSP 2.0 portal and VFS Global. The upload of an ICAO-compliant photograph is mandatory, and the embassy links to the same guideline used in India: 630 x 810 pixels, white background, face filling 80% to 85% of the photo. The Embassy of India in Kuwait's notice also caps the file at 250 KB; our file stays under that.

Printed photos in the US

The embassy's notice doesn't give a printed size. An older consulate document lists a different size, so check the current VFS Global checklist for your appointment before you print. The digital file from our tool is 630 x 810 pixels, the size the guideline asks for.

If it doesn't work

• The portal rejects the file: make sure you upload the 630 x 810 JPEG as downloaded, without editing or resizing it in another app.
• Background check fails: India wants plain white. Stand about 2 feet in front of a white wall, face a window, and take the photo again.

The Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) application uses its own photo, different from the passport one. Choose OCI card photo in the tool and it makes a square 900 x 900 pixel JPEG under 200 KB.

The OCI rules

1. Square: the height and width must be equal, from 200 x 200 up to 900 x 900 pixels.
2. JPEG or JPG, no larger than 200 KB.
3. Head from 1 to 1 3/8 inches (25 to 35 mm) in a 2 x 2 inch photo, front view, full face in the middle.
4. A plain light background. The OCI portal says not white; an older embassy FAQ says white, so we check for a plain, light background and flag dark or busy ones.
5. A natural expression, no tinted or dark glasses, and no retouching.
6. Babies under 1 don't have to have their eyes open.

The Embassy of India's OCI FAQ asks for a recent photo that isn't the one already in your passport.

These problems come straight from India's photo guideline. The free check flags the first three; the last three are up to you.

The usual problems

1. Background not white: a cream wall or a shadow behind the head reads as gray. Light the wall evenly.
2. Glasses: India asks you to take them off to avoid reflections.
3. Expression: a grin, raised eyebrows or an open mouth.
4. Ears hidden: hair over the ears. Tuck it back.
5. Computer print: India doesn't accept photos printed on a computer printer. Print the 4x6 sheet at a photo lab.
6. Edited photo: filters, beauty modes or background swaps. Turn them off in your camera app.