Canada Visa and eTA (IRCC) photo requirements
The exact size, ratio, file-size window and head tolerance set by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada — and a free tool below that frames your photo to match, in your own browser.
- Ratio
- 35:45
- Print size
- 35 × 45 mm
- Pixels
- 420×540 – 1050×1350
- File size
- 60 KB – 4.00 MB
- Head height
- 69–80%
Read this before you rely on an edited photo
Many immigration and passport authorities require a photograph that has not been digitally altered. Replacing a background, smoothing skin, enhancing with AI, or applying a camera filter can all be treated as manipulation and can get an application refused or disqualified — regardless of whether the file passes an automated size check. Reframing, rotating and resizing are not alteration; changing the content of the picture is.
Background replacement is switched onhere so the result is usable straight away, and you can turn it off in Auto-fix if your authority requires an unaltered photograph — for a US passport, DS-160, DS-260 or DV entry, we would. Lighting correction is on too — it lifts an under-exposed face and evens out a shadow across one side of it, and it has its own switch. Whatever you choose, look at your own photo for filters or “portrait” beautification your phone may have applied on its own — the safest fix for a bad background or bad lighting is always to retake it.
Your photo is reframed to the document’s tolerances, then audited.
Add your photoDrop your photo here
Take one now, or pick an existing photo. Any framing works — a full-length shot is fine, the face is found and cropped for you. Nothing is uploaded.JPG or PNG, any size or framing — a full-length shot is fine, the face is found and cropped for you. Nothing is uploaded.
Upload or capture a photo and every published tolerance for this document gets checked and reported here.
Before you submit
What catches people out on a Canada Visa and eTA (IRCC) photo
- IRCC sets no maximum pixel dimension, only the 4 MB file ceiling. The upper bound we use is ours.
- Some IRCC streams still want a printed 35×45 mm photo with the photographer’s name, address and date on the back. A digital file cannot satisfy that.
Why this photo is not interchangeable
Where Canada departs from the standard passport photo
A photo accepted for one country is regularly refused for another. These are the specific rules Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada sets that differ from the ICAO 35 × 45 mm default most passports follow.
Head must be 69%–80% of the frame
The ICAO default is 71%–80%. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada requires 69%–80%, measured chin to crown including hair — a different crop than a standard passport photo.
There is a minimum file size, not only a maximum
The file must be at least 60 KB. Over-compressing to make an upload smaller is a common way to fail this check.
Source: IRCC photo specifications: frame at least 420×540 pixels, JPEG, not less than 60 KB and no more than 4 MB, chin-to-crown between 31 mm and 36 mm on a 35×45 mm frame.
Canada Visa and eTA (IRCC) photo questions
What size photo is needed for a Canada Visa and eTA (IRCC)?+
A Canada Visa and eTA (IRCC) photo is 35:45, printed at 35 × 45 mm. Digitally it must be between 420×540 and 1050×1350 pixels, in JPEG format, between 60 KB and 4.00 MB.
How large should the head be in a Canada Visa and eTA (IRCC) photo?+
The head must measure 69% to 80% of the total image height, from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head including hair. The background must be plain white or off-white.
Where do these Canada Visa and eTA (IRCC) figures come from?+
IRCC photo specifications: frame at least 420×540 pixels, JPEG, not less than 60 KB and no more than 4 MB, chin-to-crown between 31 mm and 36 mm on a 35×45 mm frame.