United Kingdom Visa (UKVI) photo requirements
The exact size, ratio, file-size window and head tolerance set by UK Visas and Immigration — and a free tool below that frames your photo to match, in your own browser.
- Ratio
- 4:5
- Print size
- 35 × 45 mm
- Pixels
- 600×750 – 1500×1875
- File size
- 50 KB – 6.00 MB
- Head height
- 64–76%
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 United Kingdom Visa (UKVI) photo
- Only a minimum pixel size is officially published. The upper bound we use is ours.
- Most UKVI routes now capture your photo again as biometrics at the visa centre. This upload is the application photo, not a replacement for that appointment.
Why this photo is not interchangeable
Where United Kingdom departs from the standard passport photo
A photo accepted for one country is regularly refused for another. These are the specific rules UK Visas and Immigration sets that differ from the ICAO 35 × 45 mm default most passports follow.
4:5, not 35 × 45 mm
Most countries use the ICAO 35 × 45 mm portrait shape. United Kingdom uses 4:5 (35 × 45 mm), so a photo cropped for another country will not fit this frame without re-cropping.
Head must be 64%–76% of the frame
The ICAO default is 71%–80%. UK Visas and Immigration requires 64%–76%, measured chin to crown including hair — a tighter crop than a standard passport photo.
There is a minimum file size, not only a maximum
The file must be at least 50 KB. Over-compressing to make an upload smaller is a common way to fail this check.
Source: GOV.UK requires at least 600×750 pixels. The UKVI visa upload accepts 50 KB–6 MB; the passport route allows up to 10 MB, so we target the tighter visa ceiling, which satisfies both.
United Kingdom Visa (UKVI) photo questions
What size photo is needed for a United Kingdom Visa (UKVI)?+
A United Kingdom Visa (UKVI) photo is 4:5, printed at 35 × 45 mm. Digitally it must be between 600×750 and 1500×1875 pixels, in JPEG format, between 50 KB and 6.00 MB.
How large should the head be in a United Kingdom Visa (UKVI) photo?+
The head must measure 64% to 76% of the total image height, from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head including hair. The background must be plain light grey or cream.
Where do these United Kingdom Visa (UKVI) figures come from?+
GOV.UK requires at least 600×750 pixels. The UKVI visa upload accepts 50 KB–6 MB; the passport route allows up to 10 MB, so we target the tighter visa ceiling, which satisfies both.