India Photo Requirements: Passport 630x810 px, Visa and OCI Square Files, and the "Not White" Trap

“Passport size photo” is one of the most-searched photo phrases in India, and it is also one of the vaguest: an Indian passport, an Indian visa, an OCI card and a PAN card each ask for something different. Here is the checklist from the official pages of each service.

Indian passport (Passport Seva)

Passport Seva publishes ICAO-compliant guidelines for passport photographs. The rules, in the portal’s own words, include:

• a close-up of the head and top of the shoulders such that the face takes up 80–85% of the photograph;
• a colour photograph with dimensions of 630 x 810 pixels;
• unaltered by computer software;
• a white background;
• the applicant looking directly at the camera, with natural skin tones and appropriate brightness and contrast;
• eyes open and clearly visible, no hair across the eyes;
• uniform lighting with no shadows, no flash reflections on the face and no red-eye;
• mouth not open, a natural expression;
• taken from a distance of 1.5 metres from the camera, not blurred;
• full face, front view, the full head visible from the top of the hair to the bottom of the chin, centred in the frame without tilt.

On glasses, the guidelines say there should be no reflection from glasses and that glasses are to be taken off to avoid reflections. Head coverings are not permitted except for religious reasons, but the facial features from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead and both edges of the face must be clearly shown.

The four Indian photo formats compared

The OCI “not white” trap

Most photo services default to a white background, and for the Indian passport that is exactly right. The OCI portal is the opposite: the FAQ asks for a plain light-colour background and specifically says it should not be white. A white-background passport-style photo does not follow the OCI instructions. The OCI photo must also be square, not less than 51 x 51 mm, with the face covering about 80% of the picture, in JPEG/JPG between 200 x 200 and 900 x 900 pixels and no more than 200 KB.

Visa: square JPEG, small file

Indian Visa Online lets regular visa applicants upload a digital photograph. The regular (consular) visa portal requires JPEG format, a file size of 10–300 KB and equal photo height and width. The uploaded photo must show a full face, front view and open eyes, with the head centred from the top of the hair to the bottom of the chin, a plain light-coloured or white background, no shadows on the face or background, and no borders. The e-Visa portal publishes a different photo limit (JPEG, minimum 10 KB, maximum 1 MB); the 10–300 KB limit on that portal applies to the scanned passport bio-page.

Mistakes that get Indian photos rejected

1. Using a passport photo for the OCI card. White background, wrong shape, wrong size.
2. Face too small. A photo taken from too far away and not cropped closely; the passport photo needs the face to fill 80–85% of the frame.
3. Glasses glare. Take the glasses off.
4. Shadows on the wall behind you. Stand away from the wall and light the face evenly.
5. Retouching. The passport photo must be unaltered by software.

To make the 630 x 810 px white-background passport version quickly, use our Indian passport photo tool; the OCI card and the visa have their own tools linked from the same page.