Indian passport photo rules: size, background and why photos get rejected

Do you need a photo at all?

Not at a Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) or Post Office PSK: Passport Seva's application booklet says the photo is not required there, because the staff take it at the counter.

You do need one for forms handed in at a District Passport Cell, a Speed Post centre or a Citizen Service Centre (such as Bangalore One or e-Seva): one colour photo, pasted in the box on the form.

What happens at the Passport Seva Kendra

You book an appointment on the Passport Seva portal and go in person with your original documents and photocopies. After the security check you collect a token and wait for your number. At Counter A, an executive scans your documents, takes your photo and fingerprints, and you check your details on a screen and sign on a signature pad. Counter B checks your original documents, and at Counter C an officer decides on granting the passport.

So for a PSK appointment, your effort goes into looking right on the day: plain clothes, hair off your face, and no glasses if they reflect light. Passport Seva's photo guidelines apply to photos captured at the counter as well as to uploaded ones, so the rules below on expression, glasses and head coverings still matter.

Size and background

• 35 × 45 mm (4.5 cm high × 3.5 cm wide), in colour, not smaller than the box on the form.
• A plain white background. Wear dark-coloured clothes, not a uniform.
• The face fills 80–85% of the photo, from the top of the hair to the chin, centred.
• As a digital file: 630 × 810 pixels, in colour.

Face, expression and glasses

• Look straight at the camera with your eyes open, mouth closed and a natural expression (no grinning, frowning or raised eyebrows).
• Both edges of the face and both ears should be visible; hair must not cover the eyes.
• Even light with no shadows, flash glare or red eye. Take glasses off to avoid reflections; dark glasses are never accepted.
• No head covering except for religious reasons, with the face visible from chin to forehead.

Common reasons photos are rejected

• Black and white photos, or a dark or coloured background.
• Photos printed on an ordinary computer printer: they must be on good-quality photo paper.
• A signed, torn, creased or marked photo.
• Shadows on the face or background, hair over the eyes, or glare on glasses.
• Photos changed with software: Passport Seva says photos must be unaltered.
• A photo cut out of a group photo.
• An old photo: Passport Seva asks for a recent photo that shows how you look now.

Pasting the photo and signing the form

Paste only one colour photo in the box on the form. It must not be smaller than the box, and it must not be signed. Your signature goes in the separate signature box, in blue or black ballpoint pen, kept strictly inside the box without touching its edges, because it is scanned and printed in your passport.

A child signs or puts a thumb impression in their own box; parents must not sign there. Applicants who can't sign put their left thumb impression instead (the right thumb if the left can't be used, with a note under the box saying so).

Other places a photo is needed

• No Objection Certificate (Annexure G) for government employees: the officer issuing it attests your photo with a signature and stamp, half on the photo and half on the certificate.
• Joint declaration in lieu of a marriage certificate (Annexure J): a recent joint photo of husband and wife, self-attested on the photo.
• Sikh applicants changing their photo from one with a turban to a clean-shaven one, or the other way round: Passport Seva asks for a notarised statement along with the recent photo.

Printing the photos

Passport Seva doesn't accept photos printed on an ordinary computer printer. Print on good-quality photo paper at a photo shop, where the print is clear and continuous-tone. If you bring a 6 × 4 inch sheet, ask for it to be printed at actual size, without "fit to page" or borders, so each photo stays exactly 35 × 45 mm. Check one against a ruler before cutting.

Make one at home

Stand in front of a plain white wall facing a window, about 1.5 metres from the camera, and have someone take the photo at eye level. Then use the free passport size photo maker to crop it to 35 × 45 mm and get a 6 × 4 inch sheet of 8, and print that at a photo shop. Use the phone's back camera rather than the selfie camera, which stretches features at close range, and turn off beauty filters and portrait mode, because the photo must be unaltered. Take several shots and keep one with your eyes open, your mouth closed and no shadow behind you.