Quick answer
What size is an Indian passport photo?
In India you do not bring one: Passport Seva captures your photograph live at the Passport Seva Kendra or Post Office PSK. Children under 4 bring a recent 4.5 × 3.5 cm colour photo on a white background. Through Indian missions abroad, you upload a 630 × 810 pixel ICAO photo, JPG up to 250 KB.
If you apply for an Indian passport in India, you do not bring a photo: the photograph is captured live at the Passport Seva Kendra (PSK) or Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK), along with your fingerprints. Only children under 4 bring a recent 4.5 × 3.5 cm colour photo with a white background. Applying through an Indian embassy or consulate abroad? Then you upload a 630 × 810 pixel ICAO photo, JPG up to 250 KB.
The rules below come from the Passport Seva portal run by the Ministry of External Affairs, its photo guidelines for minors, and the ICAO photo guidelines that Indian missions publish for the Global Passport Seva Portal (GPSP 2.0).
Applying in India: your photo is taken at the PSK
Passport Seva's Getting Started guide says it plainly: visit the PSK or POPSK with your original documents and photocopies, and "Photograph is not required." Applicants must attend in person so the Passport Issuing Authority can capture their photograph and biometrics and decide the application in their presence. This applies to every applicant, including infants.
| Adults | No photo to bring. Photo and fingerprints are captured at the PSK or POPSK |
|---|---|
| Children 4 and over | No photo to bring. Photo captured at the PSK, POPSK or Passport Office |
| Children under 4 | Bring one recent 4.5 × 3.5 cm colour photo with a white background |
| Attendance | All applicants, including infants, must be present in person |
| Appointment | Book online first. If you do not visit within 90 days of submitting the form, you have to submit it again |
Dress for a white background
Indian passport photos use a white background, so clothes in a colour that contrasts with white help your face and shoulders stand out. Keep your hair off your face and away from your eyes before you reach the counter.
Use only the official portal
Passport Seva warns about fake websites and apps that charge extra for filling in forms and booking appointments. The official site is passportindia.gov.in, and the official mobile app is Passport Seva. Fees were revised from 1 July 2026, so check the current fee on the portal before you pay.
Children under 4: bring one passport-size photo
Passport Seva's application guides say that for minor applicants below 4 years of age, you carry a recent passport-size photograph (4.5 × 3.5 cm) with a white background. Its photo guidelines for minors describe what the photo must show:
| Size | 45 mm high × 35 mm wide (4.5 × 3.5 cm) |
|---|---|
| Colour | Colour photo with natural skin tones and appropriate brightness and contrast |
| Background | White, with no distracting shadows |
| Framing | Close-up of the head and top of the shoulders, with the face covering 80–85% of the photo, from the top of the hair to the bottom of the chin |
| Pose | Full face, front view, centred, looking directly at the camera, with a natural expression |
| Eyes | Open and clearly visible, with no hair across them |
| Lighting | Uniform, with no shadows, flash reflections or red eye |
| Head coverings | Not allowed, except for religious reasons with the whole face visible |
The child still has to come to the PSK. See baby and child passport photos for tips on photographing a baby at home.
Other cases where you need printed photos
A few applications still use printed photos of the same size:
- Diplomatic and official passports: two recent colour photos, 4.5 × 3.5 cm with a white background, pasted on the printed application form. Passport Seva says the first goes unsigned on page 1 and the second, on page 3, is stamped and signed by the Head of Office.
- Passport camps: two recent passport-size colour photos, 4.5 cm long and 3.5 cm wide, with a white background.
- Consular services abroad: some missions' paper forms for police clearance, birth registration and other services ask for different sizes. See PCC and consular form photos.
Applying abroad: a 630 × 810 pixel ICAO photo
Indian embassies, high commissions and consulates have moved passport services to Global Passport Seva Portal 2.0, where you upload your own ICAO-compliant photo with your form. The portal login page says ICAO-compliant photographs are required from 1 September 2025.
| Pixel size | 630 × 810 pixels, colour |
|---|---|
| File | JPG or JPEG, up to 250 KB |
| Background | White |
| Face size | About 80–85% of the photo |
| Distance | Stand about 1.5 metres from the camera |
| Signature | Separate scanned upload, up to 100 KB |
Missions do not all say the same thing about editing and file size, so read applying from abroad for the details, conflicts and mission notices.
Indian passport photo rules
The same rules appear in Passport Seva's guidelines for minors and the ICAO photo guidelines Indian missions publish:
Do
- Use a plain white background with no shadows
- Show your full head from the top of the hair to the bottom of the chin, centred, with the face filling 80–85% of the photo
- Look straight at the camera with your eyes open and a natural expression
- Use even lighting with natural skin tones
Don't
- Shadows, flash reflections or red eye
- Hair across your eyes, or a tilted or turned head
- Hats or head coverings, except for religious reasons
- Photos altered with software, filters or beauty apps
The GPSP 2.0 portal also lets applicants with a facial deformity or a neurological disorder continue with an exception if they have a certificate from a registered medical practitioner.
Glasses and head coverings
The ICAO guidelines Indian missions publish ask you to take your glasses off so that light does not reflect on the lenses, and the passport portal's automatic check flags glasses reflections. Tinted glasses are never accepted.
Head coverings are allowed only for religious reasons, and your face must still be visible from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead, with both edges of the face showing. Mission notices from Bern and Kuwait add that a turban must leave the forehead and face visible.
Sample photos
See all correct and incorrect sample photos
How to get your Indian passport photo right
- Check whether you need a photo. Adults and children aged 4 and over applying in India are photographed at the PSK or POPSK. Bring a photo only for a child under 4, or for a diplomatic, official or camp application.
- Take a close-up on white. For a printed photo, use a plain white background and even light, with the face filling 80–85% of the frame and the eyes open. For an upload abroad, have someone take it from 1.5 metres with your glasses off.
- Size it correctly. Print the photo at 4.5 × 3.5 cm in colour, or save the upload as a 630 × 810 pixel JPG of up to 250 KB. If the file is not a JPG, such as a HEIC photo from an iPhone, convert it with the free 123PhotoTool JPEG converter.
- Bring or upload it. Take the printed photo to your PSK appointment with your documents, or upload the file with your application on the Global Passport Seva portal.
Changing the photo in your passport
There is no separate photo-change service. Passport Seva's FAQs say that if your appearance has changed, or to update a child's photo, you apply for a re-issue of your passport, and a new photo is captured at your PSK or POPSK visit. Minors' passports are valid for 5 years or until they turn 18, whichever comes first, while adult passports are valid for 10 years.
Indian passport photo FAQ
No, not for an adult or a child aged 4 or over. Passport Seva says a photograph is not required: your photo and fingerprints are captured when you visit the PSK or POPSK. Only children under 4 need to bring one recent 4.5 × 3.5 cm photo with a white background.
Where Passport Seva asks for a printed photo, as for children under 4, diplomatic and official passports and passport camps, it is 4.5 × 3.5 cm (45 mm high, 35 mm wide) in colour on a white background. Uploads through Indian missions abroad are 630 × 810 pixels.
The ICAO photo guidelines Indian missions publish say glasses should be taken off to avoid reflections, and the Global Passport Seva portal flags glasses reflections. At a PSK, staff take the photo and tell you what to adjust. Tinted glasses are never accepted.
Passport Seva does not say. The photo is captured by the Passport Issuing Authority in your presence, so look straight at the camera with a natural expression and your eyes open, and ask the counter staff if you are unhappy with it.
Passport Seva says that if your appearance has changed, or to update a child's photo, you apply for a re-issue of the passport. A new photo is then captured at the PSK or POPSK.
Only for religious reasons. The minors' guidelines and the missions' ICAO guidance say the face must be visible from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead, with both edges of the face showing. The Embassy of India in Bern adds that a turban must leave the forehead and face visible.
Indian missions now use Global Passport Seva Portal 2.0, where you upload a 630 × 810 pixel colour JPG of up to 250 KB with a white background. See Indian passport photos for applications abroad.
Official sources
- Passport Seva (Ministry of External Affairs): Getting Started
- Passport Seva: Guides (ordinary passport and minors)
- Passport Seva: FAQs – services available
- Passport Seva: FAQs – application form (diplomatic and official passports)
- Passport Seva: Guidelines for capturing photographs for minors (PDF)
- Global Passport Seva Portal 2.0
- Embassy of India, Washington DC: Guidelines for ICAO compliant photographs (PDF)
- Embassy of India, Bern: Notice on ICAO photo requirements
Last checked . Requirements and fees can change, so always confirm with the issuing agency before you apply. This site is independent and not affiliated with any government agency.