What does "head must be 70–80% of the photo" mean, and how do I measure it?
TL;DR Chin to crown, divided by the photo's full height. Crown means the top of the skull where the hair would be if you had none, not the top of the hair. On a 45 mm photo, 70–80% is 32–36 mm. The band differs by country — China caps at 69%, India at 68.6%, Korea at 78%, Singapore publishes none — and being over the ceiling is refused as readily as being under the floor.
How to measure
Print or view the photo at its final size. Measure from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head, hair excluded (France's page says it outright: "hair excluded"; Taiwan's: "the position of the top of the head if there were no hair"). Divide by the photo's height. A 33 mm head on a 45 mm photo is 73%.
Why the ceiling matters as much as the floor
Guides emphasise "fill the frame", and a photo at 82% looks confident. It fails Korea (78%), China (69%), India (68.6%) and, strictly read, ICAO (80%). Automated checkers measure the number; they do not reward confidence. This site sets each document's band from the authority's own figures, and the table below shows them.
Head-height bands, as each authority publishes them
| Document | Size | Head in frame (as we compose it) | Background | Max age | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schengen visa | 35 × 45 mm | 70–80% | plain light-coloured — light grey or white | 6 months | home-affairs.ec.europa.eu |
| China visa | 33 × 48 mm | 58–69% | white or close to white, no edge frame | 6 months | bio.visaforchina.cn |
| India visa | 51 × 51 mm | 49–69% | plain light-coloured or white | 6 months | indianvisaonline.gov.in |
| South Korea visa | 35 × 45 mm | 56–78% | plain, evenly lit and light | 6 months | overseas.mofa.go.kr |
| United States visa | 51 × 51 mm | 50–69% | plain white or off-white | 6 months | travel.state.gov |
| Thailand visa | 35 × 45 mm | 66–74% | plain white or off-white | 6 months | singapore.thaiembassy.org |
| Taiwan passport | 35 × 45 mm | 71–80% | plain white | 6 months | www.roc-taiwan.org |
| Singapore passport | 35 × 45 mm | 56–78% | pure featureless white | 3 months | www.ica.gov.sg |
A real case
A visa checker in Singapore rejected a photo made "to ICAO" at 78% for a Chinese visa. The photo was correct for Schengen and wrong for China by nine points. Recropped to 66%, accepted.
Common questions
- The tool made my head smaller than I expected. Is that wrong?
- It is set to the document's published band. For China and India in particular the band is lower than the ICAO one most people are used to seeing.
- Singapore's band shows a figure but ICA publishes none. Which is it?
- ICA publishes no measurement. The band shown for Singapore documents is this site's own composition choice for ICA's 400 × 514 frame, and it is not attributed to ICA on the document pages.
Related documents
- Schengen visa — 35 × 45 mm
- China visa — 33 × 48 mm
- India visa — 51 × 51 mm
- South Korea visa — 35 × 45 mm
- Taiwan passport — 35 × 45 mm
- France passport — 35 × 45 mm
Sources
Read on the issuing authority's own pages on the dates shown on each document page:
- Schengen visa: home-affairs.ec.europa.eu (read 2026-09-06)
- China visa: bio.visaforchina.cn (read 2026-09-06)
- India visa: indianvisaonline.gov.in (read 2026-09-06)
- South Korea visa: overseas.mofa.go.kr (read 2026-09-06)
- Taiwan passport: www.roc-taiwan.org (read 2026-09-06)
- France passport: passeport.ants.gouv.fr (read 2026-09-06)
SGfoto is independent — not affiliated with or endorsed by any government or issuing authority — and does not guarantee acceptance. Requirements change; the authority's page is the one that counts. Rebuilt 2026-09-16.