What do passport-photo guides most often get wrong?
TL;DR They copy each other instead of reading the authority. Checking 55 documents against the issuing authorities' own pages found 15 errors in this site's own catalogue — three of them a photo of the wrong shape entirely — and a spot-check of a popular competitor found two of four documents wrong on the first figure anyone would copy. The pattern of the errors is more useful than the list.
Error one: the passport rule applied to the visa
Australia's passport office demands pure white and rejects light grey. Australia's visa page asks only for a plain background. Guides — and this site, once — put the passport rule on the visa and told people a light-grey background would be refused. The same country's passport and visa are different documents with different pages.
Error two: the domestic rule applied to the overseas mission
India's in-country passport photo is 35 × 45; the High Commission's outsourced service in Singapore wants 51 × 51. Japan's ministry publishes no size; the Singapore centre says 45 × 35. The rule that binds a resident is the mission's, and it is often not the one on the country's main portal.
Error three: the figure nobody published
"Chin to crown 25–35 mm" for Singapore is a photo-shop convention; ICA's guideline gives no measurement. "43 × 55 mm" for the UAE is on no ICP page. "No glasses" for China contradicts the Consular Department's text. These survive because every guide cites another guide.
Error four: a photo where none is wanted
Employment Pass, S Pass, Work Permit: MOM photographs you. Malaysian, Indonesian, Philippine and Thai passport renewals in Singapore: the mission photographs you. Sri Lanka's ETA and Türkiye's e-Visa: no photo. Guides list a size for all of them, because a size is what a guide is for.
The corrections made to this site's own catalogue, September 2026
| Document | Was | Is, per the authority |
|---|---|---|
| Myanmar visa | 51 × 51 mm | 38 × 46 mm, 3 months |
| Philippines visa | 51 × 51 mm | 35 × 45 mm — printed on the Embassy's form |
| Mexico visa | 39 × 31 mm (landscape) | 26 × 32 mm |
| Japan visa | 45 × 45 mm, 60–80% | 45 × 35 mm, ~70%, no spectacles, glossy |
| UAE visa | 43 × 55 mm, 60–75%, 3 months | 35 × 45 mm, 70–80%, 6 months |
| China visa | head to 75%; "no glasses" | head to 69%; glasses allowed |
| Korea visa | head to 80% | head to 78% |
| India visa | head to 70%; PNG | head to 68.6%; JPEG 10–300 KB |
| Australia visa | "pure white only, grey rejected" | plain background |
| Singapore passport | "chin to crown 25–35 mm" (ICA) | ICA publishes no measurement; dark head gear is required |
A real case
The Myanmar correction was found because the ministry's eVisa page loaded on a second attempt after failing on the first. Had it failed twice, this site would still say 51 × 51 — and so would every guide that copied from the same place. Reading the page is the whole method.
Common questions
- Is this site now correct?
- It is sourced: 49 of 55 documents carry the authority's page and the date it was read, and the other six say on their pages that no source could be reached. Sourced is not the same as permanent — authorities change pages, and a read date is there so you can judge.
- Which competitor, and what was wrong?
- The check is documented with quotes in the site's working notes. The two wrong were the UAE (43 × 55, "head 80%", a DPI figure inconsistent with itself) and Japan (45 × 45 first, then three alternatives; glasses allowed where the centre says no). China and India were right. The competitor is not named on this page because two of four is a sample, not a verdict.
Related documents
- Myanmar visa — 38 × 46 mm
- Philippines visa — 35 × 45 mm
- Mexico visa — 26 × 32 mm
- Japan visa — 35 × 45 mm
- United Arab Emirates visa — 35 × 45 mm
- China visa — 33 × 48 mm
- South Korea visa — 35 × 45 mm
- India visa — 51 × 51 mm
- Australia visa — 35 × 45 mm
- Singapore passport — 35 × 45 mm
Sources
Read on the issuing authority's own pages on the dates shown on each document page:
- Myanmar visa: evisa.moip.gov.mm (read 2026-09-06)
- Philippines visa: www.philippine-embassy.org.sg (read 2026-09-06)
- Mexico visa: embamex.sre.gob.mx (read 2026-09-06)
- Japan visa: visa.vfsglobal.com (read 2026-09-06)
- United Arab Emirates visa: icp.gov.ae (read 2026-09-06)
- China visa: bio.visaforchina.cn (read 2026-09-06)
- South Korea visa: overseas.mofa.go.kr (read 2026-09-06)
- India visa: indianvisaonline.gov.in (read 2026-09-06)
- Australia visa: immi.homeaffairs.gov.au (read 2026-09-06)
- Singapore passport: www.ica.gov.sg (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.