Indian Visa Photo Requirements
Traveling to India would be a worthwhile and memorable experience for you. It is a great destination to visit for tourism, business, and medical treatment purposes. However, to apply for an Indian e tourist visa, Indian e business visa, Indian e medical visa, Indian e conference visa, Indian Medical Attendant eVisa and it is necessary to submit a passport-style photo with other supporting documents. For an Indian visa or passport to be valid, the photograph must meet specific guidelines as approved by the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Here's all the information you need for Indian visa applicants to help you capture a compliant passport photo.
Size, Format, Position, and Dimensions Overview:
- The photo should be 51mm x 51mm or 2x2 inches in size.
- Keep the color tone natural to make your skin color clearly visible.
- The applicant's head must be centered, and the person must face the camera. Ideally, the head should be 35mm to 40mm.
- The background should be of solid, plain white design.
- Smiling in the photo is not allowed. The expression must be neutral.
- Eyes must be wide open and looking at the camera.
- Only precision glasses are permitted.
- Headgear is permitted only if it is a religious obligation. Also, it should not block the applicant's face.
- The photograph must be between 10kb to 300kb in size or between 1MB and 10MB. Pixel requirements vary between 350x350 min and 1000x1000 max.
- Selfies are not allowed. Someone else should take the picture.
- The photo must be in JPEG, JPG, or PNG format.
- The image should be a portrait and not a landscape image. The portrait mode will present your face perfectly without making it elongated unnecessarily.
- The photo should be taken alone. No one else should be visible in the background or alongside the applicant.
Duration from Capture:
You cannot just attach any passport-style photo. The photo must be recent and show your current look. For the visa photo to be appropriate, it must not be more than 6 months old. If it is too old, such as your ten-year-old high-school photo, the visa application will be rejected.
How to Check Photo Size and Format?
To check the size of the photo, simply check its properties. If you are taking the picture from your smartphone, tablet, or digital camera, access the photo's properties once you have captured it. This section displays all the information related to an image, including its size, format, and dimensions.
The Positioning of Face:
Make sure that the expressions on your face remain neutral and natural. There is no need to smile. Also, keep your eyes open; even half-closed eyes will render your photo invalid. Keep in mind that photo editing is prohibited in Indian visa or passport photos.
The image must be unfiltered and unedited. It must depict your everyday look. The full face of the applicant should be visible in the photo, preferably without spectacles. The image shouldn't contain red-eye. The applicant's full center head from the top of the hairline to the chin's bottom must mandatorily appear in the photo.
Keep the background plain white and make sure that there aren't any distractions on your face or the background, such as glare or shadow. If you must wear headgear, remember that the forehead, facial features, the bottom of the chin, and both edges of the face must remain visible.
What about Lighting?
Shadowing, blurring, and glare must be avoided at all costs. Your digital photograph must have sufficient lighting and shouldn't be too dark. Appropriate lighting will enhance image clarity and reduce the chances of blurring, resulting in visa application not rejection.
Dressing Requirements:
You should wear plain, single-colored clothes and avoid flowered or multicolored outfit. Too many colors or prints will create a distraction, which is prohibited. Moreover, do not wear the same colored clothes as the background.
Important Guidelines to Remember:
- Do not tilt your face. Look straight at the camera.
- Your face's edges must be clearly shown and symmetrical.
- Glasses or spectacles must not have a glare so that your eyes are visible in the photo.
- There shouldn't be any other elements in the picture except for the applicant.
- Lighting should be distributed evenly, and the image must have appropriate clarity and contrast.
- The photo should be taken at a distance of approx.—1.5m from the face.