India visa photo size — 2×2 inch (51×51 mm) eVisa dimensions

Exact dimensions and pixel size

The India eVisa photo dimension is 51×51 mm — a 2×2 inch square, identical to the US passport / visa format. At 350 DPI the digital equivalent is 600×600 pixels minimum; the indianvisaonline.gov.in portal accepts up to 1200×1200 px and JPEG file size up to 1 MB. The portal rejects rectangular photos outright at upload.

Crucially, this is one of three globally-significant 2×2 inch passport-photo specs alongside US passport / DS-160 visa and the Saudi Arabia MOFA eVisa. A single complypic photo at 51×51 mm 600×600 px on a white background simultaneously satisfies India MHA, US State Department, and Saudi MOFA — useful for multi-destination travellers.

Head height and framing

Head height (chin to crown, including hair) must measure 25-35 mm, occupying 50-69% of the photo's vertical dimension. Eyes should fall between 56% and 69% from the bottom edge. The face must be centered, looking straight at the lens, no head tilt or rotation.

Indian immigration is particularly strict about full-face frontal view: any partial profile, three-quarter angle, or sideways glance is rejected even if the rest of the photo is compliant. The MHA's upload validator runs a face-landmark check that scores frontal pose; scores below threshold flag the photo for manual review.

Background and colour

The background must be plain white (#FFFFFF), uniform, with no shadows. The Bureau of Immigration explicitly prohibits coloured, patterned, or textured backgrounds. Lighting on the wall behind the head must be even — shadows from window light or single-source lamps are a frequent rejection cause.

Photo must be in full colour, with natural skin tone. The eVisa portal flags black-and-white, sepia, and heavily filtered images. Heavy AI smoothing is increasingly detected and treated as 'altered photograph', which can result in eVisa refusal rather than just resubmission request.

Recency, glasses and expression

The photo must be taken within the last 6 months. The MHA compares against your passport biographic photo and against any previous Indian visa on file — significant divergence (different hair, weight, age) triggers manual officer review.

Glasses of any kind are not permitted, even for medical reasons. Religious head coverings are accepted as long as the face is fully visible from chin to forehead with no shadow. Expression must be neutral with mouth closed; eyes open and clearly visible, looking directly at the lens.

indianvisaonline.gov.in portal upload requirements

The eVisa portal accepts JPEG only, square aspect ratio, minimum 350×350 px, maximum 1200×1200 px, and file size between 10 KB and 1 MB. Square non-JPEG files (PNG, HEIC) are rejected at the upload step. complypic exports JPEG at 600×600 px sized to roughly 200 KB, which is comfortably within all bounds.

After upload, the portal's automated checker validates aspect ratio, face detection, eye position, and background uniformity in a single pass. Failures return a non-specific error message ('photo does not meet specifications'), so getting the dimensions exactly right on the first upload is essential.

FAQ