India Visa Photo Requirements for e-Visa and Regular Visa

India uses two online systems for visas, and both ask for a square digital photo. The e-Visa portal covers the visa types available online, and the regular visa application covers the rest, with documents submitted afterward as instructed for your jurisdiction.

The rules for the face are almost the same. The difference is the file: the regular visa upload has tighter file size and pixel limits. The table compares them.

You do not need to know in advance which system will accept your photo. A square JPEG of 600 x 600 pixels and no more than 300 KB sits inside the limits of both.

The e-Visa page states no pixel range at all, only the 10 KB to 1 MB file size. The 350 to 1000 pixel range comes from the regular visa upload instructions. Exporting at 600 x 600 keeps the image sharp and well inside both ranges, and keeping it at 300 KB or less satisfies the stricter regular visa limit.

What about head size?

The e-Visa page only says to center the head and show the full head from the top of the hair to the bottom of the chin. VFS Global photo specifications for India visas in the US describe a head of about 1 to 1 3/8 inches on a 2 x 2 inch photo, which is 50 to 69% of the height. We could read that VFS sheet only through a search extract, so we treat it as a target, not an official limit.

These two photos are often confused, and using the wrong one is a common reason for a failed upload. The visa photo is for foreign nationals, including US citizens, who need a visa to visit India. The passport photo is for Indian citizens renewing or applying for a passport.

When the portal refuses a photo, the cause is usually the file or the background. Check these points before you upload.

• File too big. Phone photos are often 2 to 5 MB. The e-Visa limit is 1 MB and the regular visa limit is 300 KB.
• Not square. A portrait or landscape photo gets cropped badly or refused.
• Glasses on. The e-Visa rule is a photo without spectacles.
• Shadows or a dark wall. The background must be plain white or light, with no shadows on the face or behind you.
• Borders. A white frame added by an editing app counts as a border and is not allowed.
• Head cut off. The full head must show, from the top of the hair to the bottom of the chin.
• Wrong photo type. A 630 x 810 Indian passport photo or a tightly cropped selfie will not match the square visa format.

The passport bio page is a separate upload, as a PDF of 10 to 300 KB. Do not upload it in the photo field.

PhotoForPass turns one phone photo into an India visa photo that fits both upload systems. Checks run in your browser before you pay, so your photo stays on your device until then.

We check face position, eyes, lighting, shadows and background against the India visa rules. Then we fix the lighting, replace the background with plain white, center your full head in a square crop, and save a 600 x 600 JPEG at 300 KB or less.

• Digital photo ($16.95): the 600 x 600 JPEG for the e-Visa or regular visa upload.
• Photo + print sheet ($18.95): the same file plus a print-ready 4 x 6 inch sheet (JPG and PDF) of 2 x 2 inch photos: 6 borderless or 2 with cut guides. Print it at CVS, Walgreens or Walmart.

Each order includes up to 5 photo checks and 3 free redos per person, and files are ready about 30 to 60 seconds after payment. Final acceptance is up to the Indian visa authorities. If your photo is rejected, our 14-day money-back guarantee gives you a full refund.