India's New Passport Photo Rules — What Changed
On 1 September 2025, India's Passport Seva switched its photo standard from the old 51×51mm (2×2 inch) square format to the international ICAO 35×45mm rectangle. It's a complete change — dimensions, framing and background rules all moved — and a large amount of advice online, including many photo tools, still shows the old square spec. Following outdated guidance is now a live cause of rejections.
The current spec
Digital uploads to Passport Seva / mPassport Seva: 630×810 pixels (the 35×45mm ICAO ratio), JPEG format, between 10KB and 250KB. Background must be plain white — the older tolerance for off-white and cream backgrounds is gone. Face coverage should be 80–85% of the frame, which is noticeably tighter framing than most countries' passport photos: less headroom, less shoulder.
The three rejection traps
First, the old square photo: anything 2×2 or 51×51mm proportioned now fails — recrop to 35×45. Second, background color: cream or slightly gray backgrounds that passed before are rejected under the white-only rule. Third, loose framing: a photo that would be fine for a US visa (head at 50–69% of frame) is too zoomed-out for India's 80–85% face-coverage rule.
Fixing an existing photo
If your source photo has enough resolution and a clean white background, recropping to the new ratio works: the PixKB India Passport Seva preset crops to 630×810 and compresses into the 10–250KB window in one step. If your background isn't genuinely white or the framing is too loose to crop tighter, retake the photo — framing and background can't be fixed by resizing.
Frequently asked questions
Does the new rule apply to renewals or only new passports?
The upload standard applies to photo submissions on the portal generally — including renewals done online. Photos taken at Passport Seva Kendra counters follow the same ICAO standard.
My photo is 4×6cm from a studio. Is that acceptable?
Close but not identical — 35×45mm is the required ratio. A studio 4×6 can usually be cropped to the correct ratio if the framing allows the 80–85% face rule.
What was the old requirement?
51×51mm (2×2 inch) square, which allowed off-white backgrounds. It was retired on 1 September 2025 — any guide still showing a square format is out of date.