UK Visa Photo Requirements

Digital uploads and printed photos

After you apply online, you provide biometrics — fingerprints and a facial photograph [3] — normally by going to a visa application centre run by an external company [4]. Some people can prove their identity with the UK Immigration: ID Check app instead, and in most cases do not need an in-person appointment if they use it [4]; for an ETA, the facial image is supplied through the ETA app or the GOV.UK ETA webpage [5].

UKVI’s Biometric enrolment: policy guidance says people can use the passport photograph standards as guidance on providing their facial photographs [5] — a digital one with a plain light-coloured background [1], or a printed one with a plain cream or light grey background, on plain white photographic paper with no border [2]. The digital image for an eVisa must instead be taken against a plain neutral-coloured background [5]. It also has its own file type and file-size limit [5].UK explains that limit by what goes wrong at each end: too small and the image is poor quality, too big and it cannot be stored [5]. Printed passport photos follow their own rule instead: they should not be a cut-down version of a larger picture, and a photo booth outside the UK should be checked for the print size it produces [2].

Common rejection reasons

Adults face the camera with a plain expression and mouth closed, eyes open and visible [1] (the exceptions for children under 6 and babies under one are below). Hair must not fall in front of your eyes, and nothing may cover your face; a head covering is allowed only for religious or medical reasons [1]. Avoid wearing glasses unless you need to; if you do, they cannot be sunglasses or tinted, and your eyes must not be covered by the frames, glare, reflection or shadow [1]. Shadows on your face or behind you, other objects or people in the picture, and red eye are all refused [1][2]. Printed photos must also be printed to a professional standard, clear and in focus, without creases or tears, and unmarked on both sides unless the photo needs to be countersigned [2].

Babies and children

Children must be on their own in the picture; babies cannot hold toys or use dummies [1]. Children under 6 do not need to look directly at the camera or keep a plain expression, and babies under one do not need to have their eyes open — you may support the head with a hand that is not visible, and the baby should lie on a plain light-coloured sheet with the photo taken from above [1]. At a visa application centre, children under 5 still attend for their photograph but do not give fingerprints [4].