About PhotoSpec and how we verify photo requirements
About PhotoSpec
PhotoSpec is a reference for passport, visa and ID photo requirements in 37 countries and regions, and an app that applies those requirements when you take the photo yourself.
PhotoSpec is operated by Omni Graphics & Consulting LLC. We are not a government agency. Requirements are compiled from the material each issuing authority publishes. Where an official rule exists, each requirement links to its source.
Questions or corrections: contact us.
How we verify requirements
PhotoSpec takes photo requirements from the material the issuing authority publishes, and keeps track of which figures came from that material and which the app supplies itself. This page explains that difference, shows how much of it we have, and says plainly where the data is still incomplete.
How we label a requirement
Every photo needs a complete set of numbers before the app can frame and crop it. Authorities do not publish all of them. So we keep the number the app needs and record separately whether the authority actually published it.
- Government-published — the figure comes from the authority's own published material, and we have opened and read that material.
- Derived by PhotoSpec from published information — the authority published a pixel size or a ratio but no print size, so the millimetre figure is what PhotoSpec produces at the required ratio. On the size pages this carries a †.
- Operational value, not established as a published requirement — the authority did not publish a rule for that item, or we have not established what its wording requires. The app still needs a value, so it uses a neutral default. We do not present these as requirements. On the size pages a pixel figure in this state carries a ‡.
We use the same three labels here and on the size pages, so a † or ‡ there means exactly what it means here.
What we hold today
| Countries and regions | 37 |
|---|---|
| Documents | 107 |
| Documents with a source address on file | 105 of 107 — 2 follow common practice rather than an official rule (South Korea résumé photos, Japan résumé photos), so they have no source line |
| Documents whose source we have opened and read | 93 of 107 |
| Source checks recorded between | 7 August 2026 and 10 October 2026 |
How the labels fall, item by item
Counted across all 107 documents. A document is counted as government-published for an item only when the item is not marked as unpublished and we have opened that document's source. Where we have not opened a source, we do not claim the figure is published.
| Item | Government-published | Derived / operational | Not established |
|---|---|---|---|
| Print size in millimetres | 85 | 15 derived | 7 |
| Head height | 58 | 40 operational | 9 |
| Background | 78 | 20 operational | 9 |
| Glasses rule | 68 | 27 operational | 12 |
| Expression | 65 | 30 operational | 12 |
| Digital pixel size | 38 documents carry a pixel size. For 17 of them we have established from the authority's own wording whether it is exact, a range, or preferred. For the remaining 21 we have not, and we make no claim that those figures are published requirements. | ||
What “source checked” means
“Source checked on 20 August 2026” means PhotoSpec opened and read that source on that date. It does not mean every field on this site was re-checked against the authority that day, and it does not mean the authority reviewed or approved anything. A date recorded from a search result summary is not counted — only a source we opened ourselves.
Requirements change without notice. Always check the current requirement with the issuing authority before you submit.
Examples of sources we hold
A short sample, not the full list. Each links to the authority's own page or document.
| Country | Document | Source | Source checked on |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Passport | travel.state.gov | 10 October 2026 |
| United Kingdom | Passport | www.gov.uk | 27 September 2026 |
| Germany | Driving licence | www.gesetze-im-internet.de | 30 August 2026 |
| France | Visa | france-visas.gouv.fr | 20 August 2026 |
| South Korea | Passport | www.passport.go.kr | 8 August 2026 |
| Japan | ID card | www.kojinbango-card.go.jp | 7 August 2026 |
| Australia | Passport | www.passports.gov.au | 22 September 2026 |
| New Zealand | Passport | www.passports.govt.nz | 7 August 2026 |
| Singapore | Passport | www.ica.gov.sg | 7 August 2026 |
| India | Passport | mportal.passportindia.gov.in | 21 August 2026 |
Limitations
- 2 of 107 documents (South Korea résumé photos, Japan résumé photos) follow common practice rather than an official rule, so they have no source line.
- 14 of 107 documents have no recorded source check.
- 21 pixel figures are not established as published requirements.
- A recorded source check covers the source we opened. It is not a re-verification of every field on that date.
- Where an authority publishes nothing for an item, the app still uses a value so it can frame and crop. Those values are operational and are labelled as such.
- This page reports what PhotoSpec holds. It is not a statement by any authority.
Independence
PhotoSpec is operated by Omni Graphics & Consulting LLC. It is not a government agency and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any government agency.
What governments actually publish — counted · Passport photo sizes by country · Size converter