Where you apply decides which photo an Indian passport needs. Inside India, an applicant aged 4 or over who goes to a Passport Seva Kendra (PSK), or to a Post Office Passport Seva Kendra (POPSK), needs no passport photo: it is taken at the counter. A printed 4.5 × 3.5 cm photo (Passport Seva gives the height first: 3.5 cm wide × 4.5 cm high, i.e. 35×45 mm) is only for children under 4, paper applications and Passport Seva Camps. The 630×810 px file is a separate requirement — the ICAO photo that Indian embassies and consulates began asking for on their own dates from September 2025. Foreign visitors applying for an e-Visa have a third, square spec.

The three photos side by side

	Print — in India (paper forms, under-4s)	ICAO photo — missions abroad	e-Visa upload
Who needs it	children under 4 at a PSK/POPSK; paper forms at a DPC, SPC or CSC; Passport Seva Camps (two prints)	passport applicants at Indian embassies and consulates that require it	foreign nationals applying online to visit India
Size	4.5 × 3.5 cm (35×45 mm)	630×810 px	square, at least 350×350 px
Face	80–85% of the photo (under-4 guideline)	80–85% of the photo	whole head, hair to chin — no % given
File / paper	good photographic paper; computer prints refused (paper forms)	≤250 KB in Bern’s notice; no format or minimum stated	JPEG, 10 KB–1 MB
Background	plain white	white	plain light or white
Photo age	recent — no month count	not stated	recent — no month count
Glasses	coloured or dark lenses refused; tilt to avoid glare	take them off to avoid reflections	without spectacles
Expression	natural — no grinning, frowning or raised eyebrows	natural, mouth closed	full face, front view, eyes open

Applying in India: the PSK takes the photo

Passport Seva’s instruction booklet states that a photograph is not required for applications submitted at a PSK or POPSK. Passport Seva’s FAQ explains why: for applicants above the age of 4, the picture is captured at the PSK, POPSK or Passport Office itself, and the step-by-step guide has the counter staff click your photograph along with your fingerprints. Every applicant, infants included, has to attend in person. Separately, some supporting documents carry their own photo: a government employee’s Identity Certificate (Annexure A) or No-Objection Certificate (Annexure G) needs the applicant’s photo attested by the issuing officer, and the joint declaration in lieu of a marriage certificate (Annexure J) needs a self-attested joint photo of the couple.

A print is still needed in three cases:

• Children under 4. Bring one recent 4.5 × 3.5 cm colour photo of the child against white. Passport Seva’s under-4 guideline asks for a head-and-shoulders close-up with the face taking up 80–85% of the frame, the whole head visible, and a natural expression.
• Paper applications at a District Passport Cell (DPC), an authorised Speed Post centre (SPC) or a Citizen Service Centre (CSC). Paste one recent colour photo, 4.5 cm long by 3.5 cm wide and no smaller than the box on the form, taken against plain white in dark clothing. It has to be printed on good quality photographic paper — computer prints and black-and-white photos are refused — and must not be signed. The booklet turns away coloured or dark glasses and suggests tilting the head slightly up or down to keep glare off clear lenses.
• Passport Seva Camps. The Camp FAQ asks for two recent colour photos of the same 4.5 × 3.5 cm size on a white background.

None of these sources sets a month limit. The booklet asks for the most recent photo, one that shows your latest appearance, so a fresh print is the safe choice. The size itself is not new either: the December 2020 edition of the booklet gives the same 4.5 × 3.5 cm as the current (June 2026) one. Exam notices use it too: GATE asks for a “passport size” photo of the same 3.5 × 4.5 cm, with pixel and KB limits of its own, and CTET for a 3.5 × 4.5 cm photo with a file-size limit in KB; 3.5 × 4.5 cm in every unit converts it and compares those notices.

Missions abroad: the ICAO photo and its dates

The 2025 change was a mission-by-mission switch outside India, not a new national size. Indian embassies and consulates have been moving their passport applicants to ICAO-compliant photos, each on a date of its own. Some examples:

• Vienna — from 1 September 2025, passport applications are accepted only with ICAO-compliant photos.
• Cairo — from 1 September 2025, uploading an ICAO photo, or sending a soft copy to the mission or its service provider, is mandatory.
• Dubai — the upload became an option when the consulate’s new portal opened on 28 October 2025.
• Bern and Doha — uploading an ICAO photo is mandatory from 1 December 2025; Bern applies the rule to visa applications as well.

Several of these notices tie the upload to the missions’ new application portal, version 2.0 of the Global Passport Seva Programme (GPSP), which the Ministry of External Affairs says went live at Indian embassies and consulates worldwide on 28 October 2025.

The shared rulebook is Passport Seva’s one-page ICAO guideline. It asks for a colour photo of 630×810 px; a close-up of the head and top of the shoulders in which the face takes up 80–85% of the picture; a white background; eyes open, mouth closed and a natural expression; glasses removed so they can’t reflect; a camera about 1.5 m away; and no retouching by software. It gives no size in millimetres, no file format, no minimum file size and no age limit. Bern’s notice adds the one number the guideline leaves out: a 250 KB maximum.

630×810 px has the same 7:9 proportions as the 35×45 mm print (it works out to about 457 dpi), so one well-framed photo can serve both — crop to the shape first, then scale. To make the file yourself, PassportPhoto’s free in-browser maker crops to 630×810 px and can also lay out a 4×6 sheet of 35×45 mm prints to take to a photo lab.

Not every mission page has caught up. Vienna’s photo requirements page still opens with a 2 × 2 inch photo, although the embassy’s passport services page carries the 1 September 2025 ICAO notice. When a mission’s pages disagree, its dated notice is the one to follow, and the mission itself can confirm.

Traps that cost an appointment

• Preparing the wrong medium. A 630×810 px file is no use at a PSK, where the photo is taken on the spot, and a print is no use to a mission portal that wants an upload.
• Forgetting the under-4 exception. “No passport photo at the PSK” holds from age 4; a younger child needs a 4.5 × 3.5 cm print.
• Assuming one switchover date. Missions changed between September and December 2025, and Dubai started with the upload as optional. Read your own mission’s notice.
• Inventing file rules. No source checked here makes JPEG compulsory or sets a minimum size for the passport upload; 250 KB is Bern’s ceiling. If your mission’s portal states a format or a size limit, that portal decides.
• Stretching between shapes. Forcing a square e-Visa photo into 7:9, or the reverse, distorts the face. Re-crop from the original instead.

Sources

SourceChecked 1 October 2026. In India: Passport Seva application form instruction booklet; Passport Seva FAQ and Apply page (children under 4); photo guidelines for minors under 4; Camp FAQ; steps to submit an application at a PSK. Missions abroad: Passport Seva ICAO photo guidelines; notices from the embassies in Vienna, Cairo, Bern and Doha and from the consulate in Dubai; the MEA press release on GPSP V2.0. e-Visa: the e-Visa FAQ and the official sample application form.

Related: spec change log · ICAO 9303 explained · photo sizes in pixels · stamp size photo · US passport & visa.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to bring a photo to a Passport Seva Kendra?

Only for a child under 4 — for the application itself. The Passport Seva booklet says no photograph is required for applications at a PSK or POPSK, and Passport Seva's FAQ says applicants above 4 are photographed there. For a younger child, carry one recent 4.5 × 3.5 cm colour photo on a white background; the PSK, POPSK or Passport Office uses it to process the application. A few supporting documents carry their own attested photo: the Identity Certificate (Annexure A), the No-Objection Certificate (Annexure G) and the joint declaration in lieu of a marriage certificate (Annexure J).

Is the India passport photo 2×2 inches or 35×45 mm?

Inside India it is 4.5 × 3.5 cm — the 35×45 mm rectangle, held upright — wherever a print is needed, and the booklet already gave that size in its December 2020 edition. 2×2 inches is the American format. Several Indian missions abroad moved to ICAO photos from September 2025 and some mission pages still show 2×2 in, so outside India, go by your own mission's latest notice.

Do I need a 630×810 px photo for an Indian passport?

Only when an Indian embassy or consulate asks you to upload an ICAO photo. Passport Seva's ICAO guideline gives 630×810 pixels and the embassy in Bern caps the file at 250 KB; neither names a file format or a minimum size. Applicants in India never upload a passport photo — the PSK takes one, or a print goes on the form.

Is the e-visa photo the same as the passport photo?

No. The e-Visa that foreign visitors apply for online wants a square JPEG between 10 KB and 1 MB, with a 350×350 px minimum in its official sample form and no spectacles. A 630×810 px ICAO file isn't square, so the e-Visa portal won't take it, and the reverse swap fails too.

What does 'face 80–85%' mean in practice?

Passport Seva's ICAO and under-4 guidelines want a close-up of the head and top of the shoulders in which the face takes up 80–85% of the photograph; the Bern notice rounds it to about 85%. Neither explains how to measure it, but both want the whole head in frame, hair to chin — so the head fills most of the height with only a thin margin above. That is a bigger share than the 70–80% many ICAO-based specs use.