UK Visa Photo Upload: requirements and cropper
Crop a photo to the official United Kingdom spec and check the head height as you go — free, and entirely in your browser.
Crop a photo to the United Kingdom spec
Drag the two markers. Put the blue one on the very top of the head — including hair — and the red one on the bottom of the chin. Every measurement below is calculated from that, because official specs measure the head crown to chin, not the face.
Your photo
Result
More options
Full requirements
| Background | Plain light-coloured background |
|---|---|
| Digital dimensions | at least 600 × 750 px |
| File size | 50 KB – 6 MB |
| File format | JPEG |
| Glasses | Eyes must be clearly visible. |
| Head coverings | The full face must be visible. |
| Expression & pose | Face the camera directly in a well-lit room. |
| Not published | printed photo size, head height, minimum resolution, how recent, copies required, children & infants — the official source does not state these, so nothing is shown rather than a number we made up. |
Source: GOV.UK — How to take a photo for a visa application or permission — read 2026-07-26.
How to take and crop the photo
- Take or choose a photo shot straight on, from about arm's length or further, in even light with no shadow falling on the face or the wall behind it. Phone selfies taken close up distort the face and are a common rejection reason.
- Stand far enough from the wall that you cast no shadow on it. The background needs to be plain light-coloured background — the tool fills only the area outside your photo's edges, it does not replace the wall behind you.
- Drop the photo into the tool above. Nothing is uploaded; the file is read directly by your browser.
- Drag the blue marker to the very top of the head, including hair, and the red marker to the bottom of the chin. This is the measurement every official spec is written against.
- Download the photo. If the result would exceed the 6 MB upload limit, it is compressed to fit before saving.
Why United Kingdom photos get rejected
Drawn from the official guidance rather than guesswork. Most rejections are not about dimensions at all:
- File larger than 6 MB or smaller than 50 KB
- Below 600 × 750 px
- Horizontal rather than vertical orientation
- Scan or photo of another printed photo
- Reusing the photo already in the passport
- Edited or filtered with software
Background and other notes
The background must be plain light-coloured background. Digital uploads must land between 50 KB and 6 MB.
The visa upload spec is separate from — and stricter on file size than — the passport spec: no more than 6 MB for a visa versus 10 MB for a passport. The photo must be vertically oriented, unaltered by software, not a scan or a photo of another photo, and must not be the same photo used in the applicant's passport or ID.
File size and disclaimer
A correctly framed photo still gets rejected if the file is too large. United Kingdom caps uploads at 6 MB , with a floor of 50 KB. The cropper above compresses to fit automatically when you download. If you already have a correctly framed photo and only need it resized, the compress tool will hit an exact target without touching the framing.
This is not official advice. img-fix is not affiliated with any government or immigration authority. The figures on this page were read from GOV.UK — How to take a photo for a visa application or permission on 2026-07-26, and requirements change without notice. Check the official source before you submit.
United Kingdom photo questions
Is my photo uploaded anywhere?
No. The cropping, resizing and compressing all happen inside this page, using your browser's own image APIs. There is no server to upload to — the site is static files. Open your browser's network tab, use the tool, and you can watch nothing leave.
It also keeps working with your Wi-Fi switched off once the page has loaded.
What is the maximum file size?
6 MB, with a floor of 50 KB. This is where a lot of otherwise-valid photos fail — the framing is right but the file is too big. The compress tool will hit an exact target if you already have a correctly framed photo.
Can this tool change my background?
No, and that is deliberate. Background replacement means guessing where your hair ends, and the guess is visible — a halo or a chewed-up fringe is exactly the kind of artefact that gets a photo rejected as digitally altered. United Kingdom requires plain light-coloured background, so photograph yourself against a matching wall.
The fill colour setting only paints the area outside your photo's edges when the required crop is larger than the image you supplied.
Can I wear glasses?
Eyes must be clearly visible.
Are head coverings allowed?
The full face must be visible.
Will a photo from this tool definitely be accepted?
Nobody can promise that, and any site that does is selling you certainty it does not have. A photo is judged on framing, background, lighting, expression, sharpness and how recent it is. This tool handles the geometry and the file size precisely; the rest is down to how the photo was taken. The requirements here were read from GOV.UK — How to take a photo for a visa application or permission on 2026-07-26 — check the source before you submit, because rules change.
Related specifications
Other United Kingdom document photos
Other visa specifications
- Schengen Visa Photo 35 × 45 mm · head 70–80% · plain
- US Visa & DV Lottery Digital Photo 600 × 600 px · head 22–35 mm · plain white or off-white · max 240 KB
Comparing print sizes across every country in one place is easier on the passport photo size comparison page.