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The 2 by 2 inch square is used by US passports and visas, every photo-bearing USCIS form, Indian visas and OCI cards. Pick the document below, because the head height and file size rules differ even though the frame is the same.
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Photo format
Head height 25.4-34.9 mm
Background: White or off-white
Glasses: must be removed
Background
Output
US passport photo uploads must stay under 240 KB. We compress to fit automatically.
Compliance
Upload a photo and every requirement is checked here in real time.
Private by design
Your photo is processed entirely inside this browser tab. It is never uploaded to a server, so there is nothing for us to store, share or leak.
Read the full requirement checklistThe published rules for a 50.8 x 50.8 mm United States passport photo.
It is tempting to treat 2x2 as a single specification, but the square is only the outline. The United States constrains both head height and eye position, and caps online uploads at 240 KB. Indian e-Visa uploads use the same square but require a minimum of 350 by 350 pixels with a 10 KB floor and a 1 MB ceiling. OCI uploads are tighter still, around 200 KB. Picking the document rather than just the shape is what keeps the file acceptable.
The 2 inch square predates the international ICAO template, which standardised on a 35 mm by 45 mm portrait rectangle for machine-readable travel documents. The United States kept its square, and India retained it for visas and OCI cards. Everywhere else you will need a rectangle, so do not assume a 2x2 photo will work for a European or Canadian application.
Most phone photos are 3:4 or 9:16, so a square crop discards a lot of width or height. That is fine as long as the original included space around your head. If your photo is already tightly framed, the crop may run out of image above your hair, and the compliance panel will tell you so rather than silently cutting off your crown.
Accepted vs refused
One compliant photo, five of the faults that cause most rejections.
Read the requirements guideCommon faults to watch for
Neutral expression, even lighting, plain background, head correctly sized and centred.
A side light or overhead lamp leaves one side of the face dark. Face a window instead.
A textured, coloured or shadowed wall. Turn on background replacement to fix this.
Reflections hide the eyes. Most countries want glasses removed entirely.
The head must be square to the camera. Use the straighten slider to correct small tilts.
The crown is cut off and the head exceeds the allowed millimetre range.
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