UK Visa Photo Size: Pixels, KB and Rules (Free Resize)

A digital UK visa photo must be at least 600 pixels wide and 750 pixels tall, between 50 KB and 6 MB, and saved as a JPG, as per the current gov.uk guidance. It also needs a plain light background and a plain expression. To get there from a phone photo, crop it to a 4:5 portrait shape and set the width to 600 px or more in the free image resizer. Nothing is uploaded to us.

UK visa and immigration applications are mostly online now, and many ask you to upload a photo rather than post a printed one. The rules below are for that digital photo. If you're applying for a British passport instead, gov.uk has a separate page with slightly different numbers, so use the right one.

UK visa photo size and rules

As per gov.uk's "Take a photo of your face for a visa application or permission" guidance (published 12 February 2026):

Rule	Requirement
Pixels	At least 600 wide and 750 tall
File size	At least 50 KB, no more than 6 MB
File type	JPG or JPEG
Orientation	Vertical (portrait), not mirrored or flipped
Background	Plain, light-coloured, with clear contrast to you
Framing	Head, shoulders and upper body; nobody and nothing else
Expression	Plain, mouth closed, eyes open and visible
Glasses	Not unless you have to; never tinted, no glare over the eyes
Editing	No filters or software changes

The page also says the photo must not be a scan or a photo of another photo, and must not be the same image as the one in your passport or ID card. It can be taken on a phone or tablet, ideally by someone else.

Guidance changes, so open the gov.uk page before you apply and check the numbers on your application screen.

Why 600 × 750 is a 4:5 photo

600 ÷ 750 is 0.8, which is exactly 4:5. That's handy, because the free image cropper has a Portrait 4:5 shape built in. Crop to 4:5, resize to 600 wide, and you get exactly 600 × 750.

Note what the rule says: at least 600 × 750. Larger is fine, as long as the file stays under 6 MB. A crop straight from a modern phone, at maybe 2000 × 2500 px, is usually acceptable as it is, provided it's a JPG and under the size limit.

Step 1: Take a photo that will pass

• Stand in front of a plain white, cream or light grey wall, a step or two away so no shadow falls behind you.
• Light your face evenly from the front. Turn off overhead lights that throw shadows under your eyes.
• Ask someone to take the photo at your eye level, with your head, shoulders and upper body in the frame.
• Use the rear camera, not the selfie camera. Some phones mirror selfies, and the rules say the photo must not be mirrored.

Step 2: Crop to Portrait 4:5

1. Open the free image cropper and choose your photo. It opens JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF and BMP files, not HEIC, so if your iPhone saved the photo as HEIC, set Settings > Camera > Formats to Most Compatible and retake it.
2. Pick Portrait 4:5.
3. Move the box so your head is centred, with a little space above it and your shoulders at the bottom.
4. Save as JPG and click Crop image.

Step 3: Resize to at least 600 × 750

1. Open the free image resizer and choose the cropped photo.
2. Keep Lock proportions on and type 600 in Width (px). The height becomes 750. If your crop is already bigger and under 6 MB, you can skip resizing.
3. Choose JPG under Save as and click Resize image.
4. Check the size shown next to the download button.

Step 4: Check the KB

This rule surprises people: a photo can be too small. At 600 × 750 the resizer saves a high-quality JPG, which usually lands well above 50 KB, but a very plain photo can come out smaller. If yours is under 50 KB, resize it larger, for example 900 × 1125, and check again.

If it's over 6 MB, which only happens with very large originals, run it through the free image compressor at 80-90% quality, or resize it down. Our guide on image KB vs pixels explains why size and pixels move together.

Mistakes that get UK visa photos rejected

• Mirrored selfie. Use the rear camera, or have someone take it.
• Shadows on the wall. Step forward, away from the wall, and light from the front.
• Filters or beauty mode. Turn them off in the camera app; the rules forbid editing.
• Square or landscape crop. The photo must be vertical.
• Reusing your passport photo. The guidance says not to use the same image.

Resize your UK visa photo now

Crop to Portrait 4:5, set the width to 600 px or more in the free image resizer, save as JPG and check it's between 50 KB and 6 MB. It's free and your photo never leaves your device.