India and Turkey have the strictest passport photo rules of the 45 countries we track, followed by Hong Kong, South Korea and Spain. The United Kingdom is among the most relaxed. We scored each country's own published rules on the six things that most often get a photo sent back: glasses, head coverings, ears, how exactly the head must fill the frame, the background colour and the file size.
Built from Picproved's rule data on 3 November 2026. Every rule links the passport office that publishes it (last column, and on each country's page). One passport per country; countries where the office takes the photo itself are left out. Free to quote or reuse with a link to this page.
| # | Country | Score | Glasses | Head covering | Both ears | Head height | Background | File limit | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India | 6 | Not allowed | Religious or medical | Yes | 75–85% (10 points) | white | up to 250 KB | passportindia.gov.in |
| 2 | Turkey | 5 | Not allowed | Religious or medical | No | 53–60% (7 points) | white | mfa.gov.tr | |
| 3 | Hong Kong | 5 | Allowed if clear | Not allowed | No | 64–72% (8 points) | white | up to 5 MB | immd.gov.hk |
| 4 | South Korea | 5 | Not allowed | Religious or medical | Yes | 71–80% (9 points) | white | mofa.go.kr | |
| 5 | Spain | 5 | Off if you can | Not allowed | No | 70–80% (10 points) | white | interior.gob.es | |
| 6 | Nigeria | 4 | Off if you can | Religious or medical | Yes | 70–80% (10 points) | white | up to 2 MB | immigration.gov.ng |
| 7 | Nepal | 4 | Not allowed | Religious or medical | Yes | 69–80% (11 points) | white | nepalpassport.gov.np | |
| 8 | Kenya | 4 | Not allowed | Religious or medical | Yes | 50–69% (19 points) | white | Kenya Embassy, Bangkok (mfa.go.ke): passport application | |
| 9 | Australia | 3 | Not allowed | Religious or medical | No | 71–80% (9 points) | white, grey | passports.gov.au | |
| 10 | Ethiopia | 3 | Off if you can | Religious or medical | No | 71–80% (9 points) | white | up to 2.5 MB | Embassy of Ethiopia, London |
| 11 | Finland | 3 | Off if you can | Religious or medical | No | 68–77% (9 points) | grey, white | up to 250 KB | poliisi.fi |
| 12 | France | 3 | Allowed if clear | Not allowed | No | 71–80% (9 points) | grey, blue | service-public.gouv.fr: photo d'identité | |
| 13 | Ghana | 3 | Off if you can | Religious or medical | No | 71–80% (9 points) | white | passport.mfa.gov.gh | |
| 14 | Maldives | 3 | Off if you can | Religious or medical | No | 71–80% (9 points) | white | up to 2 MB | immigration.gov.mv: photo standard |
| 15 | Morocco | 3 | Off if you can | Religious or medical | No | 71–80% (9 points) | white | up to 1 MB | acces-maroc.ma: eVisa conditions |
| 16 | Papua New Guinea | 3 | Off if you can | Religious or medical | No | 71–80% (9 points) | white | PNG Immigration and Citizenship Authority: passport checklist | |
| 17 | China | 3 | Off if you can | Religious or medical | No | 58–69% (10 points) | white | nia.gov.cn (National Immigration Administration) | |
| 18 | Greece | 3 | Off if you can | Religious or medical | No | 60–70% (10 points) | grey | passport.gov.gr | |
| 19 | Egypt | 3 | Not allowed | Religious or medical | No | 55–70% (15 points) | white | cairo.gov.eg | |
| 20 | Vietnam | 3 | Not allowed | Religious or medical | No | 55–70% (15 points) | white | xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn (Vietnam Immigration Department) | |
| 21 | United States | 3 | Not allowed | Religious, with a signed statement | No | 50–69% (19 points) | white, off-white | up to 10 MB | travel.state.gov |
| 22 | Canada | 2 | Allowed if clear | Religious or medical | No | 44–51% (7 points) | white, off-white | canada.ca | |
| 23 | Japan | 2 | Off if you can | Religious or medical | No | 71–80% (9 points) | white, blue | mofa.go.jp: passport photo notice (Mar 2025) | |
| 24 | Taiwan | 2 | Allowed if clear | Religious or medical | No | 71–80% (9 points) | white | up to 5 MB | boca.gov.tw |
| 25 | Bangladesh | 2 | Off if you can | Religious or medical | No | 70–80% (10 points) | white, grey | mofa.gov.bd | |
| 26 | Croatia | 2 | Off if you can | Religious or medical | No | 70–80% (10 points) | grey, white | mup.gov.hr | |
| 27 | Malaysia | 2 | Off if you can | Religious or medical | No | 60–70% (10 points) | white, blue | up to 2 MB | malaysiavisa.imi.gov.my: eVISA photo check |
| 28 | Russia | 2 | Allowed if clear | Religious or medical | No | 70–80% (10 points) | white | up to 5 MB | gosuslugi.ru |
| 29 | Belgium | 2 | Not allowed | Religious or medical | No | 69–80% (11 points) | white, grey, blue | Embassy of Belgium in Singapore: passport | |
| 30 | Jordan | 2 | Off if you can | Religious or medical | No | 69–80% (11 points) | white | cspd.gov.jo | |
| 31 | Pakistan | 2 | Off if you can | Religious or medical | No | 64–76% (11 points) | white | up to 3 MB | dgip.gov.pk: online passport renewal |
| 32 | Bahrain | 2 | Off if you can | Religious or medical | No | 55–70% (15 points) | white | up to 1 MB | bahrain.bh (NPRA) |
| 33 | Kuwait | 2 | Off if you can | Religious or medical | No | 60–75% (15 points) | blue | e.gov.kw (Ministry of Interior) | |
| 34 | Estonia | 2 | Allowed if clear | Not allowed | No | 60–78% (18 points) | white, grey, off-white | up to 5 MB | politsei.ee |
| 35 | Italy | 1 | Allowed if clear | Religious or medical | No | 71–80% (9 points) | white, grey | poliziadistato.it | |
| 36 | Netherlands | 1 | Allowed if clear | Religious or medical | No | 58–67% (9 points) | grey, blue, white | rijksoverheid.nl | |
| 37 | Fiji | 1 | Allowed if clear | Religious or medical | No | 70–80% (10 points) | white, grey | immigration.gov.fj: passport photo guidelines | |
| 38 | Ireland | 1 | Allowed if clear | Religious or medical | No | 70–80% (10 points) | white, grey, cream | up to 9 MB | ireland.ie: passport photo guidelines |
| 39 | South Africa | 1 | Off if you can | Religious or medical | No | 64–76% (11 points) | grey, cream | DIRCO (South African High Commission, UK): DHA passport photo requirements | |
| 40 | Denmark | 1 | Off if you can | Religious or medical | No | 67–80% (13 points) | grey, white | borger.dk | |
| 41 | Jamaica | 1 | Off if you can | Religious or medical | No | 56–78% (22 points) | white, off-white, blue | pica.gov.jm | |
| 42 | Singapore | 1 | Allowed if clear | Religious or medical | No | 56–78% (22 points) | white | up to 8 MB | ica.gov.sg |
| 43 | United Kingdom | 0 | Allowed if clear | Religious or medical | No | 64–76% (11 points) | cream, grey, off-white, white | up to 10 MB | gov.uk |
| 44 | New Zealand | 0 | Allowed if clear | Religious or medical | No | 65–80% (15 points) | grey, white | up to 5 MB | passports.govt.nz |
| 45 | Austria | 0 | Allowed if clear | Religious or medical | No | 64–80% (16 points) | grey, white | bmi.gv.at |
| Rule | Points |
|---|---|
| Glasses | 2 if not allowed, 1 if the office asks you to take them off if you can, 0 if clear glasses are allowed |
| Head coverings | 2 if not allowed even for religious reasons, 1 if a signed statement is needed, 0 if religious or medical coverings are allowed |
| Ears | 1 if both ears must show |
| Head height | How much of the photo's height the head (chin to crown) must fill: 2 if the allowed window is 8 percentage points or less, 1 if 9 or 10, 0 if wider |
| Background | 1 if only one colour is accepted |
| File size | 1 if an online upload must be 250 KB or smaller |
The highest possible score is 9. Ties are ordered by the tighter head-size window. The rules are each office's, as Picproved reads them for its photo checks; where an office says nothing about glasses we count "off if you can". The score is ours and is only a guide to how much care a photo needs: any country's office can still reject a photo that breaks one rule.
More: UK passport statistics · glasses rules by country · hijab and turban rules · all 35×45 mm documents
Each country's page uses these rules to check your photo before you save, and makes the file or print to that country's size. The office still makes the final decision.
