Pakistan Photo Size Guide: Passport, CNIC, NICOP and Visa Photos
Most rejected applications in Pakistan fail on the photograph, not on the form. A photo that is slightly the wrong size, has a grey wall instead of a pure white background, or is a few hundred kilobytes over the upload limit gets sent back even when every other document is perfect. This guide lists the sizes that matter and shows how to prepare a correct photo at home, for free, in your browser.
The sizes that matter
| Where the photo is used | What is required |
|---|---|
| Passport-style print (agencies, embassies, paper forms) | 35 × 45 mm (3.5 × 4.5 cm), white background |
| Online passport upload (DGIP e-Services) | 350 × 467 pixels, JPEG/JPG, white background, maximum 3 MB |
| NADRA visa application photo | 35 × 45 mm, white background, face filling 70–80% of the frame, maximum 350 KB |
| CNIC, NICOP, POC (PakID) | Photograph captured live in the app or at the counter — follow the on-screen framing |
Why photos get rejected
- The background is not pure white — a painted wall, a curtain or a shadow reads as grey.
- The head is too small in the frame, or cropped too tightly at the top.
- Glasses with glare, a heavy shadow behind the head, or light coming from one side only.
- The picture is a screenshot, or was stretched up from a small image, so it looks soft and uneven.
- The file is larger than the portal allows, so the upload fails or is refused.
Two different passport routes
1. Apply at the office (Machine Readable Passport). Your photograph is captured at the counter along with your fingerprints, so applicants usually do not need to bring printed photos for that route. Always follow the checklist of the office you visit, because missions and exceptional cases differ.
2. Apply online (DGIP e-Services). Here you upload the photograph yourself — 350 × 467 pixels, JPEG format, white background, up to 3 MB. This is where most people get stuck, because a photo straight from a phone gallery is far larger than 3 MB and is rarely 350 × 467 pixels.
The 35 × 45 mm print size is still worth keeping ready: it is what agents, embassies and many paper forms ask for, and it is the size our ID studio is built around.
How to make a 35 × 45 mm photo at home
- Shoot it properly. Stand 1–1.5 metres from a plain white wall, hold the phone at eye level, and use daylight falling on your face — no flash, and no ceiling light directly above you.
- Remove the old background. Open our background remover, upload the photo and set the background to white. Everything runs inside your browser, so the photo is never sent to a server.
- Crop to size. On the same page, open the ID studio, choose the passport size and press the button that uses the photo from the tool above.
- Adjust the view. Use the zoom and move controls until the head fills the frame with a small margin above the hair, then download the PNG.
- Finish at the portal. For an online upload, export at 350 × 467 pixels and keep the JPEG under 3 MB. For paper copies, take the PNG to a photo shop and ask for 35 × 45 mm prints.
Crop so the face fills the frame
NADRA's published photograph guidance for visa applications asks for the face to occupy roughly 70–80% of the photo height: not a small head floating in a large white square, and not a crop that cuts the top of the hair. Leave a little white space above the head and keep the shoulders square to the camera.
Getting the file size right
- Crop before compressing, because cropping removes pixels you do not need.
- Save as JPEG at quality 80–85 rather than 100. A 350 × 467 JPEG at that setting is usually well under 100 KB.
- Never screenshot a photo, and never stretch a small image up to a bigger size — both lose detail that a reviewer notices immediately.
- If a portal allows below 3 MB, a corrected, cropped photo will almost always fit with no further work.
Glasses, head covering and expression
Remove glasses, because reflections hide the eyes. A head covering worn for religious reasons is acceptable as long as the face is visible from the forehead to the chin and the covering casts no shadow on the face. Keep a neutral expression with the mouth closed, look straight at the camera, and switch off beauty mode and filters — a smoothed face looks edited and is a common reason for a photo being questioned.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use the same photo for a passport and a CNIC?
Not automatically. Card applications through PakID normally capture the photograph live, so there may be no upload step at all. Keep a good 35 × 45 mm photo ready, but follow the instruction shown by the app or counter you are using.
Can I take the photo with my own phone?
Yes, and it is often better than a booth photo, provided the light is even, the background is plain white, and the phone is held at eye level so the face is not distorted.
How recent must the photo be?
It should look like you today. Offices generally expect a recent photograph, so retake it if your appearance has clearly changed.
Does the photo need a certain resolution for printing?
For a sharp 35 × 45 mm print, start with an image that has at least 400 × 500 pixels of real detail. Do not upscale a low-resolution picture to reach that size.
Sources
- DGIP e-Services — online passport upload specification
- Directorate General of Immigration & Passports — photo requirements
- NADRA — photograph guide (size, background, face in frame)
This guide is general information, not an official instruction. Portal requirements can change, so confirm the current rule on the site or app you are applying through.