Canada visa photo — 35 × 45 mm prints and a 420 × 540 px file for visitor visas, study and work permits

IRCC’s photo specification for a temporary resident visa, the rule also used for study and work permits, asks for two identical photos taken within the last six months, with a frame of at least 35 × 45 mm and a head of 31 to 36 mm from chin to crown. The background is plain white or light-coloured, the face is square to the camera with a neutral expression and the mouth closed, and the top of the shoulders shows. When the application is online, IRCC’s digital rule is a file of at least 420 × 540 pixels, JPEG, colour, ideally 240 kB and never under 60 kB. If the photographs are digital, IRCC adds, they must not be altered in any way.

When a Canadian visa application needs a photo

Many applicants never send a photo at all. If you have to give biometrics, the photo that goes on your file is the one taken with your fingerprints at a collection point, and IRCC’s paper visitor visa guide says you then do not include paper photos.

The last two rows are listed so you can tell them apart. They belong on other pages, and the warning shown with this preset says the same.

IRCC’s specification, item by item

IRCC defines the crown as the top of the head, or the spot where the top of the skull would be if hair or a head covering hides it. A head of 31 to 36 mm on a 45 mm frame is 69% to 80% of the height. IRCC’s Help Centre lists .jpg among the file types the IRCC secure account and the IRCC Portal accept.

Making the photo here

1. Choose your picture. Photo type opens on Canada visa & permits (IRCC) — 35 × 45 mm / 420 × 540 px, with IRCC’s rules and the warning beneath it.
2. Keep Show face-position guides ticked. The yellow line, about 4.1 mm below the top edge, is where the top of your head goes. The blue band runs from about 35.1 to 40.1 mm down, which gives a 31–36 mm head. The green dotted line near 20.8 mm is only a rough eye estimate.
3. Line the face up with Zoom, Horizontal position and Vertical position, by dragging the preview, or with the arrow keys, plus and minus, and 0 to reset. Keep the vertical line through the middle of your nose.
4. Leave Background on Keep the original. Replacing the wall counts as altering the photo.
5. Pick a Print sheet option (4 × 6 in JPEG, PDF or both) and press Make passport photos; the button has the same name on every preset.

The download holds three files. The one ending “-canada-visa-digital-420x540.jpg” is the upload. It is cut from the full-resolution crop, has the same 7:9 shape as the 35 × 45 mm frame, and is saved at the highest JPEG quality that keeps it between 60 KB and 240 kB; the result line reports the final size. The others are a 413 × 531 pixel print photo at 300 DPI and a 4 × 6 inch sheet of eight, four across and two down with 2 mm gaps.

Printing the pair of photos

Have the sheet printed at a photo counter on photographic paper, at actual size, with no scaling or enhancement. Measure one photo: the frame should be 35 mm across and 45 mm tall, and your head 31 to 36 mm from chin to crown. Cut out two identical photos and write your name and date of birth on the back of each. If the visa office serving your country publishes its own checklist, follow it where it adds anything.

What this tool cannot judge

• Your face. The guides stay where they are, and you decide where your head sits.
• Quality. Focus, exposure, shadows, glare on glasses, red-eye and expression are not measured.
• Acceptance. IRCC says you will have to provide new photographs before your application can be processed if yours do not meet the specification.

Problems that send photos back

Reading IRCC’s specification the other way round gives a list of what to avoid: a blurred or poorly defined picture, a smile or frown, an open mouth, a face that is not square to the camera, a head too small or too large for the 31–36 mm range, the tops of the shoulders cut off, a background that is not plain white or light-coloured, sunglasses or tinted lenses, and a religious head covering that hides part of the face. A hairpiece or cosmetic accessory is fine only if it does not disguise your normal appearance. For digital files, a size below 60 kB, fewer than 420 × 540 pixels, or any editing after the shot also break the rules.

If you are renewing a passport rather than applying for a visa, the Canadian passport photo guide explains the 50 × 70 mm studio rules. Sizes for other countries sit side by side on the photo sizes table, and the Passport Photo Maker offers every preset. HEIC to JPG converts iPhone photos first, and DPI Checker confirms the pixel size of a file a studio sends you.