Indian e-Visa photo requirements: a square JPEG of 10KB–1MB, and the passport page as a PDF under 300KB
Near the end of the Indian e-Visa form you upload two files: a recent photo of your face as a JPEG, and the bio page of your passport as a PDF. Both have a size window, and the photo also has to be a perfect square, so the passport-style photo most people already have is usually refused on the first try. This guide collects the rules from the official e-Visa site and its photo upload page, explains the three error messages you can get, and shows how to make both files from ordinary phone photos.
Make your e-Visa photo →Pick 'Custom size in pixels…', enter 600 × 600 and get a square JPEG well inside 10KB–1MB. Runs in your browser; the photo is not uploaded.
The upload rules at a glance
| Your photo | Passport bio page | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | JPEG | |
| File size | Minimum 10KB, maximum 1MB | Minimum 10KB, maximum 300KB |
| Shape and pixels | Height and width equal, at least 350 × 350 pixels | No size given |
| Content | Recent, front-facing photo | The page showing your photograph and details |
| Watch out | Do not crop it from the passport scan | Same passport as in the passport details section |
The photo rules, one by one
| Official rule | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| The height and width of the photo must be equal | A 35 × 45 mm passport-style photo is taller than it is wide; crop it to a square with your head centred |
| Minimum dimensions 350 × 350 pixels | 600 × 600 is plenty. Start from a large original; enlarging a small photo makes it blurry |
| Full face, front view, eyes open, without spectacles | Take your glasses off even if you always wear them |
| Centre the head; full head from top of hair to bottom of chin | Leave a little room above the hair and below the chin so nothing is cut off |
| Plain light-coloured or white background | A blank white wall is the easiest |
| No shadows on the face or background; no borders | Face a window for even light; trim any white frame a photo studio added |
The upload page adds two warnings: do not crop the passport image to use it as your recent photograph, and the application is liable to be rejected if the uploaded photograph is not clear and as per the specification.
You may see "1000 × 1000 pixels" and "300KB" quoted for the photo elsewhere. Those numbers come from the photo guide for the regular (paper) visa, not the e-Visa. The e-Visa photo page gives only the 350 × 350 minimum and the 10KB–1MB range.
The three upload errors
| Error message | What it means | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Only JPG files can be uploaded. Please try again. | The file name doesn't end in .jpg or .jpeg (PNG, HEIC, WebP…) | Save it again as a JPEG |
| Image size exceeds 1MB.Please upload Image smaller than 1MB. | The file is over 1,000,000 bytes | Make it smaller; a few hundred KB is ideal |
| Image size must be greater than 10KB | The file is under 10,000 bytes | Compress less, or start again from a larger original |
Mind the 1MB edge. The upload page counts 1MB as 1,000,000 bytes and 10KB as 10,000 bytes. Windows Explorer shows sizes in units of 1,024 bytes, so a file it lists as "990 KB" is 1,013,760 bytes and fails. iPhones save photos as HEIC by default, which is why the first error is so common. For how pixels, KB and print sizes relate, see KB, pixels, cm and DPI explained.
Make the photo from a phone picture
We tested this with a portrait phone photo (3024 × 4032 pixels, 653.7KB, a fictional person) on SlimIO's ID photo tool:
- Open Compress ID Photo and add your photo.
- Under Resize, choose Custom size in pixels… and enter Width 600, Height 600.
- Set Target size to Under 300KB and Format to JPG — works everywhere.
- Drag the square frame and use Zoom so your whole head, hair to chin, sits in the middle with a little space above and below.
The result was a 600 × 600 JPEG of 34.2KB (35,042 bytes), comfortably inside 10KB–1MB. SlimIO counts a size limit in decimal (1KB = 1,000 bytes), so even its "Under 1MB" setting stays under the e-Visa limit. The photo is processed in your browser and never uploaded. The tool crops and resizes; it does not change the background or retouch your face, so take the photo against a white wall in good light.
The US visa 600×600 px (square) preset also gives you a square, but its eye band follows US rules; for India, the custom size is the cleaner choice. The US rules themselves are in US visa photo requirements.
Turn the passport page into a PDF under 300KB
No scanner? Photograph the bio page with your phone and convert it to PDF. The catch is size: phone photos are often over 1MB, and the limit is 300KB.
We made an obviously fake "sample passport page", photographed at phone resolution (3024 × 2268 pixels, 1.24MB), and put it through JPG to PDF with a 300KB limit: choose Under 300KB as the PDF size limit, press Convert to PDF, then Download PDF. The PDF came out at 243.3KB (249,170 bytes). To fit, the tool re-saved the photo at 2000 pixels on the long side, and zooming into the PDF the name, passport number and dates were still sharp.
- All four corners: shoot straight down so the whole page is in the frame.
- No glare: the laminated page reflects light; turn the flash off and light it from the side.
- Same passport: if you renewed your passport, use the new one in both the form and the upload.
Timing, fees and re-uploads
| Item | Official rule |
|---|---|
| When to apply | At least 4 days before arrival; up to 120 days ahead |
| Fee deadline | Paid at least 4 days before travel, or the application is not processed |
| e-Tourist options | 30 days (non-extendable, non-convertible), 1 year or 5 years; on the 1- and 5-year visas, at most 180 days in India per calendar year |
| Fee | Depends on your nationality, see the official fee table; a 3% bank charge is added |
| Wrong photo or document | You may be asked by email, normally within 24 hours, to upload it again via 'Reupload Data' |
The e-Tourist fee table (dated 8 September 2026) lists one fee per country, and the 30-day visa has separate columns for April–June and July–March, so the price can depend on when you travel. After you apply, check your inbox, including spam, the next day.
Separately from the visa, the official Indian Visa Su-Swagatam app is used to submit the e-Arrival card within 72 hours before arrival. That is arrival information, not a visa.
Sources
- Government of India, e-Visa application page, instructions, documents required and FAQ — indianvisaonline.gov.in
- Government of India, e-Visa photo upload step (specification and error messages, checked October 2026) — indianvisaonline.gov.in
- Government of India, e-Tourist Visa fee table (8 September 2026) — indianvisaonline.gov.in
- Embassy of India, Seoul, Indian Visa Su-Swagatam app — indembassyseoul.gov.in
Pick 'Custom size in pixels…', enter 600 × 600 and get a square JPEG well inside 10KB–1MB. Runs in your browser; the photo is not uploaded.