Australia visa photo requirements
The 35 × 45 mm photo rules set by Department of Home Affairs for the Australia visa, with the official wording and sources.
Quick answer
What size is the Australia visa photo?
Most Australian visas are applied for online, and each applicant, children included, attaches a facial image in ImmiAccount: a JPG file between 70 KB and 3.5 MB, with 1200 x 1600 pixels as the preferred resolution in Home Affairs' photo guidance. Paper forms that ask for photos want passport-sized prints, 35 x 45 mm, against a plain background. The photo should be under 6 months old, unedited, in colour, with a neutral expression.
Australian visas are granted by the Department of Home Affairs. Almost every application is made online in ImmiAccount, where each person in the application needs a facial image attached under the document type Facial image. The upload screen asks you to position the photo so your face sits in the centre of the frame before you confirm it.
Home Affairs does not publish a separate photo standard for visas. Its ImmiAccount help on attaching a photo, which covers visa and citizenship applications alike, sends you to its photo requirements for citizenship applications, so this page uses those rules and says so where it matters. Paper visa forms carry their own short instruction: Form 47CH, the child migration form, asks for 2 recent passport-sized photos of the child.
Two routes do not use a photo you supply. If Home Affairs asks for biometrics, an image of your face is captured at an Australian Biometrics Collection Centre or through the Australian Immi App. Electronic Travel Authority (subclass 601) applicants take their own picture inside the Australian ETA app.
Australia visa photo size and specifications
The requirements as published by Department of Home Affairs:[1]
| Print size | Paper forms: passport-sized, 35 x 45 mm (1.38 x 1.77 in); online applications take a digital file |
|---|---|
| Digital size | No visa-specific size; the photo guidance Home Affairs links prefers 1200 x 1600 pixels |
| Background | Plain; Home Affairs' photo guidance asks for neutral or light grey, contrasting with your face |
| Colour | Colour |
| Photo age | No more than 6 months old (Home Affairs photo guidance) |
| File size | Online: 70 KB to 3.5 MB |
| File format | JPG |
| Pixels when printed | 413 × 531 px at 300 dpi · 827 × 1063 px at 600 dpi (calculated) |
In the official words
Exact wording from the official sources, quoted because the details matter:
be unedited (do not remove background, moles, wrinkles, scars or red eyes)
Key requirements
- One facial image per applicant
Every person in an online application needs their own photo, children included. Attach it to the right person in ImmiAccount and choose the document type Facial image; the type called Photograph is for citizenship applications.
- JPG between 70 KB and 3.5 MB
ImmiAccount takes the photo as a JPG file. Home Affairs says digital photographs should be between 70 KB and 3.5 MB, and the photo guidance it links gives 1200 x 1600 pixels as the preferred resolution.
- An original digital image
Home Affairs' guidance turns down a scan of a printed photo and a picture taken of a photo. Upload the original digital image, cropped if needed, rather than a copy of a print.
- Unedited, evenly lit
The guidance asks for an unedited photo: do not remove the background, moles, wrinkles, scars or red eye. Light must be uniform, with no shadows or reflections and no parts of the face made brighter or darker by the lighting or exposure.
- Full face, neutral expression
Show your full face looking straight at the camera, centred and not tilted, with hair off the face so its edges show. Eyes open, mouth closed, and no smiling, laughing or frowning.
- Paper forms follow their own checklist
Where a paper form asks for photos, follow the form. Form 47CH wants 2 recent passport-sized photos, 45 mm x 35 mm, showing the child's full face against a plain background, with the child's name printed on the back of each.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Attach a separate facial image for each applicant.
- Save the photo as a JPG between 70 KB and 3.5 MB.
- Centre your face in the upload frame before confirming.
- Stand against a neutral or light grey wall that contrasts with you.
- Keep your own copy: uploads cannot be downloaded again from ImmiAccount.
- Print the applicant's name on the back of photos for a paper form.
Don't
- Do not upload a scan of a print or a photo of a photo.
- Do not erase the background, blemishes or red eye with software.
- Do not keep glasses on unless a medical reason requires it.
- Do not email documents or photos to Home Affairs.
- Do not let a parent, toy or other object into a baby's photo.
Sample photos
How a Australia visa photo should look, and the mistakes that most often get photos rejected. Each example is drawn to this document's 35 × 45 mm and background colour.
Illustrations, not real photos. The official rules above always take priority; some documents do not allow glasses at all.
Glasses
Home Affairs' photo guidance says glasses must be removed. If you cannot take them off for medical reasons, they should be untinted unless the tint is also medically needed, the frames must not hide your eyes, and the lenses must not reflect. Weak eyesight on its own is not an accepted reason to keep them on.
This wording is written for citizenship photos, which is the guidance ImmiAccount points visa applicants to. If your visa form or a request from the department says something different, follow that.
Headwear and religious dress
A head covering worn for religious reasons is allowed. It has to leave the whole face visible from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead, with both edges of the face showing, including the outer corners of the eyes, and it should be plain material without patterns.
Jewellery must not hide any part of the face, especially around the eyes, nose and mouth, and nose rings or studs must not reflect light.
Babies and children
Each child in an application needs a facial image of their own. Infants under 3 may have their mouth open, but every other rule still applies, and no other person, such as a parent, and no toy or other object may be visible.
For a paper child visa application on Form 47CH, Home Affairs asks for 2 recent passport-sized photos (45 mm x 35 mm) showing the child's full face, facing the camera against a plain background, with the child's name printed on the back of each.
Printed and digital photos
Online applications take only the digital file: a JPG of 70 KB to 3.5 MB, ideally 1200 x 1600 pixels, which can be cropped and resized from an original digital photo. Do not photograph or scan a print to make the file. The photo guidance recommends having the picture taken by a professional passport photo provider, such as an Australian post office, and having a digital copy emailed to you; it does not recommend online passport photo services or mobile apps, saying their images may miss the quality requirements and may expose you to identity fraud.
Printed photos are only for paper forms that ask for them, so check the checklist on the form you are using. Form 47CH, for instance, wants 2 prints of 45 mm x 35 mm.
Where to submit the photo
Attach the photo in ImmiAccount under Attach documents: select the applicant, choose Facial image, upload the JPG, position it and confirm. A green tick under Received shows it arrived. The application tells you whether to attach documents before or after you submit, and ImmiAccount deletes attachments from an unsubmitted application after 30 days.
If the department asks for biometrics, it tells you whether to book an appointment at an Australian Biometrics Collection Centre, run by VFS Global in a number of countries, or to use the Australian Immi App. In Australia, collection is by appointment after a letter or invitation. ETA applicants take their photo in the Australian ETA app and must be present even when an agent applies for them.
How to get your Australia visa photo
- Check the official requirements. Read the official specification for the Australia visa: 35 × 45 mm print, 1200 × 1600 px digital file, plain background. Check the rules on pose, expression, glasses and headwear below.
- Take the photo. Follow the key requirements: one facial image per applicant; jPG between 70 KB and 3.5 MB; an original digital image; unedited, evenly lit.
- Prepare a print or digital file. Online applications take only the digital file: a JPG of 70 KB to 3.5 MB, ideally 1200 x 1600 pixels, which can be cropped and resized from an original digital photo. Do not photograph or scan a print to make the file.
- Submit the photo with your application. Attach the photo in ImmiAccount under Attach documents: select the applicant, choose Facial image, upload the JPG, position it and confirm. A green tick under Received shows it arrived.
Australia visa photo FAQ
For an online application there is no print size: you attach a JPG file between 70 KB and 3.5 MB, and Home Affairs' photo guidance prefers 1200 x 1600 pixels. Paper forms that ask for photos want passport-sized prints, which Form 47CH gives as 45 mm high and 35 mm wide.
Open the application, go to Attach documents, select the person the photo belongs to and pick the document type Facial image. Choose the JPG, move it so the face is centred in the frame, then confirm. A green tick under Received shows the upload worked.
Take them off. The photo guidance Home Affairs links from ImmiAccount allows glasses only when they cannot be removed for medical reasons, and then the frames must not cover your eyes and the lenses must not reflect. Poor eyesight alone is not a medical reason.
Yes, but you do not upload one. In the Australian ETA app you scan your passport and take a photo of yourself on your phone as part of the application. If an agent applies for you, you still need to be there to take that photo.
No. Home Affairs' photo guidance says the photo must be unedited and names background removal alongside removing moles, wrinkles, scars and red eye. Take the picture against a plain neutral or light grey surface instead, lit evenly so no shadows fall on your face or behind you.
Yes. ImmiAccount needs a facial image for each applicant, including children. Babies under 3 may have their mouth open, but nobody else can appear in the photo and there should be no toys or other objects in it.
Biometrics can include your fingerprints and an image of your face, and the department tells you which it needs. Outside Australia you may be sent to an Australian Biometrics Collection Centre (VFS Global runs them in a number of countries), or allowed to use the Australian Immi App. Inside Australia it is by appointment after a letter.
Related photo specifications
Other Australia documents
- Passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- Electronic travel authority (subclass 601) photo
- ImmiCard photo
- Driver licence photo
- NSW driver licence photo 35 × 45 mm
- Queensland driver licence photo 35 × 45 mm
- Taxi driver ID card photo 65 × 65 mm
- Victoria driver licence photo 35 × 45 mm
- Citizenship application photo photo 1200 × 1600 px
- University student card photo
- Working with children check card photo
- Adult proof of age card photo 35 × 45 mm
- Degree assessment photo 35 × 45 mm
Visas and travel authorisations nearby
Also 35 × 45 mm
- Afghanistan visa photo 35 × 45 mm
- Algeria passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- Algeria visa photo 35 × 45 mm
- Algeria ID card photo 35 × 45 mm
- Algeria residence permit photo 35 × 45 mm
- Algeria work permit photo 35 × 45 mm
- Andorra passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- Anguilla passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- Antigua and Barbuda passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- Armenia visa photo 35 × 45 mm
- All Australia photo specifications
- Visas and travel authorisations: photo rules by country
- Every document that uses a 35 × 45 mm photo
- Photo specifications in Oceania
Official sources
- Department of Home Affairs. Attach documents to your application immi.homeaffairs.gov.au. Checked 1 November 2026.
- Department of Home Affairs. Photo requirements for citizenship applications immi.homeaffairs.gov.au. Checked 1 November 2026.
- Department of Home Affairs. Form 47CH: Application for migration to Australia by a child immi.homeaffairs.gov.au. Checked 1 November 2026.
- Department of Home Affairs. Biometrics immi.homeaffairs.gov.au. Checked 1 November 2026.
- Department of Home Affairs. Electronic Travel Authority (subclass 601) immi.homeaffairs.gov.au. Checked 1 November 2026.
- Department of Home Affairs. Passport photograph requirements (help text) immi.homeaffairs.gov.au. Checked 1 November 2026.
- Department of Home Affairs. Digital photograph requirements (help text) immi.homeaffairs.gov.au. Checked 1 November 2026.
- Department of Home Affairs. Australian Immi App immi.homeaffairs.gov.au. Checked 1 November 2026.
- Department of Home Affairs. eVisitor (subclass 651) immi.homeaffairs.gov.au. Checked 1 November 2026.
Requirements can change, so always confirm with Department of Home Affairs before you apply. WorldPhotoSpecs is independent and not affiliated with any government.
Cite this page
"Australia visa photo". WorldPhotoSpecs. Last updated 4 November 2026. https://worldphotospecs.org/australia/visa-photo