Mexico visa photo requirements
The photo rules set by Diario Oficial de la Federación (SEGOB and SRE) for the Mexico visa, with the official wording and sources.
Quick answer
What are the Mexico visa photo requirements?
Mexico's visa guidelines in force since August 2025 drop the photo from consular applications: at the interview the consulate captures your face, iris and fingerprints electronically. Some consulates' 2026 checklists, such as San Diego's, still ask for one recent passport-size photo, front-facing, without glasses, on white. The electronic visa, open only to nationalities the SRE names, takes an uploaded .jpg, .jpeg or .png face photo without glasses on a white background.
Mexican visas are issued by Mexico's consulates, which belong to the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE). The rules come from the Lineamientos Generales para la expedición de visas, issued jointly by the interior ministry (SEGOB) and the SRE, published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación on 25 July 2025 and in force 15 days later. They replaced the guidelines of 2014. Visitor, student, temporary resident and permanent resident visas are applied for in person at a consulate after booking an interview.
For those consular applications, the 2025 guidelines say the SRE will build digital files with biometric data and that the photo requirement is removed. Applicants instead allow the consulate to capture their facial image, iris and fingerprints electronically. Practice has not caught up everywhere: the San Diego consulate's 2026 tourist visa checklist still lists one recent passport-size photo printed on photographic paper, so the checklist of the consulate you book with decides whether you bring a print.
Some visa types begin in Mexico rather than abroad. For family unity, a job offer or humanitarian reasons, a sponsor files the request at an office of the Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM), which authorises it, and the consulate then issues the visa. Separately, nationals of countries the SRE designates can apply online for an electronic visitor visa, the only visa channel where you supply a photo file yourself; Brazilian citizens have been able to use it since 5 February 2026.
Mexico visa photo size and specifications
The requirements as published by Diario Oficial de la Federación (SEGOB and SRE):[1]
| Print size | No set size: consulates capture your face; some still ask for one passport-size print. E-visa: a digital upload |
|---|---|
| Digital size | E-visa only: no pixel size published; consular applications take no photo file |
| Background | White; the São Paulo consulate's e-visa guide says a light background |
| Photo age | San Diego consulate: a recent photo, no time limit stated |
| File size | E-visa: 2 to 5 MB under the 2025 guidelines; São Paulo consulate guide: under 1.5 MB |
| File format | E-visa: .jpg, .jpeg or .png |
| Print quality | San Diego consulate: printed on photographic paper |
Key requirements
- Biometrics replace the photo at consulates
The 2025 guidelines list, among the steps of every consular application, allowing biometric data to be taken electronically: a photograph of the face, the iris and the fingerprints. The consulate takes them at the interview, which you book in advance.
- Follow your consulate's own checklist
Consulates publish their own requirement sheets, and some still include a print. San Diego's 2026 sheet for a tourist visa asks for one recent passport-size photo with the face uncovered, from the front, without glasses, on a white background and printed on photographic paper. It gives no dimensions.
- E-visa: a face photo like your passport's
The electronic visa form takes a digital photo of your face without glasses, on a white background similar to the photo in your passport. The São Paulo consulate adds that it should be similar or identical to your passport photo, with no face mask, good lighting and sharp focus.
- E-visa: formats and file size
Upload a .jpg, .jpeg or .png file. The guidelines state a weight of 2 to 5 MB, while the São Paulo consulate's February 2026 guide tells applicants to keep the file under 1.5 MB. The two figures do not overlap, so go by the limit the online form enforces.
- E-visa: passport page image
You also upload an image of your passport's data page in the same formats. Keep the whole page inside the frame, avoid glare, creases and folds, and scan it if a photo of it is not clear enough.
- Automatic image check
The e-visa system validates both images before payment and is sensitive to photos that are poorly taken, too bright or unclear. If it keeps rejecting them, you can still book a consular appointment and apply for a regular visa.
- What the e-visa covers
The electronic visa is a visitor visa without permission to work, for arrival by air only. It allows one entry and is valid for 180 days from issue. It is linked to the passport used to apply, so a new passport means a new visa.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Download the requirement sheet of the consulate where you will be interviewed.
- Bring one passport-size print if that sheet lists it.
- Use a white or light background for an e-visa photo.
- Save the e-visa photo as .jpg, .jpeg or .png.
- Make sure your e-visa photo looks like the one in your passport.
- Book an interview for every applicant, children included.
Don't
- Do not wear glasses in any Mexican visa photo.
- Do not wear a face mask in the e-visa photo.
- Do not upload a blurred, overexposed or dim image to the e-visa form.
- Do not crop the passport data page so that part of it is cut off.
- Do not use the e-visa if you will arrive by land or sea.
Glasses
Every published Mexican visa photo rule excludes glasses. The 2025 guidelines describe the e-visa photo as a face photo without glasses, the São Paulo consulate repeats this in its guide, and consular checklists that still ask for a print, such as San Diego's, say without glasses as well.
For the biometric capture at the consulate, the guidelines list the face photo, iris and fingerprints but publish no separate rule on glasses.
Headwear and religious dress
The visa guidelines publish no headwear rule. Where a consulate still asks for a print, its own sheet sets the standard, and San Diego requires the face to be uncovered.
For the e-visa, the São Paulo consulate rules out face masks and asks for a photo that is similar or identical to the one in your passport.
Babies and children
Children need their own application and appointment; the São Paulo consulate states that all consular visa applicants, children included, must book one. Under the 2025 guidelines both parents, or whoever holds parental authority or guardianship, sign the application in front of the consular officer. A parent who does not attend sends a notarised authorisation; if one parent holds sole parental authority by court order, a certified copy of that order is presented; and a child who attends alone or with another adult needs a notarised authorisation from both parents.
The consular checklists that ask for a print give no separate size or pose for children.
Printed and digital photos
The form the photo takes depends on the channel. At a consulate it is a live biometric capture, plus a passport-size print only where the consulate's sheet still lists one. For the e-visa it is a digital file uploaded with the online form, and nothing is printed.
A digital photo can be cropped and saved as a .jpg or .png for the e-visa, keeping the face clear and the background white or light. For a consulate that wants a print, neither the current guidelines nor the consular sheets cited here give a millimetre size; the repealed 2014 guidelines allowed 26 x 32 mm up to 31 x 39 mm, width by height.
Where to submit the photo
For a consular visa, book an interview through the SRE's appointment system at a consulate in a country where you are a national or a legal resident; if you are not a national of that country, bring proof of your legal stay there. You present your passport, the documents for your visa type and, where listed, the photo, then allow the biometric capture. The guidelines give the consulate up to 10 working days after the interview to decide.
For the electronic visa, create an account on the SRE's e-visa portal, enter your details exactly as in your passport, upload the face photo and the passport page, and pay online by card. An approved e-visa carries a QR code; print it or keep it on a device to show the airline and the immigration officer on arrival.
How to get your Mexico visa photo
- Check the official requirements. Read the official specification for the Mexico visa: white background. Check the rules on pose, expression, glasses and headwear below.
- Take the photo. Follow the key requirements: biometrics replace the photo at consulates; follow your consulate's own checklist; e-visa: a face photo like your passport's; e-visa: formats and file size.
- Prepare a print or digital file. The form the photo takes depends on the channel. At a consulate it is a live biometric capture, plus a passport-size print only where the consulate's sheet still lists one.
- Submit the photo with your application. For a consular visa, book an interview through the SRE's appointment system at a consulate in a country where you are a national or a legal resident; if you are not a national of that country, bring proof of your legal stay there.
Mexico visa photo FAQ
It depends on the channel and the consulate. The guidelines in force since August 2025 removed the photo requirement for consular applications and replaced it with a biometric capture at the interview. Some consulates still list a print, so check the sheet of the one you book with. The electronic visa always needs an uploaded face photo.
The consular checklists that still ask for a print describe it only as passport size. San Diego's 2026 tourist visa sheet adds that it must be recent, front-facing, with the face uncovered, without glasses, on white and printed on photographic paper. The repealed 2014 guidelines set 26 x 32 mm to 31 x 39 mm; the current ones set no size.
A digital photo of your face without glasses, on a white background, similar to your passport photo, saved as .jpg, .jpeg or .png. The São Paulo consulate also asks for no face mask, good lighting and sharp focus, and warns that the system rejects poorly taken or very bright images.
Sources differ. The 2025 guidelines published in the Diario Oficial set 2 to 5 MB. The São Paulo consulate's guide of February 2026 says under 1.5 MB. Since the two do not overlap, rely on the limit the online form shows when you upload.
No. The e-visa rules ask for a face photo without glasses, and consular checklists that request a print, such as San Diego's, say the same. No exception is published for either channel.
Only nationals of countries the SRE designates, travelling by air as visitors without permission to work. Brazilian citizens have been eligible since 5 February 2026. Anyone else, or anyone whose e-visa is refused, applies at a consulate instead.
You give your biographical data for the application form, show your passport and the documents for your visa type, answer the officer's questions about your trip, and allow the capture of your facial image, iris and fingerprints. If something is missing, the consulate asks you to provide it.
Yes. Each applicant, including children, needs an appointment. Both parents or the legal guardians sign the child's application before the consular officer, or a parent who does not attend sends a notarised authorisation.
Related photo specifications
Other Mexico documents
Visas and travel authorisations nearby
- Belize visa photo 2 × 2 in
- Costa Rica visa photo 50 × 50 mm
- Bahamas eVisa photo 2 × 2 in
- Bahamas visa photo 2 × 2 in
- Barbados visa photo
- Canada visa photo 35 × 45 mm
- Cuba visa photo 45 × 45 mm
- Dominican Republic visa photo 40 × 50 mm
- United States DV lottery photo 2 × 2 in
- United States visa photo 2 × 2 in
- All Mexico photo specifications
- Visas and travel authorisations: photo rules by country
- Photo specifications in North America
Official sources
- Diario Oficial de la Federación (SEGOB and SRE). Lineamientos Generales para la expedición de visas que emiten las secretarías de Gobernación y de Relaciones Exteriores (DOF 25/07/2025) dof.gob.mx. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Consulado-Geral do México em São Paulo (SRE). Solicitação do visto eletrônico para pessoas brasileiras (e-visa guide) consulmex.sre.gob.mx. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Consulado General de México en San Diego (SRE). Visa de visitante sin permiso para realizar actividades remuneradas (turismo), requisitos 2026 consulmex.sre.gob.mx. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Diario Oficial de la Federación (SEGOB and SRE). Lineamientos generales para la expedición de visas (DOF 10/10/2014, repealed in 2025) dof.gob.mx. Checked 2 November 2026.
Requirements can change, so always confirm with Diario Oficial de la Federación (SEGOB and SRE) before you apply. WorldPhotoSpecs is independent and not affiliated with any government.
Cite this page
"Mexico visa photo". WorldPhotoSpecs. Last updated 4 November 2026. https://worldphotospecs.org/mexico/visa-photo