2 × 2 in photo
At a glance
A 2x2 inch photo is a square print 2 inches wide and 2 inches high, which is 50.8 mm and usually written 51 x 51 mm. At 300 dpi it holds 600 x 600 pixels; at 600 dpi, 1200 x 1200. US passports, US immigrant visas and USCIS forms use it, and so do India's OCI card and some foreign missions in the US. Most of them want the head 1 to 1 3/8 inches (25 to 35 mm) tall, but background, glasses and recency rules differ.
The 2x2 inch print is the photo size of the United States. The State Department uses it for passports applied for on paper and for the prints immigrant visa applicants bring to their interview, and USCIS asks for the same square on forms such as the I-485 green card application and the I-765 work permit application.
Outside the US the size is less common than many people assume. India uses it as the official size for the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card. Several other governments ask for it through their missions in the United States: the Embassy of Viet Nam in Washington and the Egyptian Consulate there both list 2x2 inch photos, and the Indian visa photo sheet used by VFS Global in the US gives the print as 2 inch x 2 inch. A "passport-size photo" is not automatically 2x2 either: a UK passport photo is 35 mm wide and 45 mm high, and a Chinese visa photo 33 x 48 mm.
A shared frame does not mean shared rules. Each authority sets its own head size, background colour, glasses rule and age limit, so the sections below give each document's rule from its own source and point out where they part ways.
Among the documents below that publish a head size, the required head height (chin to crown) ranges from 25 mm to 43.2 mm.
Documents that use a 2 × 2 in photo
| Country | Document | Category | Digital size | Background |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Samoa | Passport | Passport | — | White or off-white, plain, free of shadows… |
| Armenia | eVisa | Visa | — | No colour published |
| Bahamas | Passport | Passport | 1200 × 1200 px | Plain white or off-white |
| Bahamas | eVisa | Visa | 1200 × 1200 px | Plain white or off-white |
| Bahamas | Visa | Visa | 1200 × 1200 px | Plain white or off-white |
| Belize | Passport | Passport | — | White |
| Belize | Visa | Visa | — | Not published for visas |
| Belize | Residence permit | Residence permit | — | White |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | Passport | Passport | — | Not published for passport photos. Brussels… |
| Egypt | Visa | Visa | — | White |
| Ethiopia | eVisa | Visa | — | White |
| Guam | Passport | Passport | — | Plain white or off-white, without shadows… |
| India | Visa | Visa | — | Plain light-coloured or white, no shadows |
| India | PCC / birth certificate | Other document | 630 × 810 px | White |
| Indonesia | Passport | Passport | — | Not published for the office photo |
| Indonesia | Visa | Visa | — | Plain white for KBRI Washington paper visas |
| Iraq | Passport | Passport | — | White for laissez-passer prints and past… |
| Iraq | Visa | Visa | — | White |
| Jordan | Passport | Passport | — | Plain and of one colour only |
| Kenya | Passport | Passport | — | White, with no shadows |
| Laos | Adoption application | Other document | — | Not specified by the embassy sheet or the decree |
| Libya | Visa | Visa | — | White: "The background should be white" |
| Namibia | Visa | Visa | — | White |
| Northern Mariana Islands | Passport | Passport | — | White or off-white, plain, with no shadows… |
| Palau | Passport | Passport | — | A plain light |
| Puerto Rico | Passport | Passport | — | White or off-white, plain, with no shadows… |
| Republic of the Congo | Visa | Visa | — | White |
| Saint Lucia | Passport | Passport | — | Plain white |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | Assport | Passport | — | White or off-white, plain, free of shadows… |
| United States | Passport | Passport | — | Plain white or off-white, free of shadows… |
| United States | U.S. passport card | Passport | — | Plain white or off-white, with no shadows… |
| United States | DV lottery | Visa | 600 × 600 px | Plain white or off-white |
| United States | Visa | Visa | 600 × 600 px | Plain white or off-white |
| United States | Employment authorization | Residence permit | — | White to off-white |
| United States | Green card | Residence permit | — | White to off-white |
| United States | Citizenship | Citizenship | — | White to off-white |
| United States | Reentry permit and form i-131 travel documents | Travel document | — | White to off-white |
| Zambia | Visa | Visa | — | White on the Washington embassy form |
How to make a 2 × 2 in photo
- Check your document's own rules. Open the document in the table below: head height, background and recency differ between countries even when the print size is the same.
- Take the photo. Photograph the person against a plain background in even light, facing the camera, with space around the head and shoulders.
- Crop to the ratio. Crop the image to 1 : 1 (2 × 2 in), keeping the head height the document asks for.
- Print at the right resolution. Print at 2 × 2 in on photo paper; at 300 dpi the crop needs 600 × 600 pixels.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Two inches is exactly 50.8 mm, so the print is 50.8 x 50.8 mm. The State Department and India's OCI photo sheet round it to 51 x 51 mm, while the Indian visa sheet used by VFS Global in the US and the US Diversity Visa regulation write 50 x 50 mm. These are roundings of the same square, not different sizes.
It depends on the resolution. At 300 pixels per inch a 2x2 photo is 600 x 600 pixels, which is how the State Department tells visa applicants to scan a print. At 600 dpi it is 1200 x 1200 pixels, the resolution the Bahamas asks for in its online passport renewal. The US DS-160 visa form accepts any square file from 600 x 600 to 1200 x 1200 pixels.
None of the official sources read sets a printing dpi. What they require is the result: the US passport rules want a sharp, high-resolution print on photo-quality paper with no visible printer dots, and India's OCI sheet wants continuous tone without visible pixels. For digital copies, 300 dpi gives 600 x 600 pixels and 600 dpi gives 1200 x 1200.
Usually, if the print quality is good enough. India's OCI sheet accepts ink jet, laser and dye sublimation prints with continuous tone and no visible dots. For a US passport the print needs photo-quality paper, matte or glossy, with no printer dots showing; photocopies and scans are refused. USCIS wants thin paper with a glossy finish. Check that the printed square measures exactly 2 x 2 inches.
They describe the same picture in two ways. A 600 x 600 pixel image printed at 300 pixels per inch comes out at 2 x 2 inches, and the State Department tells visa applicants to scan a 2x2 print at 300 pixels per inch to make their upload. A print is judged by its size in inches; an upload is judged by its pixels and file size.
For some documents. The OCI card photo is 2 x 2 inches (51 x 51 mm) under the OCI photo specification, and the OCI upload must be square. The Indian visa photo sheet used by VFS Global in the US gives prints as 2 inch x 2 inch. Indian visa and e-Visa uploads only need to be square and within the portal's file-size limits.
Shape and size. A 2x2 inch photo is square, 51 mm each way. A 35 x 45 mm photo, the UK passport size for example, is portrait-shaped: 35 mm wide and 45 mm high. The rules inside the frame differ too: a UK photo needs a head of 29 to 34 mm on plain cream or light grey, a US passport photo 25 to 35 mm on plain white or off-white. Use the size your document names.
No. In the United States the passport format is the 2 inch square, but elsewhere the phrase usually means the local size. UK passport photos measure 35 mm wide by 45 mm high, and Chinese visa application photos 33 mm wide by 48 mm high. Check the size named by the authority or mission that handles your application.
It depends on the document. For US passports and visas, glasses come off unless a medical reason is documented in a signed statement. India's OCI and visa sheets allow clear glasses if the frames do not cover the eyes and there is no glare, but never tinted or dark lenses; the Indian e-Visa upload asks for no spectacles at all.
Other photo sizes
- 35 × 45 mm (255)
- 30 × 40 mm (25)
- 40 × 60 mm (21)
- 40 × 50 mm (16)
- 36 × 47 mm (9)
- 40 × 40 mm (9)
- 50 × 70 mm (9)
- 33 × 48 mm (9)
- 26 × 32 mm (8)
- 50 × 50 mm (7)
- 35 × 50 mm (4)
- 45 × 45 mm (3)
- 45 × 35 mm (3)
- 50 × 60 mm (3)
- 30 × 30 mm (2)
References
- U.S. Department of State. Passport Photos travel.state.gov. Checked 2 November 2026.
- U.S. Department of State. Photo Requirements (U.S. Visas) travel.state.gov. Checked 2 November 2026.
- U.S. Department of State. Photo Composition Template travel.state.gov. Checked 2 November 2026.
- U.S. Department of State. Digital Image Requirements travel.state.gov. Checked 2 November 2026.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-485 (edition 09/18/26) uscis.gov. Checked 2 November 2026.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-765 (edition 08/21/25) uscis.gov. Checked 2 November 2026.
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Policy Alert PA-2025-29: Photograph Reuse for Identity Documents uscis.gov. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Federal Register, U.S. Government Publishing Office. Visas: Enhancing Vetting and Combatting Fraud in the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program (91 FR 11891, 22 CFR 42.33) govinfo.gov. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Ministry of Home Affairs, India. Requirement of photograph for OCI Registration ociservices.gov.in. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Ministry of Home Affairs, Bureau of Immigration, India. Frequently Asked Questions (OCI) ociservices.gov.in. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, India. Instructions (regular visa application): Photo Requirements indianvisaonline.gov.in. Checked 2 November 2026.
- VFS Global, Indian consular application centres in the USA. Photo specifications (Indian visa) vfsglobal.com. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Bahamas. ePassport Online Renewal Services mofa.gov.bs. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Embassy of Viet Nam in the United States. Apply for visa in person or by mail vietnamembassy-usa.org. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Washington. Visa requirements egyptembassy.net. Checked 2 November 2026.
- HM Passport Office, GOV.UK. Photos for passports: photo requirements gov.uk. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States (sheet by the Department of Consular Affairs, MFA). Photo Requirements for Chinese Visa Application us.china-embassy.gov.cn. Checked 2 November 2026.