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United Arab Emirates visa photo requirements

The 40 × 60 mm photo rules set by Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) for the United Arab Emirates visa, with the official wording and sources.

Based on 9 official sources · last checked Official sources Page history

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Quick answer

What size is the United Arab Emirates visa photo?

For a UAE entry permit, ICP asks for a coloured personal photo with a white background, and its services guide gives the size as 4 x 6 cm ("4/6"). Current ICP and GDRFA Dubai service pages state no size or pixel dimensions. If Emirates airline arranges your visa, it wants a plain, light-coloured background, no hats or caps, and a photo free from filters or colour effects.

Visitors to the UAE need an entry permit unless they are GCC citizens or hold a nationality that gets a visa on arrival, according to the u.ae portal. Entry permits for tourism, family visits, treatment, study, job exploration and work are issued by ICP, and for Dubai by GDRFA Dubai. The visitor can apply, but most visas are requested by a sponsor: ICP names family heads, employers, tourism establishments, educational institutions and medical facilities, and u.ae links to the visa services of Emirates, Etihad and flydubai for their passengers.

The visa itself is electronic. ICP sends it by email once issued, and it can be downloaded straight away. The photo is part of the online application: ICP and GDRFA Dubai list a personal photo among the documents, uploaded through their websites and apps or by the typing office, tourism company or airline that applies for you. ICP's FAQ describes it as a coloured personal photo with a white background, and its general photo guide sets out the ICAO-based rules on pose, light and glasses.

United Arab Emirates visa photo size and specifications

The requirements as published by Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP):[1]

Print size4 x 6 cm (40 x 60 mm) in ICP's services guide ("4/6"); current ICP, GDRFA and Emirates pages give no size
Digital sizeNo pixel size published by ICP, GDRFA Dubai or Emirates; the photo is uploaded with the application
Head heightICP guide: face takes up 70 to 80% of the photo; Emirates: face occupies most of the image
BackgroundWhite (ICP, GDRFA Dubai); Emirates asks for a plain, light-coloured background
ColourColour ("a colored personal photo", ICP; "colour photograph", Emirates)
Photo ageRecent (ICP services guide, GDRFA Dubai); ICP's photo guide sets a limit of 6 months
Pixels when printed472 × 709 px at 300 dpi · 945 × 1417 px at 600 dpi (calculated)
40 mm60 mm42–48 mm
40 × 60 mm photo drawn to scale, with the 42–48 mm head height from chin to crown. Background: white.

In the official words

Exact wording from the official sources, quoted because the details matter:

A recent personal photo with a white background measuring 4/6

Guide of the Services of ICP (issuance of entry permits)[4]

Key requirements

  • White behind you

    ICP's visa FAQ asks for a coloured personal photo with a white background, and GDRFA Dubai's entry visa for residents of GCC states asks for a recent colour photograph with a white background. Emirates accepts a plain, light-coloured one.

  • The sponsor decides the channel

    Tourist visas are issued only through licensed tourism establishments, visit visas for relatives and friends through the resident host, and work visas through the employer. The photo is uploaded in that sponsor's application.

  • Neutral face, eyes open

    Emirates asks you to look directly at the camera with a neutral, natural expression and your mouth closed, without a broad smile or showing teeth, and with nothing obstructing the eyes.

  • No filters or colour effects

    Emirates requires a sharp photo, in focus and free from filters or colour effects. ICP's photo guide likewise asks for natural skin tones and colour-neutral images.

  • Even lighting from the front

    Light the face evenly from the front so that there are no strong shadows on the face or the background.

  • Passport copy with the photo

    Every channel also wants a copy of your passport, valid for at least six months; Emirates and GDRFA Dubai ask for its outer cover page as well.

Do's and don'ts

Do

  • Use a recent colour photo with a plain white background
  • Ask your sponsor, tourism company or airline what it needs
  • Look straight at the camera with your mouth closed
  • Keep your head centred, with your face filling most of the frame
  • Send a colour copy of your passport, including the cover page if asked

Don't

  • Do not use a photo with filters or colour effects
  • Do not wear a hat or cap
  • Do not wear tinted glasses or glasses with glare on the lenses
  • Do not smile broadly or show your teeth
  • Do not use a busy or dark background

Sample photos

How a United Arab Emirates visa photo should look, and the mistakes that most often get photos rejected. Each example is drawn to this document's 40 × 60 mm, head height and background colour.

Correct
Open-mouth smile
Head tilted
Too close: head too big
Too far: head too small
Busy background
Shadows on face or background
Glare on glasses

Illustrations, not real photos. The official rules above always take priority; some documents do not allow glasses at all.

Glasses

Glasses are allowed in a UAE visa photo if they do not hide your eyes. ICP's standards permit medical glasses only, provided they do not cover the eyes, and do not allow sunglasses. For visas arranged through Emirates, glasses are permitted only if the lenses are clear and free from glare or dark tint.

Make sure the frames do not cross your eyes. ICP's photo guide recommends lighter frames over heavy ones and rules out flash reflections on the lenses.

Headwear and religious dress

Emirates tells visa applicants not to wear hats or caps, and ICP's approved standards also exclude hats. ICP's photo guide allows a head covering worn for religious reasons, as long as the face shows clearly from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead and both sides of the face are visible.

GDRFA Dubai's visa pages ask only for a personal photo and say nothing about head coverings.

Babies and children

ICP's photo standards make no exception for children, so a child's visa photo follows the same rules: colour, white background, eyes open, facing the camera, and the child alone in the picture with no toys, chair backs or other people.

For a visit sponsored by a UAE resident through an Emirates ticketing office, a copy of the minor's birth certificate in Arabic or English is required as well, with proof of relationship. GDRFA Dubai's single-entry visit visa for a relative or friend also lists a birth certificate among its documents.

UAE visas are applied for and issued online, so a digital photo is what most applicants need. ICP's visa service runs through its smart app and website, and also through authorised typing and tourism offices; GDRFA Dubai's through its website, smart application and Amer centres. None of them publishes a pixel size or a file-size limit for the upload.

GDRFA Dubai's page for a single-entry visit visa for a relative or friend lists two personal photos, and that visa can be applied for at Amer centres and GDRFA Customer Happiness Centres as well as online. Emirates' ticketing offices in the UAE take a paper application form, with a colour photograph, for visits sponsored by residents. ICP's services guide gives the visa photo as "4/6", which reads as 4 x 6 cm. A digital photo can be cropped and resized to that shape, or printed on a 4x6 inch sheet at a photo counter.

Where to submit the photo

Check first whether you need a visa at all: GCC citizens do not, and citizens of several countries get one on arrival. Otherwise the sponsor applies. Through ICP, use the smart app, the website or an authorised typing or tourism office; tourist visas must come from a licensed tourism establishment. In Dubai, GDRFA Dubai takes applications on its website and smart application, and at Amer and Customer Happiness centres for relative and friend visits.

Emirates passengers from eligible countries can apply on the Emirates website through Manage your booking once the ticket is issued, at least four international working days before arrival; VFS Global processing fees apply. A UAE resident can also apply at an Emirates ticketing office in the UAE for a relative or friend travelling on an Emirates ticket. Foreigners resident in a GCC state apply for their entry visa through GDRFA Dubai's smart services site.

How to get your United Arab Emirates visa photo

  1. Check the official requirements. Read the official specification for the United Arab Emirates visa: 40 × 60 mm print, white background. Check the rules on pose, expression, glasses and headwear below.
  2. Take the photo. Follow the key requirements: white behind you; the sponsor decides the channel; neutral face, eyes open; no filters or colour effects.
  3. Prepare a print or digital file. UAE visas are applied for and issued online, so a digital photo is what most applicants need.
  4. Submit the photo with your application. Check first whether you need a visa at all: GCC citizens do not, and citizens of several countries get one on arrival. Otherwise the sponsor applies.

Make this photo online

United Arab Emirates visa photo FAQ

Current ICP and GDRFA Dubai service pages do not give a size; they ask for a personal photo, which ICP describes as coloured with a white background. ICP's services guide writes the visa photo size as "4/6", read as 4 x 6 cm, and its photo guide gives a width of 35 to 40 mm.

For ICP and GDRFA Dubai applications, yes: both ask for a white background. Emirates, which arranges visas for its passengers, asks for a plain, light-coloured background instead.

Yes, if the lenses are clear. Emirates allows glasses only with clear lenses free from glare or dark tint, and ICP allows medical glasses that do not cover the eyes. Sunglasses are not accepted.

Keep it neutral. Emirates asks for a neutral, natural expression with your mouth closed and says not to smile broadly or show your teeth. ICP's photo guide also asks for a neutral expression.

The sponsor that applies. Tourist visas are issued only through licensed tourism establishments, so the tourism company or airline handling your visa submits your photo and passport copy with the application.

Emirates requires a photo that is sharp, in focus and free from filters or colour effects, and ICP's photo guide asks for natural skin tones and colour-neutral images. ICP and GDRFA Dubai publish no other editing rule for visa photos.

GCC citizens need no visa at all. Foreigners who live in a GCC state apply for an entry visa through GDRFA Dubai with a recent colour photograph on a white background, a copy of the passport including its outer cover, and a copy of their GCC residence permit.

Related photo specifications

Other United Arab Emirates documents

Visas and travel authorisations nearby

Also 40 × 60 mm

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Official sources

  1. Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP). Issuance of a Visa icp.gov.ae. Checked 2 November 2026.
  2. Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP). FAQ (visa and approved photo standards) icp.gov.ae. Checked 2 November 2026.
  3. Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP). Personal Photo Specifications icp.gov.ae. Checked 2 November 2026.
  4. Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP). Guide of the Services of ICP (issuance of entry permits) icp.gov.ae. Checked 2 November 2026.
  5. General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs, Dubai (GDRFA Dubai). Issuance of a single-entry tourist visa gdrfad.gov.ae. Checked 2 November 2026.
  6. General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs, Dubai (GDRFA Dubai). Issuing a visit visa for a relative or friend for one entry gdrfad.gov.ae. Checked 2 November 2026.
  7. General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs, Dubai (GDRFA Dubai). Entry visa for residents of the GCC member states gdrfad.gov.ae. Checked 2 November 2026.
  8. u.ae, the official portal of the UAE Government. Check if you need a visa to enter the UAE u.ae. Checked 2 November 2026.
  9. Emirates (airline visa service). UAE visa information emirates.com. Checked 2 November 2026.

Requirements can change, so always confirm with Federal Authority for Identity, Citizenship, Customs and Port Security (ICP) before you apply. WorldPhotoSpecs is independent and not affiliated with any government.

Cite this page

"United Arab Emirates visa photo". WorldPhotoSpecs. Last updated 4 November 2026. https://worldphotospecs.org/united-arab-emirates/visa-photo

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