Passport Photo Requirements: US Passport, China Visa and DS-160

Life in the USOct 18, 2026 · 7 min read

Few things are as annoying as a passport or visa application coming back because of the photo. The rules are not hard, but every country's are slightly different, and the differences between a US photo and a Chinese one catch a lot of people who need both. This guide puts the specs you are most likely to need side by side. If you want to check a photo you already have, our free Passport Photo Checker measures it against these specs in your browser.

The four specs at a glance

US passport photo requirements

• Size: 2 × 2 inches (51 × 51 mm).
• Head size: 1 to 1⅜ inches from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head, including hair.
• Eye position: 1⅛ to 1⅜ inches up from the bottom of the photo.
• Background: plain white or off-white.
• Glasses: not allowed since 2016, unless you include a signed medical statement.
• Head coverings: no hats, except for religious or medical reasons.
• Recent: taken within the last 6 months.
• No editing: no filters or retouching, and avoid arm's-length selfies.

A neutral expression or a natural smile is fine for the US. You send one printed photo with a mail renewal (Form DS-82) or bring it to your appointment (Form DS-11).

US visa photo (DS-160)

If you are helping a parent or relative apply for a US visa, the DS-160 asks for a digital photo. It uses the same square format as the passport photo but has file rules:

• Square JPEG, at least 600 × 600 and at most 1200 × 1200 pixels.
• File size 240 KB or less.
• Head 50% to 69% of the image height; eyes 56% to 69% of the image height, measured from the bottom.
• White or off-white background, taken within 6 months.
• No glasses except for documented medical reasons, and no head covering except for religious reasons; the full face must be visible.

Straight off a phone, a photo is far too large and the wrong shape for the DS-160, so plan to crop and compress it first. For more on the visa itself, see our guide to the B-2 visa for parents from China.

China visa photo: 33 × 48 mm

China visas for US citizens are now applied for through the online system, which checks the uploaded photo automatically. You need:

• Online upload: JPEG, 354 to 420 pixels wide and 472 to 560 pixels tall, 40 to 120 KB, 24-bit colour. Note that the upload is a 3:4 file, a slightly different shape from the printed photo.
• Print: 33 × 48 mm, colour, bareheaded, taken within the last 6 months.
• Head: 28 to 33 mm tall and 15 to 22 mm wide on the print. These are the commonly cited numbers from China's visa application service guidance; the Embassy's US pages do not publish head sizes, so let the online checker have the final word.
• Background: plain white or near-white, no border.
• Glasses: allowed, but no thick frames, tinted lenses or glare.

The rest of the visa process (where to apply, fees, 240-hour transit) is in our China visa guide for US citizens.

Chinese passport and 旅行证 photo

If you hold a Chinese passport, or are applying for a Chinese Travel Document (旅行证) for a US-born child, the photo is also 33 × 48 mm with a 28 to 33 mm head, but a little stricter:

• Plain white background, no border, no shadows.
• Both ears and eyebrows visible; hair must not cover the eyes.
• Remove glasses, and no tinted lenses or coloured contact lenses.
• Colour, bareheaded, taken within the last 6 months.

You upload an e-photo in the 中国领事 (China Consular) app, which checks it automatically, and the Embassy's checklist also asks for 3 recent colour photos on glossy paper when you mail in documents; for a 旅行证 the paper prints must match the uploaded e-photo. Many studios leave 3 to 5 mm above the crown, but we could not find that number in an official source.

Why photos get rejected

Across all four documents, the same problems come up again and again:

1. Shadows. On the face (one side darker than the other) or behind the head on the wall.
2. Background not plain. A grey or cream wall, visible texture, or a door frame in the corner. China wants white.
3. Head the wrong size. Too zoomed in, too far away, or the top of the head cropped off.
4. Head tilted or turned. Look straight at the lens with your shoulders square.
5. Glasses. Not allowed for US documents or the Chinese passport; for the China visa, glare on the lenses is enough to fail.
6. Expression. Eyes half closed, or a wide smile on a Chinese photo that requires a neutral face.
7. Blurry, too dark or overexposed. Phone night mode and indoor lighting are the usual causes.
8. Edited photos. Beauty filters, smoothing, background cut-outs that leave a halo around the hair.
9. Wrong file. For digital uploads, the wrong pixel size, a file over the KB limit, or a PNG instead of a JPEG.
10. Too old. All four require a photo from the last 6 months, and the photo should look like you today.

How to take a passport photo at home

• Stand about 50 cm (20 inches) in front of a plain white wall, with daylight from a window facing you.
• Have someone else take the photo from about 1.2 m (4 feet) away at eye level. Arm's-length selfies distort the face.
• Leave plenty of space above your head and include your shoulders, so the photo can be cropped to any spec.
• Keep a neutral face, mouth closed, and look straight at the lens.
• Print at actual size: a 4 × 6 inch print can hold several copies, which is cheap at a pharmacy photo counter.

Check it before you send it

Passport Photo Checker covers more than 20 passport and visa specs, including the US passport and visa, China visa and Chinese passport, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the UK, Canada, Schengen, Japan and others. Drop in a photo and it checks pose, eyes, lighting, sharpness, background and head size against the spec you pick, then auto-crops it and exports a digital JPEG sized to the file limit, a 300 dpi print, and a 4 × 6 print sheet. It runs entirely in your browser, so the photo is never uploaded. It is a pre-check, not an official approval. If you are getting documents ready for a trip to China, the China Travel Docs Checklist lists everything else you need.

FAQ

Can I wear glasses in a passport photo?

Not for a US passport or US visa photo, unless you have a medical reason (for a passport, with a signed doctor's statement). For a Chinese passport, remove them. For a China visa, glasses are allowed if the frames are not thick and there is no tint or glare.

What size is a China visa photo?

The print is 33 × 48 mm with the head 28 to 33 mm tall. For the online application, upload a JPEG of 354 to 420 by 472 to 560 pixels and 40 to 120 KB.

Can I use my US passport photo for a China visa?

No. A US passport photo is a 2 × 2 inch square, while the China visa photo is 33 × 48 mm, taller and narrower. You can often crop the same original picture to both sizes if you left enough space around your head.

Can I smile in a passport photo?

For US passport and visa photos, a neutral expression or a natural smile is accepted. Chinese visa and passport photos require a neutral expression with the mouth closed.

Can I take a passport photo with my phone?

Yes, as long as the result meets the spec. Have someone else take it from about 1.2 m away against a plain white wall in even daylight, and do not use filters or beauty modes.

Sources

• US Department of State: passport photo requirements
• US Department of State: visa photo requirements
• Chinese Embassy in the US: passport and travel document application materials
• Chinese Embassy in the US: visa application requirements and the online system
• National Immigration Administration of China

Last updated 2026-10-18. This guide is general information, not legal advice. Photo rules change; the issuing authority makes the final decision, so check its official page before you submit.