China passport photo · NIA digital
Checked and laid out to the National Immigration Administration’s official photo guidelines (based on ICAO Doc 9303) and its online-submission guide. Sources checked by us on 2026-08-17.
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Official specification
| Finished size | 600 × 800 px this authority specifies pixels, not a physical size |
| Head height (chin to crown) | not published by this authority |
| Eye height | not published by this authority |
| Background | uniform white, light grey or pale blue, with no gradient and no shadows |
| File formats | JPEG |
| File size | 20 KB – 80 KB |
| Taken within | the last 6 months |
Full rules
- A recent colour photo, taken within the last six months.
- The background must be uniform white, light grey or pale blue — no gradient, no shadows, no other people or objects. The guide even publishes reference values: light grey at brightness 198 or above; pale blue at hue 135, saturation 240, brightness 167 or above.
- Technical processing of personal features — scars, moles, hairstyle and the like — is not allowed. The online-submission guide names retouching and beauty filters as the single biggest reason photos are rejected.
- Sit upright with both shoulders level, look straight at the camera, natural expression, eyes open, lips closed, no teeth showing.
- No heavy make-up, and no coloured or circle contact lenses.
- No tinted glasses except for medical reasons; thick frames are discouraged; frames must not cover the eyes and lenses must not reflect.
- No head coverings. Where one is worn for religious, medical or cultural reasons it must not obscure the face or cast shadows, and non-permanent ornaments must not cover the face.
- Dark, collared clothing is recommended; uniform-style clothing is not allowed, and your face and clothing must contrast with the background.
- Accurate focus, true colour, even lighting with no shadows or bright spots on the face, and no stains, creases, scratches or borders.
- Digital photo files: JPEG, 24-bit RGB true colour, scans at 300 dpi or higher, file size between 20 KB and 80 KB.
- Uploads to the NIA's all-online service: crop to a 3:4 head-and-shoulders portrait between 400 and 1000 pixels wide, with the head about two-thirds of the image width.
- Do not use the front camera for a selfie — the wide-angle lens distorts the face, can miss the ears and may mirror the image. Use the rear camera with someone helping, a tripod timer, from under one metre away.
- Children: nothing in front of or behind the child (hands, toys); under 4 a natural expression is not required; under 1 the eyes need not be open.
Sources
https://www.nia.gov.cn/n741445/n741619/n894511/c896346/content.html
National Immigration Administration, PRC — Guidelines for Travel Documents Photographs (photo guide poster, 2011) · page updated 2011 · we checked it 2026-08-17
National Immigration Administration, PRC — Guidelines for Travel Documents Photographs (photo guide poster, 2011) · page updated 2011 · we checked it 2026-08-17
本指引依据国际民航组织DOC 9303文件制定，适用于公安机关出入境管理部门受理各类出入境证件（含签证、居留许可等）申请时对申请人相片的要求。… 近期（六个月以内）彩色相片；相片背景色为均匀白色，浅灰色或淡蓝色（浅灰色参考值：色调值和饱和度值为0，亮度值不小于198；淡蓝色参考值：色调值为135，饱和度240，亮度值不小于167）；不得对人像特征（伤疤、痣、发型等）进行技术处理；… 数字相片文件规格要求：文件图像格式为JPEG；图像为24位RGB真彩色；纸质相片扫描分辨率不低于300DPI；图像文件大小范围为20K字节到80K字节之间。https://s.nia.gov.cn/mps/bszy/qcwbzpzy/zpzy/202405/t20240528_1001.html
National Immigration Administration, PRC — online submission photo guide for exit-entry documents · page updated 2024-05-28 · we checked it 2026-08-17
National Immigration Administration, PRC — online submission photo guide for exit-entry documents · page updated 2024-05-28 · we checked it 2026-08-17
出问题最多的原因是P图和美颜…化浓妆、带美瞳也会导致照片审核不通过…不要使用前置摄像头自拍…照片宽度应在400像素～1000像素之间…修剪成宽高比为3:4的大头像 裁剪后头像宽度占图片宽度的2/3较为合适…如果您的拍摄条件不够理想 建议您去就近专业照相馆拍摄出入境证件照Questions
What are the Chinese passport photo requirements?
A recent colour photo taken within six months, against a uniform white, light grey or pale blue background with no gradient or shadows, sitting upright, looking straight at the camera, eyes open, lips closed. Digital files are JPEG, 24-bit RGB, between 20 KB and 80 KB.
Why do you not state a size in millimetres?
Because the two official NIA documents we source do not publish one. The 33 x 48 mm figure that circulates online cannot be traced to either of them, so under our sourcing rules we do not print it. We build to the digital specification instead: a 3:4 portrait between 400 and 1000 pixels wide.
What is the biggest reason Chinese passport photo uploads fail?
Retouching. The NIA's own online-submission guide names beauty filters and edited photos as the single most common rejection, followed by heavy make-up and circle contact lenses. Turn every beauty and filter feature off; we never retouch anything either.
Can I take the photo myself with my phone?
Yes, but not as a front-camera selfie — the NIA warns the wide-angle front lens distorts the face, can miss your ears, and may mirror the image. Use the rear camera with someone helping or a tripod timer, from under a metre away, then crop to a 3:4 head-and-shoulders portrait.
Does a blue background work?
Yes — the guide accepts uniform white, light grey or pale blue, and even publishes reference values for the grey and blue. Our automated check leans neutral, so a strongly blue background may come back as a warning; compare it against the official swatches by eye.
Does this cover passports applied for outside mainland China?
No. Passports issued abroad go through the Chinese consular app, which is a separate flow with its own photo rules that we have not sourced. This page covers NIA channels, including its all-online submission service.
Our own assumptions
- ⚠️ Neither NIA document publishes a millimetre print size or a head-height figure, so we build this as a digital specification — 3:4, inside the official 400–1000 px width band — and do not copy the 33 × 48 mm figure that circulates on competitor sites, because we could not trace it to an official page.
- The NIA publishes these requirements in Chinese only. The rules above are our English rendering; the original Chinese is kept verbatim in our source record, and that original is what governs.
- Our 65% head proportion is worked back from the official framing advice — head width about two-thirds of the image width after cropping — via the 1.30 head length-to-width ratio. It is our engineering choice, not an official head-height requirement.
- China accepts three background colours including a pale blue with official reference values. Our single-band background check leans neutral: white and light grey pass cleanly, while a genuinely saturated pale-blue studio background may come back as “close but not quite” (a warning) even though it is officially acceptable — check it by eye against the official swatches.
- The official 20–80 KB file band is tight for a detailed photo; we walk the JPEG quality down until the file fits and tell you honestly if it cannot.
- This line covers mainland exit-entry documents (passports and related permits) applied for through NIA channels. Passports issued abroad through the China Consular Affairs app are a separate flow with its own photo rules that we have not sourced.
- The chin is measured by 68-point facial landmarks; the crown comes from the top of the cut-out outline. Assumed accuracy ±5%, calibrated only on synthetic fixtures.
Where the authority does not specify something, we say so rather than pretending it does. The points above are our engineering choices, not official requirements.