1)The image should be 2 inches by 2 inches;
2) The image must have adequate brightness and contrast;
3) The skin tone should be natural. In case of over-exposure or
under-exposure of the photo, the skin is either too dark or too light, photo
will not be acceptable;
4) It should show a close up of the head and (partial) shoulders;
5) The image should be straight looking, centred with neutral expression;
6) Face should be in sharp focus and clear with no ink marks/creases/lines;
7) The face (from forehead edge to bottom of chin) should be 70 to 80% of
the photo or one inch height;
8) The eyes must be open and no hair obscuring the face;
9) Prescription glasses if worn should be clear and thin framed and should
not have flash reflection or obscure the eyes;
10) Head coverings, hair, head-dress or facial ornaments should not obscure
the face;
11) The photo must have plain light background;
12) There must be no other people or object in the photo;
13) The lighting must be uniform with no shadows on the face or behind;
14) Red eye photos are not allowed;
15) No lines are allowed.
PASSPORT PHOTO INSTRUCTIONS
Photo scan file specification
16) The photo should be ideally printed by professional photo studio with
continuous tone; and good resolution. Polaroid photos or photos printed with
ordinary printers will not be suitable for scanning.
17) The photo should have preferably been scanned using NIC scanning
software available in the NIC-CIPPS uploading software, with 300 DPI
setting. If use of NIC scanning software is not feasible, then branded
software that comes with the scanner could be used with the following
settings :- Color photo; 400 DPI
18) The scanner glass surface should be cleaned regularly, so the scanned
photo is clear without any dust;
Passports applications with photos that do not match the ICAO
specifications are liable to be rejected by foreign immigration authorities,
and could result in extreme inconvenience to the passport holder.