Need a Japan residence card photo? Upload a recent portrait and IDPhotoBy sizes and crops it to the Immigration Services Agency (ISA) standard — a 30×40 mm photo on a plain white background — with the Japan Residence Card or Certificate of Eligibility document already selected. It is free — no payment required.
One photo standard serves both documents: the Residence Card (在留カード, zairyu card) that foreign residents carry, and the Certificate of Eligibility (在留資格認定証明書, CoE) you apply for before moving to Japan. Both use the same 30×40 mm frame, so this page prepares a photo that works for either one — and for both submission channels: the online application (you upload a JPEG through the ISA online system) and the printed paper application.
According to the official ISA photo requirements — from the Immigration Services Agency of Japan (出入国在留管理庁), the Ministry of Justice body that issues both the Residence Card and the Certificate of Eligibility, on its photo-standard page (moj.go.jp/isa) — your photo must meet the checklist below. Compare your photo against these before you apply.
- Size 30×40 mm — 40 mm tall by 30 mm wide (4 cm × 3 cm).
- Plain white background, no shadow — the ISA requires no background and no shadow; a dark background that hides your outline is not accepted.
- Taken within the last 6 months — a current photo that looks like you today.
- Front view, bareheaded — face the camera straight on, with no hat.
- Only you in the frame — no one other than the applicant may appear.
- Sharp and in focus — a clear photo, not blurred.
The ISA also states that the face must not be hidden by a mask, bangs, or cloth, and that glasses must not have frames covering the eyes, very thick frames, or reflected light on the lenses.
The residence card photo size is 30×40 mm — that is 3 cm wide by 4 cm tall (the ISA states it as 縦4センチメートル、横3センチメートル). The frame is portrait, taller than it is wide, and the Certificate of Eligibility uses the same size.
Inside that frame, the ISA dimension diagram sets the head geometry: your face measures 25±3 mm from the top of your head (including hair) to the tip of your chin, with a 5±3 mm margin from the top of the frame to the top of your head, and a face width of about 15±2 mm. IDPhotoBy crops your head to this 25 mm target and centres it in the frame, so the head is the size the ISA expects — you do not have to measure anything yourself.
You can submit a residence-status application online or on paper, and IDPhotoBy prepares a file that fits both.
- Online application (在留申請オンラインシステム). The ISA online system accepts a self-provided face photo you upload. The file must be a JPEG (a
.jpeg or .jpg file) with a 4:3 height-to-width ratio — which is exactly the 40×30 mm frame — and must otherwise follow the same window-submission standard above. The ISA does not publish a fixed pixel size or a per-photo file-size limit for the face photo; the only size figure is a 25 MB cap on the total of all your attached documents, which any single photo sits far below. IDPhotoBy's JPEG output meets this contract, so you can upload it directly. - Printed paper application. You attach a printed 30×40 mm photo to the application form and write your name on the back (unless the photo is printed straight into the form's photo box). Use the finished file to print at the correct size at home or at a shop.
- Upload a recent, well-lit portrait using the tool on this page — nothing to install, and the Japan Residence Card / Certificate of Eligibility document is already selected.
- IDPhotoBy resizes and crops your photo to the 30×40 mm size and composites the plain white background the ISA requires.
- Preview the result — check the head size and position, the plain white background, and that your face is sharp and evenly lit.
- Download the finished photo, free, then either upload the JPEG through the ISA online system or print it at 30×40 mm for the paper application.
The free zairyu card photo maker doubles as a size checker and resizer: it takes a photo you already have — including a smartphone selfie — and formats it to the size and crop the application expects. There is no app to download; it runs online in your browser, so making your residence card photo online is free and works from anywhere — handy for foreign residents in Japan and for people applying for a Certificate of Eligibility from abroad. If you would rather not use your own photo, a registered ID photo booth (証明写真機) or a photo studio is the offline alternative.
IDPhotoBy sizes, crops and positions the photo you upload so it matches the 30×40 mm ISA standard, and composites the plain white background the residence card requires. It does not retouch, beautify or otherwise edit your face. The ISA is explicit that image processing which changes your appearance — enlarging the eyes, whitening the skin, retouching facial features, moles or wrinkles — is not accepted in any case, and that horizontally flipped (mirror-reversed) photos are not accepted either. So your face is left exactly as it is, and the photo is never mirror-flipped.
We also make no acceptance promise. No online tool can promise a photo will be accepted; the file is prepared to the published ISA requirements, and the Immigration Services Agency makes the final decision. What you get here is a correctly sized, correctly cropped photo, free, with no paid "studio" upsell.
Requirements can change — check the official ISA application portal (moj.go.jp/isa) before you submit, and follow its photo standard and dimension diagram as the final authority on size, background and head position.
