Applying to come to the UK as a visitor, student, worker or family member? Your online application asks for a UK visa photo that meets the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) standard — and IDPhotoBy helps you make one from a photo you already have, free. Upload it with the tool on this page — the UK Visa document is already selected — and it sizes and crops your photo to a 35×45 mm portrait, output as a 700×900 px JPEG, and checks it is on the plain light-coloured background UKVI asks for, with your face in clear contrast to it. You get the digital photo file to upload with your application, plus a print-ready copy. It is free — no payment required.
One honest note first: this is the UK entry-visa standard set by UKVI — a different authority from HM Passport Office (British passports) and DVLA (driving licences), with its own digital-file rules. IDPhotoBy does not take the photo; it formats the photo you already have to the UKVI digital spec.
IDPhotoBy is a free tool that turns a normal portrait into a compliant UK visa photo for your online application. Upload your photo with the tool on this page and it will:
- resize and crop it to a 35×45 mm portrait and output the 700×900 px JPEG UKVI's digital-photo rules call for;
- check the photo is on the plain light-coloured background the rules require, with your face in clear contrast to the background and no other objects or people in shot;
- give you the digital photo file (a jpg between 50 KB and 6 MB) to upload with your application, plus a print-ready copy if you also want a printed one.
It doubles as a size and format checker for a photo you already have — there is no app to download, it runs in your browser.
The rules for a UK visa photo are published by UK Visas and Immigration in its guidance on how to take a photo for a visa application. Check your photo against this list:
- In colour, clear and in focus, and taken in a well-lit room.
- On a plain light-coloured background, with your face in clear contrast to the background and no other objects or people in the picture.
- Showing your head, shoulders and upper body, facing towards and looking straight at the camera.
- A plain expression with your mouth closed, and your eyes open and visible — with no red eye.
- No glasses unless you have to wear them, and no head covering unless it is for religious or medical reasons.
- Not altered by computer software or by adding a filter, and not mirrored or flipped.
UKVI does not publish a fixed head-height measurement or a set recency window for the visa digital photo, so we do not invent one — IDPhotoBy frames a natural head, shoulders and upper body portrait that fits the composition UKVI describes.
The UK visa photo size most tools and application centres quote is 35×45 mm — the same as 3.5×4.5 cm, 45 mm high by 35 mm wide. That is the print convention; UKVI's own rule for the uploaded digital photo is a pixel one: it must be "at least 600 pixels wide and 750 pixels tall" and vertically orientated. IDPhotoBy outputs a 700×900 px JPEG, which keeps the 35×45 (7:9) shape and comfortably clears the 600×750 px minimum. So whether you think of it as "35×45 mm" or in pixels, the file you download is the right size and shape for the application.
Because you upload the UK visa photo as a file, UKVI sets exact digital-file specifications for the visa route. Your photo must be:
- a jpg or jpeg file;
- at least 600 pixels wide and 750 pixels tall;
- at least 50 KB and no more than 6 MB;
- vertically orientated, and not mirrored or flipped.
This 6 MB ceiling and the jpg-only rule are specific to the UK visa. IDPhotoBy outputs a 700×900 px JPEG sized to sit inside the 50 KB–6 MB range, oriented the right way up, so the file you download meets the UKVI file rules without you having to resize or convert anything.
- Stand in front of a plain, light-coloured wall in a well-lit room — natural light from a window works well and avoids shadows.
- Because it is not a selfie, ask another person to take the photo: UKVI says arranging for someone else to take it "will help reduce the chance of having your photo rejected". They stand back so your head, shoulders and upper body fit, holding the camera straight and level. The photo can be from a phone or tablet.
- Upload your photo with the free tool on this page — the UK Visa document is already selected.
- IDPhotoBy sizes and crops it to 35×45 mm / 700×900 px, checks the plain light-coloured background, and gives you the digital photo file to download, plus a print-ready copy.
You can make and download your UK visa photo as many times as you need — there is no charge to make it or to download it.
UKVI is strict about edits: your visa photo "must not be altered by computer software or through other means (for example, by adding a filter)". IDPhotoBy respects that. It sizes and crops the photo you upload and makes sure it is on the plain light-coloured background the rules require — it does not retouch, beautify or AI-edit your face, and it makes no changes to how you look. Your features are left exactly as they are.
And it makes no acceptance promise. Some tools claim "guaranteed" acceptance or offer to "fix" your photo; no tool can promise UKVI will accept it. IDPhotoBy prepares your UK visa photo to UKVI's published requirements and leaves the decision with UK Visas and Immigration.
You apply online for a UK visa, and the compliant digital photo you make here is the file you provide with that application. UKVI also takes your biometric information — in its words, "you'll also need to provide your biometric information (fingerprints and photograph), usually by going to a visa application centre run by an external company", or via the UK Immigration: ID Check app if you are eligible. So a photograph may also be captured at the centre; the file you prepare here is the applicant-supplied digital photo for the online application or the app. The same UKVI photo standard applies across the common routes — Standard Visitor, Student, Skilled Worker and family visas — so one compliant file works whichever UK visa you are applying for.
Requirements can change — check the official UK Visas and Immigration guidance on gov.uk before you apply; UKVI makes the final decision on whether a photo is accepted.
