An Australian passport photo is 35 × 45 mm (about 827 × 1063 pixels at 600 dpi), head at 71–80% of the photo's height (32–36 mm, chin to crown), background: Plain white or light grey — we render light grey. That's the whole specification, transcribed from the official Australian Passport Office requirements — and the plain light background and chin-to-crown face height are the rules a home photo misses most. Read it, check it at the source, then let the maker hit the numbers for you.
WHAT WE HAND YOU: 45×35 mm JPEG at 600 dpi · plain light-grey background
Make my photo → Free compliance check · download for $16.99at CVS; ours is $9.99 if it passes · refunded if the government rejects it
The specification
These are the numbers your photo is measured against, transcribed from Official Australian passport photo requirements (passports.gov.au) — verifiable at the source, which is linked under the table:
| Photo size | 35 × 45 mm (about 827 × 1063 pixels at 600 dpi)† (derived from official print specification) |
|---|---|
| File size | 50 KB – 10 MB† (derived from official print specification) |
| Format | JPEG† (derived from official print specification) |
| Head height | 71–80% of the photo's height (32–36 mm, chin to crown) |
| Eye height | 50–68% up from the bottom of the photo† (derived from official print specification) |
| Background | Plain white or light grey — we render light grey |
† Derived from the official print specification — the source publishes no digital value for this item.
Already have a photo? Check it against the spec — free
Applying as a family? Check the whole family's photos at once — the official requirements linked below ask for a photo of each applicant.
Official Australian passport photo requirements (passports.gov.au)
Who does what
Everything on the left is measurement and file work, which is what the maker is for. Everything on the right happens before the photo exists.
Make my photo →When AusPassport says no
AusPassport is the Australian Passport Office’s online form. It has no photo step: you print your photos and hand two over at a post office counter.
The check is physical. The person at the counter holds a clear plastic template over your print, so a face that is a few millimetres short is caught by hand, not by software.
What to do. Your face needs to measure 32 to 36 mm from chin to crown inside a 35 by 45 mm print. Measure it with a ruler before you leave the shop, and ask for a retake there and then if it is short.
Australian photos are handed over as prints, so the size is judged against a template cut for 35 by 45 mm. People report over-trimming by a millimetre or two, and larger prints refused as too big.
What to do. Hand the photos over uncut and let the person at the counter trim them. White space around the photo on the form is fine. If a guarantor has to sign the back, cut generously.
Australia removed the glasses option on 1 July 2018. The guidelines DFAT issues to photographers carry it as a heading: no glasses, from that date. Several countries still allow clear lenses.
What to do. Take them off before the photo. Poor eyesight on its own is not an accepted reason to keep them on. The only exception is a medical reason you cannot remove them.
Australia asks for a plain white or light background that contrasts with your face. A background darkened by a shadow, or one that blends into pale hair or clothing, fails on contrast.
What to do. Stand well forward of a plain white or light grey wall so you cast no shadow on it. Do not cut out or whiten the background in software — the photographer guidelines allow brightness and contrast changes only.
The guidelines DFAT issues to photographers ask for even, shadowless lighting on the face, and require the face and the background to be shadow-free. No tolerance is stated.
What to do. Use soft, even light from the front — window light on an overcast day, or bounced light. Avoid direct flash pointed at your face. Skip highlighter or shimmer makeup, which reads as a reflection.
Australia is stricter than most here. Any retouching, such as removing moles, wrinkles or scars, is out, and the guidelines given to photographers allow brightness and contrast adjustment only.
What to do. Turn off beauty filters, portrait mode and automatic enhancement before the photo is taken. If a shop’s software offers to improve or clean up the image, decline. Moles, wrinkles and scars stay as they are.
Australia specifies the printing process itself: good quality colour prints, produced using dye sublimation (not from an inkjet printer), printed on heavy-weight, glossy paper (minimum 200 gsm).
What to do. Ask the print shop two things before you pay: is this a dye-sublimation printer, and is the paper glossy and at least 200 gsm. A home inkjet print will not pass, however good the paper is.
Australia allows a religious head covering, but adds a condition most countries do not state: religious head coverings must be plain, without patterns, even small patterns.
What to do. Wear a plain, unpatterned covering. Position it so your whole face is visible from the bottom of your chin to the top of your forehead, with the edges of your face visible on both sides.
Australia is one of very few countries that asks for handwriting on a physical print — your own name for a renewal, or a guarantor’s endorsement. The photographer guidelines rule out heavy back-printing.
What to do. Use a black pen, press lightly, and let the ink dry before the two prints touch each other or go into an envelope. Keep the writing inside the edges of the photo so it survives trimming.
Rejected by the portal? We refund you.
Email us with your order id and the full amount goes back to your card. No screenshots, no proof — just tell us it was rejected.
30 DAYS FROM PURCHASE · NO PROOF UPLOADS · EVERY MEASUREMENT CHECKED AGAINST THE PUBLISHED GOVERNMENT SPEC BEFORE YOU PAY
Questions
No. We're an independent service that makes and checks passport photos — not affiliated with the Australian Passport Office or the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The official passports.gov.au photo requirements are linked below if you'd rather do it yourself.
Yes. Australian passport applications take two printed photos, so we offer a print-ready 4×6 sheet to take to any photo printer as a checkout add-on alongside the finished file. Have it printed on good-quality glossy photo paper (the rules ask for heavy-weight, at least 200 gsm) rather than an inkjet at home, and lodge the two prints with your application.
Either. The Australian Passport Office accepts a plain white or plain light-grey background, as long as it clearly contrasts with your face. We render a plain light grey because pure white can wash out against pale skin and lose that contrast — grey keeps you clearly separated from the background.
You won't be charged. We show you exactly which check failed and how to fix it — move closer, find better light, use a plainer background — so you can retake and try again for free.
We refund you. Email info@readyvisaphoto.com with your order id (it is in your receipt, and on the page your refund link opens) and tell us it was rejected — the full amount goes back to your original card. No screenshots, no forms, no proof. Covers 30 days from purchase.
It’s used only to run the checks, downloadable by you for 30 days, then deleted automatically. No account, no photo library, no reuse.
Your download link stays active for 30 days after purchase.
Free compliance check. Pay only when it passes.
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