Australian Visa Photo

Australian Visa Photo Requirements and Guidelines

Visa photos are not universal, which means that requirements might vary in different countries. But with Passport Photo Online you won’t have to worry about that: we guarantee that the picture you take will meet the standards. Nevertheless, there are some guidelines that should be followed while taking photos for Australian visa.

General Requirements

An Australian visa photo should be taken within the last six months. This means that a recent picture should be taken from your gallery or you should make a new photo of yourself (it’s really easy, you’ll see in our further instructions on how to take a photo for Australian visa by yourself). The picture must be in colour. One more thing that is important to note - for Australian visa you will need two identical printouts. 

Size and Orientation

Biometric photo for Australian visa should be 35 mm wide and 45 mm high (0.35 cm X 0.45 cm). The size of the face from chin to the top of the head should be up from 32 mm to 36 mm. Face should be centred, the distance from the right-hand and left-hand side should be the same.

Head Position and Facial Expressions

In biometric photos you should directly face the camera with full face in view. Do not tilt your head. A neutral facial expression is required while taking a photo for Australian visa. It is not allowed to smile, laugh or frown. Do not raise your eyebrows. Your eyes should be open, mouth closed. Face should be clearly visible, not obscured by hair (the edges of your face should be visible as well). It is important to look directly at the camera. 

Glasses

You can wear glasses in your photo for an Australian visa if they are prescribed to you. In this case you should show a medical certificate that states the reason why you can’t take off your glasses and is signed by a registered medical practitioner. Even when you have a certificate that proves that you can’t remove your glasses for medical reasons, you need to make sure that there are no reflections on the lenses and that the frames don’t obscure your eyes or don’t cover your face too much. It is important to pay attention to these details because otherwise your picture might be rejected.

Headwear

It is allowed to wear a head covering only for religious reasons. That being said, it is important that in this case the headwear is whole-coloured and doesn’t cover your face from the bottom of your chin to the top of your forehead. The edges of the face should be visible as well. Other types of headwears, such as hats, caps or headbands, are not allowed.

Jewellery and Clothing

Jewellery in your Australian visa photo is allowed, but bear in mind that it shouldn’t cover any part of your face. There can’t be any reflections from your earrings. For a biometric photo you should dress casually, do not wear any uniform or clothes that might resemble uniform. Religious clothing is allowed if religion demands that.

Background

The background required for an Australian visa photo is plain and white or white-off. However, with Passport Photo Online you won’t have to worry about it: we will adjust the background to fit the requirements. You don’t have to stand in front of a white wall - just make sure you are facing the source of light, and the background will be cropped by us.

Take a photo for Australian visa online!

With our online application you can be sure that your picture will not be rejected! It resizes the picture to meet the requirements for Australian visa photo, as well as adjusts the background and verifies if the picture meets the requirements. Are you tired of having to look for photography studios to get your picture done? Do it yourself! It’s an easy and convenient way to get your photo done without having to leave the house! 

What do we promise?

• A guarantee that your picture will be accepted by the authorities. If not, we will give you back twice as much money as you paid.
• Unlimited amount of pictures taken. Take as many photos as you want until you find the one you like. Pay only when you see the final result!
• Digital photos and printouts. If you need a printed version of the picture, no need to worry - the printouts will be delivered to your home.

How to take an Australian visa photo from home?

Taking a photo from home is really easy and fast! All you need to do is to follow our guidelines above to make sure your posture, facial expression, clothing and illumination meet the requirements. Here’s a few more things to remember before taking a picture:

Take a picture with a digital camera in high resolution

Remember that the quality of your photo is important. You can take a picture with your smartphone or your tablet, just make sure that the device you’re using takes pictures in high resolution - you don’t want your picture to be out of focus or blurry.

Make sure the lighting is correct

Before taking the picture it is essential that you check if the lighting is good enough. Your face should be illuminated equally, there shouldn’t be any reflections. It is recommended to face the source of light (for example, a window or a lamp) so that there wouldn’t be any shadows on one side of the face.

Do not use any filters or autocorrections

Using filters for biometric photos is forbidden. Color and tones should be natural, your face should not be retouched or photoshopped in any way. Just take a picture or choose one from your gallery without adding anything to it and it will work just fine!

Do not wear strong make-up

Natural make-up is not forbidden for Australian visa photos, but the face should be easily recognizable. Don’t forget that the most important thing is that the biometric photo should help others identify you, and it’s not easy to do when you have evening make-up on in the picture and you wouldn’t wear it on a daily basis. Keep your natural skin color and don’t go over the top.

Do not take selfies

The distance between the camera lens and your face should be at least 40 cm. The picture needs to be taken from a straight angle, so make sure that the camera stands still and straight. That is why selfies are not acceptable since it’s very difficult to hold your phone straight while taking them and the risk of authorities not accepting the photo is bigger. We recommend you to ask someone’s help or do it yourself using a tripod.

How to Take Australian Visa Photo Step By Step

Even if it might sound complicated at first, taking your Australian visa photo from home is way easier than you might have thought! You can follow these guidelines and learn how to make a perfect picture by yourself.

1. Download the photo editing app. If you are considering visiting Australia, keep in mind that you will need a visa and a photo for it. We recommend you to try out our online photo editor that will make your job easier. You can find the Passport Photo Online application on GooglePlay and AppStore.
2. Prepare to take the photo. First of all, you should remember that selfies are not appropriate for Australian visa photos, this is why you should use a tripod or other stable surface or simply ask someone’s help to take a picture of you. They don’t have to be professionals so there’s no need to worry about that. Another important thing is to read the requirements for an Australian visa photo and follow them carefully if you want your picture to be accepted straight away. Keep in mind that lighting is essential. We recommend you to take photos in an evenly lighted room, facing the source of light (preferably a natural one). Once you have found the perfect lighting, prepare your pose. Remember to follow the guidelines that you read: don’t tilt your head, don’t smile, look straight at the camera lens. We would suggest taking a few pictures so that later you can decide which one you prefer.
3. Upload your photo. After taking your photo the next step would be to upload it. Choose the one you like the most and upload it to Passport Photo Online. Our AI tools will check the photo to see if it fits the photo requirements for the document you apply for, in this case Australian visa, and your picture will be resized. The background will be replaced as well.

Take your photo for Australian visa online and get the results within a few seconds! Don’t waste your time and money while looking for a photo booth or a photostudio - with Passport Photo Online you can take a perfect picture yourself!

Passport Photo - 8 Most Common Mistakes

Even though we just led you through the process of taking a biometric picture on your own, it might be useful to know what are some mistakes that occur from time to time. Do you know that most often visa applications get rejected because the photo doesn’t meet the standards? Usually these mistakes are easy to fix if only you pay a little more attention to details and take your time reading the guidelines. These are the things you should try to avoid in order to have your photo accepted by Australian authorities.

1. Wrong background. Make sure that the background that you chose is plain and white, because that’s the only way your photo for a visa might be accepted. If you chose to take your picture in a photobooth or a professional photo studio this mistake might be less likely to happen, and yet you can’t be sure about it. However, when people try to take pictures by themselves, they sometimes opt for using the wrong photo editor or try to crop the background out themselves, which in some cases might lead to possible photo rejection. With our app this problem will not occur - our photo editing tool will change the background in a professional way and you won’t even have to worry about the picture not being accepted by authorities.
2. Wrong facial expression. This is something that you need to be extremely careful about. The smile in Australian visa photos is forbidden, so are the other facial expressions that don’t look natural: you cannot frown, yawn, squint your eyes or show your teeth. Just relax and be in a natural position, don’t exaggerate because you don’t want to look unnatural in your biometric photos. It happens that people submit their pictures without making sure that they have a mouth closed or eyes wide open. If the photo that you took is somewhat unnatural, you need to retake it and be aware of your facial expressions. Even if you smile in every photo that is taken of you - this one has to be different. Trust us, you will still look good even without your broad smile.
3. A picture older than 6 months. How will they know, you may ask? Of course they might not be able to tell if the picture is 5,6 or 7 months old, so what’s the difference then? The main point with this restriction is that the picture has to mirror your current appearance. This means if you have drastically changed your hairstyle, got a new tattoo in your face area or have a cosmetic surgery done, then it’s better to take a new picture instead of using the old one, even if 6 months haven't passed. Why? Because the biometric photo is used for identification purposes, this means it has to reflect the way you look now. Some people think their old photograph will do just fine, when in reality it might cause them some serious problems if their current appearance doesn’t match the picture. This is why 6 months is a suggested period of time, but you always need to take into consideration if you have gone through some serious physical changes in the last few months. If you have an older photo that raises doubts, it is better not to risk it but take a new photograph instead. This way you can be sure that you and the person in your visa picture will look very much alike!
4. Photo size. Photo dimensions have to be taken into account and taken very seriously since this is one of the essential criterias of biometric photos. Make sure to read all the official requirements so that you know that your photo is going to be accepted. The Australian visa photo is required to be 35 mm wide and 45 mm high, there can’t be any special corners or frames.
5. Wrong posture or head position. It is extremely important to pay attention to these details. Even when you think you are sitting straight, you might not notice that your shoulders are not on the same line or that your head is tilted a bit. This is why it is essential to check your posture after taking the picture to make sure that your posture is acceptable. You think you look better from your profile? Well, we guarantee that you look great looking straight into the camera too, because this is one of the most important guidelines - you have to face the camera directly, not from one side. Biometric photos are all taken the same way and have similar requirements, so make sure you follow them, otherwise your photo for Australian visa might not be approved.
6. Bad lighting. For every photograph it’s essential to have good lighting, but it especially matters in biometric photos. This is the reason in photo studios you have that many lamps and other equipment. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t take a good quality picture with great lighting from your home. And no, you don’t have to buy a special lamp for this - in fact, it is even better if you use natural daylight. Face the window and put your camera on a tripod or hand it to someone to take a picture of you, and then check the lighting - if your face is seen clearly, there are no shadows and both sides of your face are lit evenly, you made it! But don’t worry, if you have doubts about being able to tell whether the lighting is perfect or not, leave this to us! We will take care of it: our artificial intelligence will tell if there are some mistakes that can be fixed with another take or if your picture looks great and is going to be accepted by Australian authorities.
7. Photoshopped picture. Yes, we all want a perfect picture for our documents, but some people go a little too far and try to make themselves look better by using different filters or photoshopping themselves. This is strictly forbidden, since the photograph for official documents has to reflect your image: with your natural hair color, natural skin tone and all your wrinkles, scars and imperfections. Trust us, you will look just fine without any additional beauty filters and corrections. The other reason why the photo gets rejected is because people try to crop the background themselves and use other editing programs that don’t provide the right service. In this case you don’t have to repeat the same mistake: trust our photo tool editor that will do all the job for you in a professional way and you won’t have to worry about your photo being rejected by authorities. We won’t do any unnecessary corrections - only the cropping of the background and resizing the picture - and the rest will be as you left it!
8. Bad quality picture. This is one of the main factors that need to be considered while taking your photo for Australian visa at home. Authorities will only approve your image if it is in a good quality, so please make sure that the camera you are using is in high resolution. You can take your picture with your iphone, as well as tablet or digital camera, the most important thing is that the picture is focused well and isn’t blurry. Your face has to be seen clearly so that there wouldn’t be any problems when you need to be identified.

When you follow these instructions, everything seems much easier and taking a biometric picture at home won’t cause you any difficulties!

Why should I choose an online photo editor instead of a photo booth?

The question is, why shouldn’t you? Living in the 21st century, more and more things are being done digitally, which makes the situation easier and more time-consuming. Taking your biometric photos online not only will you save up time and money, but will also feel less stress. You can retake as many photos as you want until you find the right one - that’s not how it goes in professional photo studios, where you only have a very limited number of tries. Take your picture in a friendly environment, whenever you like and however you like! Follow our guidelines for taking a picture from home and then upload it to our app or website and we will take care of the rest. Don’t underestimate yourself - you can take a perfect photo for your Australian visa yourself. Just give it a try and you’ll see it yourself!

Photo requirements are based on: www.passports.gov.au
Last update: 30/3/23