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China: the photo comes with a 照片回执
The exit-entry administration hall photographs applicants during the visit, free of charge. A photograph of your own is also accepted — but only together with a 照片回执, a receipt code issued by an approved studio, which no file made at home can carry.
Checked 7 August 2026 · 国家移民管理局
The receipt is the point of the rule. It is not a certificate that the photograph is the right size; it is a record that an accredited studio took it, tied to a number the system can look up. That is why a file exported from any tool, this one included, cannot satisfy it however correct its dimensions are.
So there are two honest routes. Be photographed at the hall, which costs nothing and is the simplest thing to do. Or go to an approved studio, which charges a small fee and gives you the code with the print.
Local practice varies more than the national rule suggests. Some provinces ask for a blue background rather than white for particular exit-entry documents, and Guangdong is the one people run into most often. Check what the hall you are actually attending asks for before paying a studio.
A Chinese visa, applied for by a foreign national, is a different matter entirely: it is filed through COVA, it takes an uploaded file, and no receipt code is involved.
Chinese passport: be photographed at the hall, or use a studio that issues the 照片回执. Chinese visa, as a foreigner: upload a file, and the size is on the document page.
The documents this concerns
- Chinese passport photo White background, 33×48 mm, face 28–33 mm.
- China visa photo White or close to white, no border. Uploaded at 354 × 472 to 420 × 560 px, JPEG 40–120 KB. The printed copy attached to the form is 33 × 48 mm with a 28–33 mm head — a different shape, not a resize of this file.
- Check an existing photo Already have a file? Drop it here and see which requirements it meets. Nothing is uploaded — the checks run in your browser.
This is an independent site, not a government body. Requirements change, so check them against the official source before you apply. We promise a photo that matches the published specification. We never promise that an application will be approved.