Your photo was rejected. Why?
Upload forms refuse a file and then explain almost nothing. Here is what each refusal usually means, in the words the portals use — and a checker that measures your file and tells you which rule it actually breaks.
"Please select a 35x45 mm photo"
The proportions are wrong, not the millimetres — a portal cannot know how large you intend to print. It measured the ratio of your file and it was not 35:45. A photo cropped square, or to 3:4, fails this even at a huge resolution.
The upload fails with no message at all
Almost always the weight. Portals set a ceiling in kilobytes and many refuse silently when it is passed. A few also set a floor and refuse a file that is too small, which happens when a photo has been compressed hard to get under the ceiling.
"Face too large" or "face too small"
Head height is a share of the frame, and it is measured from the chin to the top of the head — including hair, which is what most people get wrong. Most countries want 70 to 80 per cent of the height; the United States wants 50 to 69, which is why an American photo looks so different.
"Background is not uniform"
A wall is rarely as plain as it looks: a shadow behind the head, a colour gradient across the frame, or a door frame in one corner. It is also possible to fail this by removing the background badly and leaving a halo around the hair.
"Photo appears edited"
Some authorities refuse any photo that has been through software, and a few of the documents on this site say so on their page. Where that rule exists, use the tool to check the framing and submit an unedited photograph.
It was accepted last year and refused now
Requirements change and portals change quietly. Recheck the size against the current specification rather than against the file that worked before — every page here states when it was last verified and against which source.
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.