Australian Visa Photo

Australia is the sixth-largest country in the world, after Russia, Canada, the US, China and Brazil. Known as a home to many animal species, like kangaroos, koalas, wombats and dingos. If you dream to see one of them or beautiful Australian beaches and cities such as Sydney or Melbourne, you might need a visa.

According to the Henley Passport Index, Australian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 183 countries and territories, ranking the Australian passport 9th in terms of travel freedom. Read on to find out which visa do you need and how to take the right Australian visa photograph!

Australian visa photo requirements

The visa photo is one of the most important documents regarding visa applications. To be identified, you need a photo document or ID to be able to travel too. However, no matter what your purpose is for travel, all types of Australian visas (tourist visa, business visa, student visa etc.) are the same.

After reading this guide, you will know how to take an Australian visa photo and what are the general requirements regarding both visa pictures and the Australian visa application.

Size dimensions of Australian visa photo

The Australian visa photo size is 35 mm to 40 mm in width and 45 mm to 50 mm in length. The size of the face from chin to crown can be up to a maximum of 36mm, with a minimum of 32mm. In the case of a digital Australian visa photo dimensions and size in pixels is not specified.

To be sure that your picture has the right size, you can measure it and crop it with the PhotoAiD site or app which is very easy to use. It verifies at the end if the final photograph met all the Australian official visa requirements.

General specifications regarding Australian visa photo:

• Submit two identical photographs in colour, printed on good quality paper.
• Photo must be taken less than six months ago, produced using dye-sublimation, not from an inkjet printer.
• The picture has to be a clear, focused image with no marks or 'red eye'.
• The background has to be a plain white or light grey background that contrasts with your face. If you can’t arrange the background, use a PhotoAiD background remover which will change the colour to the right one and make it uniform.
• Face centred and looking at the camera straight on.
• The Head of the applicant cannot be tilted in any direction and has to be positioned straight.
• Hair should be taken off the face that the facial features are fully visible.
• Eyes open, mouth closed.
• Neutral expression (not smiling, laughing or frowning).
• Retouching or beautifying in any way (removing moles, wrinkles, scars or tattoos) is forbidden.
• Uniform lighting (no shadows or reflections) with appropriate brightness and contrast to show natural skin tone.

Head covering

If you usually cover your head for religious reasons, you can have the headwear in your Australian visa photo. However, religious head coverings have to be plain-coloured, not be patterned and be worn in a way that shows your face from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead. The edges of your face on either side also have to be visible.

Eyeglasses

If you have to wear glasses for medical reasons, the frames can’t obscure your eyes and there cannot be any reflection from the lenses. Consider taking photos without a flash lamp to avoid the red-eye effect and glares from the glasses. Sometimes, you will have to show a medical certificate that says why you can’t remove your glasses, is signed by a registered medical practitioner and includes the medical practitioner’s full name, registration number and the address and phone number of the medical practice.

Jewellery

Any accessories such as jewellery can’t obscure any part of your face, especially the area around the eyes, mouth and nose. Any reflections from rings or studs will cause photo rejection.

Australian Visa Photo for babies and young children

Children like their parents, also need to have a visa with the right picture. No matter how old, even newborns need travel documents to be able to change countries or continents. It means you have to apply for your baby’s visa or passport separately and submit at least one, right photograph. However, the rules for Australian visa photos for children are a little different than for adults. 

The main rule is that the child must be photographed alone (this concerns adults and infants). This means that no other people can appear in the background or close to the child. If a newborn is photographed, you might consider putting them on the white sheet to avoid your hands appearing in the photo. They cannot hold any items, like toys, pacifiers, etc.

The difference between adults’ photos and infants’ regards the mouth - they have to be closed for parents and can remain open for children, but for both, eyes have to be open and clearly visible. 

Other rules are the same for both regarding the head position, red eyes and lighting or retouching, etc. If you want to change something anyway, like the background colour or size of the photo, we recommend using the PhotoAiD tool which gives you a 100% of warranty that the photo will be accepted by any of the Australian institutions you will send that to.

Intelligent Australian Visa Photo Tool

If you decided to use our Australian visa Photo Tool, you have to know how exactly it works! Go to our Photo AiD service or download a Visa Photo Mobile App available in the AppStore or GooglePlay store. If you decide on an app, it works perfectly for any devices so you can download it for an iPhone or a phone with Android.

The next step is to find a photographer: ask your friend to take a picture of you or become a photographer yourself! Put a tripod approximately 3 metres from you and set it up for a self-timer. Then, upload the picture to our photo editor which will resize it to the Australian visa photo dimensions and edit by changing the background colour or removing any patterns.

The last thing is verifying your picture. It checks the requirements regarded for your country and approves only the right photos. It gives you a 100% guarantee of correction. Afterwards, you can order your ready picture in a digital version via email and print it by yourself or we can print it for you and deliver it to your physical address.

Last update: 29/6/22