Visa photograph requirements for Pakistani applicants
A photograph is the cheapest document in the file and one of the more common reasons a file is handed back at the counter. The specification is precise and studios in Pakistan frequently get it wrong because they are working from an older standard.
Last updated 19 August 2026
Quick facts
- Size
- 35 x 45 mm
- Background
- Plain white
- Age
- Taken within 6 months
- Expression
- Neutral, mouth closed
The specification
- 35mm wide by 45mm high
- Plain white background, evenly lit, no shadow behind the head
- Face occupying roughly 70 to 80 percent of the frame, measured from chin to crown
- Neutral expression, mouth closed, eyes open and clearly visible
- No glasses. This has changed and many studios have not caught up
- Head uncovered unless worn for religious reasons, and then the full face from chin to forehead must be visible
- Printed on photo-quality paper, unmarked, uncut
What gets rejected
Smiling. Shadows on the background. Glasses. A photograph taken more than six months ago, which is checked against how you look when you arrive for biometrics. Prints cut to the wrong size by the studio. Photographs stapled or paper-clipped, which damages them.
Practical advice
Tell the studio which country and which specification before they take the picture, and ask for the digital file as well as the prints. If a print is rejected you can have new ones made in an hour rather than re-sitting.
Bring the prints in an envelope. Loose photographs in a folder get creased, and a creased photograph is a rejected photograph.
Questions
How many do I need?
Can I use a phone photo against a white wall?
My hijab covers part of my forehead. Is that a problem?
Want us to prepare the file?
Flat service fee, government charges at face value, and a case officer reads every page before you submit.
Start my application