China Visa Photo — 33 × 48 mm

About the China Visa Photo — 33 × 48 mm

Chinese visa photographs are 33 by 48 millimetres — a size used almost nowhere else, and one that catches people who assume the European 35 × 45 will do. It will not. The face runs 28 to 33 millimetres, and the frame has to hold the whole head with the shoulders beginning beneath it.

The background must be white. Not off-white, not light grey: the instruction says white, and the visa centres apply it literally. This is the single most common reason a Chinese visa photograph is handed back at the counter, and it is the reason the background replacement on this page defaults to white rather than to whatever the wall was.

There is a second requirement that has no equivalent elsewhere. The photograph must show the full face with the ears visible and nothing covering the hairline, and hair must not fall across the eyes or eyebrows. Fringes are a frequent problem.

For applications made inside China — residence permits, for instance — a photograph taken at an approved studio comes with a receipt carrying a reference number, and the number rather than the print is what the system wants. That process cannot be replicated at home, so use a studio for those. This page is for the visa application made from outside the country, where you supply the image yourself.

Glasses are discouraged and reflective lenses are refused. Uniforms are not permitted. Expression is neutral.

Requirements are published by the Chinese visa application service centre covering your country; check that page, as centres differ in the details they enforce.

How to use it

1. 1Add a photograph showing your whole head and the tops of your shoulders, with your ears visible and hair off your face.
2. 2Keep China selected so the unusual 33 × 48 millimetre frame is used rather than a European size.
3. 3Leave the background on the required colour, which is plain white — the centres apply this one literally.
4. 4Check the guide file for head size: 28 to 33 mm in a 48 mm frame is a smaller head than most standards want.
5. 5Download the single image for an online application, or a sheet if the centre near you asks for prints.

Questions

Will a 35 × 45 photograph be accepted?

No. Thirty-three by forty-eight is both narrower and taller, so a European photograph is the wrong shape as well as the wrong size. Visa centres measure, and this is a routine rejection.

Does off-white count as white?

Treat it as though it does not. Other countries tolerate a warm or slightly grey neutral; the Chinese requirement says white and the centres enforce it as written. Replacing the background here removes the question entirely.

What about the photo receipt number I have read about?

That applies to applications made within China, where an approved studio issues a numbered receipt and the system retrieves the image from it. It does not apply to a visa applied for from abroad, which is what this page covers.

Can I keep my fringe?

Only if it stays clear of your eyebrows and eyes. Hair falling across the forehead is explicitly a problem because it obscures the hairline the photograph is meant to show. Pin it back for the thirty seconds it takes.