China visa — photo requirements

The Chinese visa photo is a 33 x 48 mm portrait - 390 x 567 pixels at 300 DPI for

print - but the COVA online application system only accepts digital photos between

354-420 pixels wide and 472-560 pixels high, with a file size of roughly 40-120 KB.

This tool therefore exports 385 x 560 pixels, capped at 120 KB: the same 33:48 ratio,

inside the online system's limits, and still printable at 33 x 48 mm. The head, from

crown to chin, must be 28-33 mm, i.e. 58-69 percent of the frame height. The

background must be pure white with no shadows. Glasses are allowed only if the frames

do not cover the eyes and there is no glare; reflections across the pupils are treated

as retake requests, so remove glasses unless medically required. Chinese visa centers

are strict about even white backgrounds - a slight grey gradient across the sheet is

enough to fail at counter check. Take the photo front-on with both ears' outlines

visible or with hair neatly showing the head contour, and keep the top of the head

4-6 mm below the frame edge. Do not wear white clothing against the white background;

a mid-tone collar separates the face from the background. Print copies should be on

glossy photo paper, not office paper. The 33 x 48 mm size is unique to China; a US

2 x 2 inch crop is visibly wrong even to the naked eye.