Reviewed against current Chinese visa-centre and mission guidance on 1 September 2026
Use a recent 3:4 portrait JPEG with a plain white or near-white background. The separate printed-photo size is 33 x 48 mm. Your responsible Chinese mission, visa centre, or active COVA form can impose a stricter route-specific instruction.
Requirements-only guidance with a read-only technical check. The photo stays on your device and is never changed.
Free technical file check
We inspect the original photo type, dimensions, ratio, and byte size locally. It is not uploaded, cropped, compressed, retouched, background-replaced, or stored.
Official range: 354-420 x 472-560 px, 3:4 JPEG, 40-120 KB
Digital size
354-420 x 472-560 px
3:4 portrait, within both bounds.
Digital file
JPEG, 40-120 KB
24-bit RGB true colour is also specified.
Printed size
33 x 48 mm
Bring a print only when your route asks for it.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs routes applicants through the China Online Visa Application system and, depending on location, an authorized Visa Application Service Center. PassPhoto does not submit an application, collect this checker's photo, or replace instructions shown inside your active form.
Open the official COVA portalCurrent general standard
These values are published across Chinese mission and Visa Application Service Center instructions. Use the stricter value shown by your active filing route.
Digital dimensions
Width and height must both stay inside the published 3:4 portrait range.
Digital file
The published standard also specifies 24-bit RGB true colour.
Printed photo
Print quantity and whether a print is needed depend on the responsible mission or centre.
Background
It must be plain, shadow-free, and have no border around the image.
Recency
Use a recent colour image that clearly represents the applicant.
Pose
Eyes open, mouth closed, ears visible, and the full face centred.
The current general specification permits 354 x 472 through 420 x 560 pixels. However, a Manchester Visa Application Service Center FAQ says the upload cannot exceed 354 x 472, and the COVA crop tool uses a 354 x 472 area. Exact 354 x 472 is therefore the common point across those instructions. Follow the stricter value when your responsible centre or active form displays it.
Digital portrait
Printed-photo geometry
Image integrity
Current guidance requires natural skin tone, no facial distortion, no shadows, no border, and a clear current likeness. The reviewed route set does not establish safe background replacement across COVA, visa-centre, and mission routes. PassPhoto keeps China requirements-only and does not upload, crop, compress, retouch, replace the background, store, or submit China visa photos.
Public China visa-photo makers commonly advertise automatic background replacement, exact 33 x 48 mm files, fixed 354 x 472 pixel downloads, 300 DPI conversions, ready-to-submit outputs, and acceptance-style guarantees. The official material reviewed here separates online COVA upload limits from printed-photo geometry and route-specific centre instructions, so this page stays requirements-only instead of promising a universal edited output.
Straight answers
Current Chinese Visa Application Service Center material publishes a digital range from 354 x 472 pixels to 420 x 560 pixels. Width and height must remain in a 3:4 portrait ratio, unless your active route shows the stricter 354 x 472 upload cap.
354 x 472 is the lower bound and the common COVA crop size, not the only size in the general photo standard. The published upper bound is 420 x 560. A local centre or the active application can show a stricter instruction, so follow that instruction when it appears.
A Manchester Visa Application Service Center FAQ uses that wording, while the Visa Application Service Center photo-specification PDF publishes 354 x 472 through 420 x 560. The exact 354 x 472 size satisfies both statements; use it when your route repeats the stricter limit.
The published digital-photo standard is JPEG from 40 KB to 120 KB and 24-bit RGB true colour. This checker verifies JPEG type and byte size but cannot prove the colour space.
The official printed size is 33 mm wide by 48 mm high. The head is 15-22 mm wide and 28-33 mm high, with 3-5 mm above the crown and at least 7 mm below the chin. Whether you must bring a print and how many copies are required varies by application route.
The current general standard says white or close to white, plain, without a border, and without shadows. Some mission instructions simply say white. Follow a stricter background instruction shown by your responsible mission or active application.
Clear glasses can be accepted only when the lenses are not tinted and there is no glare, shadow, or thick frame obscuring the eyes. Removing glasses avoids those failure points when they are not medically necessary.
PassPhoto keeps China requirements-only for the reviewed route set. The current official sources require a current likeness, natural skin tone, no distortion, no shadows, no border, and a white or near-white background, while the reviewed sources do not establish safe background replacement across COVA, visa-centre, and mission routes. Use an original, unedited photo and the local file checker.
No. It checks JPEG type, 354-420 x 472-560 pixel dimensions, 3:4 ratio, and 40-120 KB locally. It cannot verify RGB colour depth, recency, identity, face geometry, pose, expression, ears, glasses, lighting, background, shadows, border, print quality, or the decision of a Chinese mission or visa centre.
Sources and route caveat
Sources were reviewed on 1 September 2026. Chinese government, mission, and authorized visa-centre material controls this page. Recheck the filing route shown for your residence immediately before submitting.
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