Taiwan passport photo
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The requirements
| Print size | 35 x 45 mm |
|---|---|
| Digital size | 413 px |
| File size | 5 MB |
| File formats | JPEG |
| Head height, chin to crown | 32-36 mm A close crop of the head and the top of the shoulders so that the length from the crown to the chin is between 3.2 cm and 3.6 cm, which the bureau describes as the face taking up 70 to 80 per cent of the whole photo. The head must be centred left to right. |
| Background | Plain white background, evenly lit, with no shadow, no flash reflection on the face and no red eye |
| Glasses | Allowed, as long as the eyes are fully visible with no glare and no tint. |
| Expression | Neutral, mouth closed, both eyes open. |
| Head covering | Only for religious or medical reasons, and the face must be visible from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead. |
| Ears | Yes |
| Photo age | 6 months |
| Also required |
|
Taiwan writes its size the other way round, 4.5 cm high by 3.5 cm wide, and states it excludes any border. The bureau also publishes the same specification as a downloadable PDF dated August 2025 from the same page. Taiwan is one of the few authorities that gives a shooting distance (about 1.2 m, at least 1 m) and warns explicitly against phone selfies because a wide lens distorts the features and shrinks the ears. The bureau treats a mirrored photo as a rejection reason, since it breaks the automated border gates. The head range and the paper size match Japan and Korea exactly.
Applying in Taiwan
Taiwan publishes the most detailed shooting instructions of any authority on this site. The Bureau of Consular Affairs does not stop at the frame, 35 by 45 excluding any border, with the crown to chin length between 32 and 36. It also tells you where to put the camera: the lens level with the eyes, about 1.2 m from the face and never closer than 1 m, with no digital zoom, correct white balance and diffused symmetrical lighting. Very few authorities describe the setup at all, and this one describes it well enough to follow.
That distance rule exists because the bureau is explicit about what goes wrong without it. A phone held at arm's length is a wide lens close to the face, which enlarges the nose and shrinks the ears, and the bureau names that distortion as a reason a photograph is refused. It is also strict about the file itself: no digital retouching, no compositing, and the image may not be resampled or resized before printing. A camera of at least 3 megapixels set to its highest quality is the published minimum.
There are two ways in. Two paper prints, identical, taken within the last six months, or an upload through the bureau's own online form and appointment system for individual applicants, or the travel agency group upload system for agency-filed cases. An applicant who uploads a photograph does not have to hand in the two prints, except in the cases the bureau lists. The upload has its own file rules on top of the printed ones, and they are exact.
Why photos get rejected here
Wide angle distortion from a close camera
The bureau warns against the phone selfie by name: a short lens near the face broadens the nose and makes the ears look smaller than they are. Standing back to about 1.2 m and cropping in fixes it; a digital zoom does not, and the bureau bans that too.
A mirrored image
Taiwan treats a laterally flipped photograph as a rejection in its own right, because a mirrored face can stop the automated border gates recognising you. Phone front cameras save a mirrored frame by default on many handsets.
Hair across an eyebrow or an eye
The eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, the outline of the face and both ears must all be clear and uncovered, and hair is not allowed to cover any part of the eyebrows or eyes. A fringe that reads as tidy in a mirror often crosses an eyebrow in the print.
Coloured or circle contact lenses
They are refused because the face would differ too much from your real appearance. This is a separate rule from the one about spectacles, and it catches people who wear them every day and never think of them as an accessory.
A resized or resampled print
The image may not be resampled or resized before printing, and the print must be on high quality glossy photo paper with no blur or jagged edges. Enlarging a small file to fill the frame produces exactly the soft edges the bureau names.
A helper or an object in a child's frame
An infant photograph must show the applicant alone. No chair back, toy, pacifier, other person or supporting hand may appear, which rules out the usual way of steadying a small head.
What helps
Measure the distance rather than guessing it
About 1.2 m from the face, lens at eye height, is the bureau's own figure. A metre and a bit is further than most people stand, and it is the single change that improves a home passport photograph most.
Turn off the mirror in your camera app
Many phones save the selfie flipped. Check that a shirt logo or a parting reads the right way round before you use the file, because the bureau treats a mirrored image as a refusal rather than a cosmetic issue.
Take the coloured lenses out
Circle and coloured contact lenses are refused. If you wear them daily, allow time for your eyes to settle after removing them before you shoot.
Upload and skip the prints
An applicant who uploads through the online form and appointment system does not have to hand in the two paper photographs, apart from the cases the bureau lists. That is one fewer errand before the appointment.
Do not enlarge the file to fill the frame
Resampling before printing is banned outright. Shoot at the highest quality your camera offers and crop down, never up.
Light the face from both sides
The published wording asks for diffused symmetrical lighting with no shadow, no flash reflection and no red eye. Two windows, or a window and a white wall bouncing light back, is the domestic version of that.
Babies and young children
Taiwan applies the same measurements to an infant as to an adult, and adds one strict framing rule: the applicant must be alone in the image. No chair back, no toy, no pacifier, no other person and no helping hand may appear, which removes the usual method of holding a baby steady. The workable approach is to lay the child on a plain white surface and photograph from directly above, keeping the camera far enough away to respect the distance rule so the face is not foreshortened. The bureau publishes no relaxation of the neutral expression or the closed mouth for young children, so a settled child photographs better than a tired one.
Glasses
Spectacles may be worn, but the conditions are tighter than most. Tinted lenses are not allowed except for the visually impaired, the frames must not cover any part of the eyes, and the bureau advises avoiding thick frames for that reason. There must be no flash reflection on the lenses. Separately, and this catches more people, coloured contact lenses and circle lenses are not accepted at all, because the eyes in the photograph would differ too much from your real appearance. That contact lens rule is published alongside the spectacle rule rather than buried in a note, and it applies whether or not you consider the lenses cosmetic.
Head covering
A head covering worn for religious reasons is accepted, and the test is stated as an area rather than as a list of garments: the face must be clearly visible from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead, including both sides of the face. Everything else is bare headed, which is what the standard wording tuo mao, hat removed, means on the specification. No written declaration is mentioned. Because the same specification also requires both ears to be clear, a covering that sits over the ears needs adjusting even when the face itself is fully visible. The one published exception to the ear rule is for a person with microtia, whose ear outline may be covered by hair.
Applying online
Taiwan runs two upload routes: one for individuals filling in the online passport form and booking an appointment, and one for travel agencies filing group cases. An uploaded photograph replaces the two paper prints except in the cases the bureau lists, so most applicants who upload arrive at the counter with nothing to hand over. The uploaded image still has to satisfy every printed rule about pose, background and framing; the file rules are additional, not a substitute.
Questions about Taiwan photos
If I upload a photo online, do I still hand in the two prints?
Normally no. An applicant who uploads through the bureau's system is excused the two paper photographs, apart from the specific cases the bureau lists on the same page.
How far should the camera be from my face?
About 1.2 m, and never closer than 1 m, with the lens level with your eyes and no digital zoom. Taiwan is one of the few authorities that publishes a shooting distance at all.
My ear is covered by hair because of microtia. Will the photo be refused?
No. The specification requires both ears to be clear but names microtia as an exception, allowing the ear outline to be covered by hair.
What file does the online passport form accept?
A JPG or JPEG in RGB colour of at least 24 bits, no larger than 5 MB, and at least 531 pixels high by 413 pixels wide. Those pixel figures are minimums.
Can I enlarge the image before printing it?
No. Resampling or resizing between the camera and the print is not allowed, and the resulting soft or jagged edges are themselves a reason for refusal.
Which upload system does a travel agency use?
The group upload system for agency-filed cases, which is separate from the individual online form and appointment system. Uploading to the wrong one leaves the photograph attached to no application.
Where these numbers come from
Official sourceEvery measurement on this page comes from the issuing authority's own published requirements.
- Chip passport photo specification (jingpian huzhao zhaopian guige), updated 29 August 2025checked September 2, 2026
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