Make Iran Visa Photo

Iran's e-visa portal gives the requirement in pixels: at least 400 wide by 600 tall, with about 70 to 80 per cent of the photo filled by the applicant's face. No millimetre size appears, because the submission is a file rather than a print.

Both figures are minimums, so a larger image is fine as long as it stays under the file ceiling. What matters is the proportion the face occupies.

The background must be plain white or off-white, and the photo must be in colour and in JPEG format — .jpg or .jpeg.

The file must be equal to or less than 500 kB, and Iran adds that less than 10 kB is not accepted. Most authorities set only a ceiling; a floor exists to stop files so heavily compressed that the face is no longer verifiable.

New Zealand does the same thing at a much larger scale — its NZeTA photo must be at least 512 kB. If you have been squeezing photos to satisfy a strict limit somewhere else, check the result is not now too small.

Iran also refuses scans: photos digitally scanned from driving licences or other official documents are not acceptable, and neither are snapshots, magazine photos, low-quality vending machine or mobile phone photos, or full-length photographs.

Eyeglasses are not allowed in Iranian visa photos except in rare circumstances where they cannot be removed for medical reasons — for example after recent ocular surgery — and then a medical statement signed by a medical professional must be provided.

Uniforms should not be worn, with an explicit exception for religious clothing worn daily. Head coverings must not obscure the hair or hairline unless worn daily for a religious purpose, your full face must be visible, and the covering must cast no shadow on your face.

Headphones, wireless hands-free devices and similar items are named as unacceptable, which is a rule almost nobody else writes down.

For infants and toddlers, no other person may appear in the photo, and the child should be looking at the camera with their eyes open.

The suggested method is to lay the baby on their back on a plain white or off-white sheet, which supports the head and supplies the background at the same time. Alternatively, cover a car seat with the same sheet and photograph the child in it.

Watch for shadows on the face, particularly when shooting from above with the baby lying down.