The passport and visa photograph requirements and specifications for Singapore are both same. The Singaporean government is comfortable with both of the documents’ similar rules and requirements. Unless there are any variations in the photograph complying with the stated official photo requirements, the applicant’s photograph is assured to be accepted.
1.The applicant’s photo must be recently taken within the last 3 months of time in a passport sized dimensions of 35mm (3.5cm) width x 45mm height (4.5cm). There should not be any borders, frames or such boundaries around the photo.
2. The photo must be in color and it should have a close up face of the applicant such that it takes up 70% to 80% of the photographic paper size. The head size is 2.5cms to 3.5cms i.e. from top crown of applicant’s head to the bottom chin; the size of the applicant’s face must measure 25mms to 35mms and should be aligned in the center of the photo.
3. The photo must be taken against a white background in a matte or semi matte glossy photographic paper with no creases, stains, sheen, ink marks, or reflective properties. The color of the clothing worn by the applicant in the photo must not match the background obscuring the appearance. Attires, uniforms, hats or special clothing of the military departments, governmental agencies, security authorities or such depicting the personnel and employees standards are not allowed to be worn by the applicant in their photographs due to security concerns.
4. The full facial features of the applicant must be clearly visible without the headgear, headwear, masks or hats unless they are worn for religious or cultural purposes. In case the headwear matches the photo background obscuring the color then the background should be in a shade of light grey dark enough to distinguish your head and hair.
5. For those normally wearing spectacles in a daily routine, it is allowed to wear it in the photograph too but the eyeglasses must not have any reflections. Sunglasses, tinted glasses are not accepted. The eyes of the person to be photographed must be clearly visible. The glare on the spectacles can be avoided by slight tilting of head to upward or downward directions. The frames of eyeglasses must be checked to ensure that they don’t cover up any part of the eyes.
6. The applicant’s face must be facing the camera directly and the camera level must be straight to the eye level of the applicant’s face. The applicant must not be looking downwards, upwards or the head structure must not be tilted sideways in the photo. Any photo that is found to be substandard by the official authorities will be rejected.
7. The applicant’s face must be in showing a natural, neutral and relaxed facial expression or mood in the photo with their mouths closed and eyes wide open. The photo must show the true skin tone of the applicant in natural state.
8. The facial image must be clearly evident and not too big whereas the applicant’s top shoulders must be clearly visible. The applicant’s hair must not be cropped off or altered to any design. Both edge of the applicant’s face with ears must be seen. Hair and wears should not cover the applicant’s eyes or ears and discern the identity well.
9. Neck, Chin, nose, eyebrows, both ears, and eyes must not be covered by anything and the forehead must be seen to that extent such that the shape of the applicant’s face is apparently evident from some distance away.
10. Only the person to be photographed who is the applicant of the Singaporean passport application is required to be photographed and any second person, chairs, sofa or object must not be seen. The face orientation of the applicant must be frontward and portrait.
11. As each one of the qualified applicant is provided with a separate passport or visa, group application are not allowed and hence group photos are also not accepted. Individual photograph of a person applying is required in all cases.
12. The total exposure of light to the passport photograph must appear evenly distributed and the blurriness or graininess within the photograph is totally not acceptable. Shadows, red eyes and uneven bright spots in the photo are not allowed. Flash reflections, out of focus and air-brushed photos are not allowed.
13. Uniform lighting is a must property in the applicant’s passport photographs. Photos without proper contrast and color are regarded as poorly taken photos and hence rejected. So proper brightness and rich contrast adjustment must display the applicant’s face and background properly.
14. The photograph attachment file with the online application form submission must adhere to these requirements. The photo must be in JPEG file format i.e. *jpeg extension. File size cannot be bigger than 150 Kilobytes. Dimensions of the photo image have to be 400 x 515 pixels. Discernible pixels or patterns in the photo are to be avoided.
15. Any kind of digital alteration, Photoshop effects, image manipulation, enhancement, spots removal or such changes made to the original passport photo of the applicant is not acceptable.
16. The photographs that are cropped off and printed or that appear to be taken as a Selfie are not acceptable at all. Scanned photos from another source photograph and printed or color photocopies are not allowed and hence not regarded as original photo. The authorities regard the live photograph taken from digital camera and printed as the original photo source. The passport photo with the date printed on it as a reminder or staple marks, are not allowed too.
17. For infants and babies under the age of 3 years who are unable to support themselves, parents or guardians can lay down them under the plain white sheet and take photographs with the babies face looking directly at the camera. While doing so, hands or supporting objects or toys like things are not allowed to be seen in the photo.
If the passport photo submitted to the application doesn’t meet the required specifications mentioned by the Singaporean government then the application gets delayed for further processing ahead. ICA provides you with the notification letter regarding your rejection of photograph through letters as soon as possible. So, you can re-submit a new photograph using the photo re-submission slip enclosed within the notification letter. After the receipt of your submitted passport photo and acceptance, the official Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) will notify by post to collect your completed passport/ visa.
