Indian Passport Photo Rejected?

Common reasons: wrong background (must be white), incorrect dimensions (the Seva upload is 630x810 px, 53.3 x 68.6 mm), face not properly centered, shadows on face, photo older than 6 months, or glasses visible.

For the online Passport Seva portal: 630 x 810 pixels (53.3 x 68.6 mm), JPEG between 10 KB and 250 KB, plain white background. The head should fill 80-85% of the height, crown to chin. Taken within 6 months, neutral expression, no glasses. Note the 250 KB ceiling — a full-resolution phone photo is several megabytes and the portal will simply refuse it.

2 x 2 inches (51 x 51 mm), 600 x 600 pixels, under 200 KB, taken within the last 6 months, no glasses — and a plain light coloured background, NOT white. OCI is the one Indian document that refuses white; its published requirement is a plain light colored background, and the FAQ spells out that white is not accepted. The head should fill roughly 70-80% of the frame, measured crown to chin. That is the same square shape as a US passport photo but not the same framing — a US photo sits nearer 65%, so a photo cropped to US proportions puts the head slightly too small for OCI.

No, and this is the most common reason both come back. The Passport Seva upload is 630 x 810 pixels (53.3 x 68.6 mm) — a portrait rectangle, with the head filling 80-85% of it and the whole file under 250 KB. OCI is 600 x 600 pixels, square, head 70-80%. Cropping a square photo to fit the rectangle almost never lands the head in the right place, which is why the same face passes one and fails the other.

Upload to IDPicly, select 'India - Passport', and we'll format to 630x810 px with white background and correct face positioning. Download and re-upload to the Passport Seva portal.