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India passport — 51×51 mm (2×2 in) photo maker

51×51 mm at 300 dpi, head 60–70% of the frame, plain white behind you. Guides and a print sheet, on your device.

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51×51 mm · 602×602 px · 300 dpi

Filestay is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to any government or visa authority, including the U.S. Department of State. We make the file match the published technical requirements — acceptance is always the issuing authority's decision.

The official requirement

Photo size
51×51 mm
Pixels
602 × 602
Resolution
300 dpi
Head height
60–70% of image height
Background
Plain white

Also required

  • Square format
  • Face covers 60–70% of the frame
  • Matte or glossy print accepted

Source: Passport Seva — photo specification. Requirements change — check the source before you submit.

A 51 mm square is two inches in metric — 50.8 mm, rounded up. Inside it the head — the face, as the requirement phrases it — fills 60 to 70 per cent of the height. Print finish is left open: matte or glossy are both accepted.

How much of the frame the head has to fill

A 51 mm square puts chin to crown between 30.6 and 35.7 mm, which at 300 dpi is 361 to 421 pixels inside a 602-pixel file. Fifteen to 20 mm of height is left over, and a square reads differently from a tall frame: the gap beside each shoulder is as noticeable as the one above your head. Under the band the picture looks empty at the edges.

What gets this one sent back

  • A photo meeting the US 2×2 at 50 per cent head sits ten points below India's 60 per cent minimum, despite the near-identical square.
  • Plain white, with no off-white latitude. An interior wall lit by a warm bulb drifts towards cream and out of specification.
  • Trimming a tall photo down to a square raises the head's share of the height rather than lowering it: a tight crop gets tighter.

Half a metre clear of the wall so your shadow falls behind you, camera at about 1.5 metres so the lens does not widen your nose, soft light from the front. Take several.

Getting the print right

51×51 mm is a physical instruction; 602×602 pixels is what it becomes at 300 dpi. The head band follows the same conversion — 60–70% of 51 mm is 30.6–35.7 mm, or 361–421 pixels in the exported file.

No digital ceiling is published for this one, which means the print is the binding version and the file only has to survive being printed. Use the sheet rather than sending a single image to a shop — several copies at true size on one page costs the same and covers the spare everyone ends up needing.

Print at 100%, not "fit to page" — the default shrink is invisible to you and measurable to whoever checks it.

How it works

  1. 01Add a recent photoFacing the camera, plain wall behind. HEIC from an iPhone works directly.
  2. 02Frame it to 51×51 mmDrag and zoom until your head fills 60–70% of the frame height, matching the dashed guide.
  3. 03Check the warningsThe border area is measured against "plain white" and flagged if it is uneven.
  4. 04Download or printSave the 602×602 JPG, or take a print sheet with several copies laid out at true size.

Questions people actually ask

Is 51×51 mm the same as 2×2 inches?
Near enough that the two get used interchangeably. Two inches is 50.8 mm, so 51 mm is 0.2 mm larger, a difference no ruler at a counter will register, and at 300 dpi the Indian square comes to 602 pixels against the American 600. What does not transfer is the framing: the US band opens at 50 per cent head height and India's at 60.
Should I choose a matte or a glossy print?
Both are accepted, so the decision is practical rather than regulatory. Glossy holds slightly more apparent contrast and looks crisper at this size, but it reflects overhead lighting and takes fingerprints if the print is handled or scanned across a counter. Matte scans and photocopies more predictably, and it accepts a stamp or a pen without the ink beading on the surface.
What size does a India photo have to be?
51×51 mm, which is 602×602 pixels at 300 dpi. The head, measured from the bottom of the chin to the top of the hair, must fill 60–70% of the photo height.
What background colour is required?
Plain white. The border area is measured and flagged if it is uneven. The background is never replaced digitally — a cut-out edge is visible and gets photos rejected.
Is my India photo uploaded anywhere?
No — the crop and the JPEG encode both run in this browser tab. A biometric image of your face is not a file to hand to a web service.
How do I print 51×51 mm at the right size?
Use the print sheet — several copies laid out at true 51×51 mm with faint cut lines — and set the printer to 100% rather than "fit to page". At 300 dpi the file is 602×602 px, and a driver that shrinks by 3% turns 51 mm into something a ruler catches.

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