Australia Photo Requirements
Australia states its citizenship photo requirement differently depending on how you apply. An online application asks for a JPEG between 70 KB and 3.5 MB; a paper application specifies millimeters instead and no file size at all. Home Affairs also requires the photo to be completely unedited, which rules out most of what an image tool does.
Australia does not allow an edited photo
Australia names the edits it will not accept: "be unedited (do not remove background, moles, wrinkles, scars or red eyes)". Home Affairs also advises against online passport photo services and mobile apps, on both image-quality and identity-fraud grounds, and will not accept a scan or a photograph of a photo. Background removal is the first edit on that list, so do not use a background remover on an Australian citizenship photo — if your background is wrong, have the photo retaken against a neutral or light gray one. Home Affairs recommends an Australia Post outlet, or a comparable provider if you are applying from outside Australia.
Requirements by application
These are different requirements, not variations of one. Find the form you are applying with.
Citizenship — online application
Check a photo against this- Dimensions
- 1200 × 1600 px preferred
- File size
- 70 KB – 3.5 MB
- Aspect / orientation
- Portrait
- Format
- Digital JPEG
This one has a minimum. A file under 70 KB is rejected for being too small, so compressing as hard as possible fails the check.
“the photo should be in digital JPEG format between 70 Kb and 3.5 Mb”
The wording is "should be" rather than "must be", so the 70 KB floor is softer than the UK's hard rejection — but a file under it is out of spec either way. 1200 × 1600 is described as the preferred resolution rather than a strict requirement. Worth knowing where this band comes from: it is not a citizenship-specific rule. The general ImmiAccount attachment guidance states the same 70 KB – 3.5 MB range for any digital photograph, with a separate 5 MB allowance for other documents — so the two Australian figures floating around online are not in conflict, they simply apply to different attachment types.
Citizenship — paper application
- Dimensions
- 35–40 mm wide, 45–50 mm high
- File size
- Not specified
- Aspect / orientation
- Portrait
- Format
- Printed photograph
“The size of the face from chin to crown can be up to a maximum of 36 mm, with a minimum of 32 mm”
A print specification with no digital figure at all, so there is nothing here for a resizing tool to target. The chin-to-crown range is the binding constraint and it is a framing decision made when the photo is taken.
Where these figures come from
Read from the Australian Department of Home Affairs photo requirements for citizenship applications. Background must be neutral or light gray and contrast with your face; the photo must be no more than 6 months old. The 70 KB – 3.5 MB band is not unique to citizenship — the general ImmiAccount attachment guidance states the same range for digital photographs, with a separate 5 MB ceiling for other documents.
For infants under 3 years of age, a photo with an open mouth is acceptable, and no other person or object may be visible — a parent in frame or a visible toy is grounds for rejection. Religious head coverings are permitted provided the whole face from chin to forehead and both outer eye corners stay visible, and the covering must be plain material without patterns. Glasses must be removed; Home Affairs says vision impairment alone is not an acceptable reason to keep them on.
All 2 of these Australia specifications were read on 2026-08-08, and Australia can revise any of them without announcing the change.
Check your own form before you submit
Every figure here was read from an official government page on the date shown. Governments and exam boards revise Australia photo specifications without announcing the change, and many publish a different specification for each form — so the page for your application is the only authority that counts. Open it, check the numbers there, and if they differ from ours, use theirs: you can type any dimensions and any file size into our tool by hand, so you are never limited to the presets.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many photo requirements does Australia have?
2. Australia sets a separate requirement per application and they differ from each other: Citizenship, online application; Citizenship, paper application. So there is no single "Australia photo size" to look up. Citizenship, online application wants 1200 × 1600 px preferred, while Citizenship, paper application wants 35–40 mm wide, 45–50 mm high — submit one where the other is asked for and it comes back rejected, so find your form in the table below before you resize anything.
Australia photo size for Citizenship: online application?
1200 × 1600 px preferred, portrait. File size: 70 KB – 3.5 MB. Format: Digital JPEG. The wording is "should be" rather than "must be", so the 70 KB floor is softer than the UK's hard rejection — but a file under it is out of spec either way. 1200 × 1600 is described as the preferred resolution rather than a strict requirement. Worth knowing where this band comes from: it is not a citizenship-specific rule. The general ImmiAccount attachment guidance states the same 70 KB – 3.5 MB range for any digital photograph, with a separate 5 MB allowance for other documents — so the two Australian figures floating around online are not in conflict, they simply apply to different attachment types.
Australia photo size for Citizenship: paper application?
35–40 mm wide, 45–50 mm high, portrait. No digital file size is published for this one — it is a print specification. Format: Printed photograph. A print specification with no digital figure at all, so there is nothing here for a resizing tool to target. The chin-to-crown range is the binding constraint and it is a framing decision made when the photo is taken.
Can I edit or compress a Australia application photo?
Australia names the edits it will not accept: "be unedited (do not remove background, moles, wrinkles, scars or red eyes)". Home Affairs also advises against online passport photo services and mobile apps, on both image-quality and identity-fraud grounds, and will not accept a scan or a photograph of a photo. Background removal is the first edit on that list, so do not use a background remover on an Australian citizenship photo — if your background is wrong, have the photo retaken against a neutral or light gray one. Home Affairs recommends an Australia Post outlet, or a comparable provider if you are applying from outside Australia.
Other countries
Looking for a size chart across every country instead? See the passport photo comparison.
More Tools
Last updated: