New Zealand Passport Photo: 3:4, 250 KB – 5 MB
New Zealand is the one passport photo rule on this site that constrains the file from above as well as below. Your photo has to be between 250 KB and 5 MB, and between 900–4500 pixels wide and 1200–6000 pixels high — so a 48-megapixel phone photo, which is 8000 × 6000 pixels, is out on the pixel rule and almost certainly over 5 MB as well. The floor is 250 KB, five times the UK minimum, which makes an over-compressed photo a real risk rather than a theoretical one. And the frame is defined as a 3:4 aspect ratio rather than a target pixel size, which is why so many straight-from-camera photos fail before file size even comes into it. Read the table before you touch anything.
New Zealand passport photo requirements (official)
| Aspect ratio | 3:4, portrait — the first rule New Zealand states, and the one most phone photos fail |
|---|---|
| File size | Between 250 KB and 5 MB — both ends are enforced |
| Pixel range | 900–4500 pixels wide and 1200–6000 pixels high — a maximum as well as a minimum |
| Format | .jpg or .jpeg only |
| Age of photo | Less than 6 months old |
| Scanned photos | Not accepted — a scan of a printed photo is refused |
| Selfies | Rejected. A photo taken too close distorts the face — the nose and forehead look larger and the ears less visible |
| Camera distance | The photographer should stand 1.5 m away and hold the camera at your eye level |
| Background | Plain and light-coloured, with strong contrast against your face. Stand at least half a metre in front of it, with no shadows or objects behind your head |
| Framing | A clear gap around the sides and top of your head, with your shoulders and upper chest included in the photo |
| Cropping | Allowed and expected: if a photo looks distorted, New Zealand says to step back, shoot wider and crop it to the correct head size — the UK tells you not to crop at all |
| Expression | Neutral — mouth closed, eyes open, no smiling |
| Hair | Out of your eyes and away from your face |
| Glasses | Prescription glasses allowed if they are not tinted or thick-framed; sunglasses are not allowed. A clear gap between your eyes and the frames, with no glare or reflection |
| Head coverings | Hats, hoods and headbands must come off. A head covering is allowed only for religious or medical reasons, and your face must be fully visible |
| Editing | No filters and no digital alteration — the page states that you must not use AI tools to modify how you look |
| Babies | Lay the baby on a plain, light-coloured sheet and photograph from above; the whole face must show, with the eyes open |
| Check before you apply | New Zealand provides an official online photo checker to test your file before you start the application |
Source: New Zealand Passports, Te Tari Taiwhenua (Department of Internal Affairs) — Passport photos
Type the exact limit your form gave you. The tool searches for the highest quality that still fits under it.
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Target size: 4.9 MB
Your image never leaves your device — all compression happens locally in your browser.
Compressing… this can take a few seconds for large images.
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How to use
- Check the aspect ratio first: 3:4, portrait. A phone camera shoots 4:3 landscape, so most untouched camera files fail this rule before size matters.
- Check the pixel range: 900–4500 px wide and 1200–6000 px high. Over 6000 px tall and you need to scale down, not just re-encode.
- Over 5 MB: drop the file in and compress toward 5 MB. Under 250 KB: do not compress — go back to the original.
- Coming from an iPhone? Convert the HEIC file to .jpg first; New Zealand accepts .jpg and .jpeg only.
- Run the result through the official New Zealand photo checker before you start the application.
- Download and re-check the ratio, the pixel range and the byte size.
Frequently asked questions
Does New Zealand set both a minimum and a maximum file size?
Yes, and the minimum is unusually high. Your photo must be between 250 KB and 5 MB. Compare that with the UK, where the floor is 50 KB and the ceiling 10 MB. A 250 KB floor means a photo that has been squeezed for a web page or a messaging app is likely to be rejected outright — and compressing further cannot fix it, because compression only ever makes a file smaller. The fix is to go back to the original. If that original is over 5 MB, compress it toward 5 MB with the tool above.
Is there a maximum pixel size as well as a minimum?
Yes — 900 to 4500 pixels wide and 1200 to 6000 pixels high. That upper bound is rare; most countries publish a minimum only. It matters in practice because a 48-megapixel phone sensor produces 8000 × 6000 pixels, which breaks both the 4500-pixel width rule and the 6000-pixel height rule. That file is normally over 5 MB as well. Compressing to a byte target reduces the dimensions at the same time, so it addresses both limits in one pass.
Why does New Zealand specify an aspect ratio instead of a pixel size?
Because the ratio is what the printed page and the digital form actually share. A 3:4 frame means the same shape at any resolution, so a 900 × 1200 file and a 4500 × 6000 file are both acceptable. Every other spec page on this site gives you either a fixed pixel figure (Singapore 400 × 514) or a minimum dimension (UK 600 × 750). Here you have a shape and a range, which is more forgiving in one way and stricter in another — your photo has to be portrait, not the landscape that a phone camera produces by default.
Can I wear glasses in the photo?
Prescription glasses, yes — provided they are not tinted and not thick-framed, there is a clear gap between your eyes and the frames, and there is no glare or reflection on the lenses. Sunglasses are not allowed. That is a middle position among passport rules: Singapore allows clear untinted spectacles, while the United States and Vietnam do not allow glasses at all.
Can I wear a head covering?
Only for religious or medical reasons, and your face must be fully visible. Hats, hoods and headbands have to come off regardless. The medical exception is the unusual part — most countries list religious reasons alone, and India, for example, permits headwear on religious grounds with nothing said about medical need.
Can I crop the photo myself?
Yes, and New Zealand expects you to. Its guidance for a distorted photo is to step back and take a wider shot including your shoulders, then crop it to the correct head size before submitting. That is the opposite of the UK, which tells you explicitly not to crop because its system does it for you. The related tools below handle both halves of that: the aspect ratio calculator for the 3:4 frame, and the image cropper for the cut itself.
Is a scan or a selfie acceptable?
Neither. New Zealand states that scans of printed photos will not be accepted, and that selfies will be rejected. It also explains why a close-up fails: a photo taken too close distorts the face, making the nose and forehead appear larger and the ears less visible. The official instruction for whoever takes the photo is to stand 1.5 m away and hold the camera at your eye level.
What does New Zealand say about AI tools and filters?
The page states that your image must show your natural appearance, and tells you plainly: do not edit, apply filters, or use AI tools to modify how you look. Naming AI tools outright is new — most rules still say only that the photo must be unaltered by computer software. Resizing and re-encoding to reach the 3:4 frame, the pixel range and the 5 MB ceiling is a technical step, not a change to how you look. Retouching is not.
Is my photo uploaded to a server?
No. The compression runs entirely in your browser and the file stays on your device. For a passport photo that is the point — you can confirm it yourself in the browser network panel.