Tanzania e-Visa Photo: 500 KB, 45 × 35 mm, and No Pixel Rule
Tanzania is the simplest rule on this site and, for once, simple helps: there is one number to hit, 500 KB, and it is a ceiling. The guidelines also give a printed size of 45 mm by 35 mm — but they phrase it as "should not exceed", so it is an upper bound rather than a target you have to land on exactly. What the page does not contain is any mention of pixels, dpi or resolution: those three words appear zero times in the whole document. That flips the usual problem. In New Zealand or Canada a compressed file can fail on a pixel floor even after it fits the byte limit; in Tanzania the only stated check on the file is its size in kilobytes. So compress to 500 KB, keep it in colour, keep it unmounted, and do not convert it to black and white to save bytes.
Tanzania e-visa photo requirements (official)
| Maximum file size | 500 KB — the only number the guidelines attach to the uploaded file itself |
|---|---|
| Printed size | 45 mm long by 35 mm wide, and stated as a maximum ("should not exceed"), not as an exact size to hit |
| Pixel dimensions | Not specified. The words pixel, dpi and resolution do not appear anywhere in the guidelines |
| Minimum file size | None stated — no floor is given |
| File format | JPG or JPEG. PNG is not listed |
| Colour | Must be in colour — black and white is not offered as an option |
| Background | Plain, with no distracting shadows on the face or on the background. No background colour is named |
| Framing | Full face, front view, facing the camera directly, whole head from the top of the hair to the bottom of the chin, eyes open, natural expression |
| Mounting | "Unmounted" — the paper-photo rule survives in a digital upload: do not send a photo of a photo fixed to a form |
| Glasses | Allowed if you regularly wear them — no glare or tint condition is added |
| Head coverings | Religious reasons only, and the face has to be visible from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead with both edges of the face clear |
| Travelling with the photo | A copy of the passport biographic data page and a return ticket are required alongside it |
| If it does not comply | The guidelines close the section with a warning that non-compliance may cause the visa application to be rejected |
Drop an image here, or click to browse
JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF or BMP · one image at a time
Target size: 500 KB
Your image never leaves your device — all compression happens locally in your browser.
Compressing… this can take a few seconds for large images.
Original size
Final size
Format / Quality
Dimensions
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How to use
- Check the format first: JPG or JPEG. A PNG straight off a screenshot tool is not on the list — convert it.
- Drop the file in and compress to 500 KB. That is the official ceiling, so no guessing is needed.
- If your file is already under 500 KB, leave it alone — there is no minimum size to satisfy.
- Keep it in colour. Compressing does not change colour, but a black and white scan will be refused on the colour rule, not on size.
- Do not photograph a printed photo that is glued or stapled to a form. The guidelines ask for an "unmounted" image.
- Download it, then upload it with the passport biographic page and your return ticket, which the same section requires.
Frequently asked questions
Is 500 KB a hard limit or a recommendation?
It is written as a limit: "The image size of the photo should not exceed 500KB for Visa application." Note the scope — it says "for Visa application", so do not carry the number over to a residence permit or work permit upload without checking that stream's own guidance. The same section ends with a warning that non-compliance may cause the visa application to be rejected.
Does Tanzania check the pixel dimensions?
Nothing published says it does. The words pixel, dpi and resolution do not appear anywhere in the guidelines — not in the photo section, not elsewhere. What is published is a physical size, 45 mm by 35 mm, which is what the photo measures when printed. So unlike New Zealand (900–4500 px wide, 1200–6000 px high) or Canada (1800 × 1200 minimum), there is no pixel floor for a compressor to trip over. The practical consequence: downscaling to reach 500 KB cannot breach a stated pixel rule here, but a very small file will look soft, and the officer looking at it is still a human.
Is there a minimum file size?
None is stated. This matters more than it sounds, because Tanzania is the odd one out among the document rules on this site: the UK rejects anything under 50 KB, New Zealand sets a 250 KB floor, and Canada 200 KB. On those pages, over-compressing is the mistake to avoid. Here it is not a size violation at all — the only thing to protect is that the face stays legible.
What does "should not exceed 45 mm × 35 mm" actually mean?
It is a maximum, not a specification. Most authorities say the photo "must be 35 × 45 mm" and mean exactly that; Tanzania says it "should not exceed" it. A smaller image is therefore not a size violation at the portal. It is still worth keeping the 35:45 portrait shape, because that is the proportion the photo is meant to be printed and viewed at, and a wildly different aspect ratio makes the head sit wrongly in the frame.
What does "unmounted" mean for an upload?
It is a rule inherited from paper applications, where a photo had to be a loose print rather than one glued to the form. Digitally it rules out one specific mistake that people still make: photographing or scanning a photo that has already been pasted onto a form or an ID sheet. Send the image file itself, not a picture of a mounted print.
Can I wear glasses or a head covering?
Glasses are allowed if you regularly wear them — Tanzania adds no glare or tint condition, which is looser than the US and Vietnam (no glasses at all) and simpler than Singapore (clear lenses, visible frame, no red eye). Head coverings are allowed for religious reasons only, and the test is anatomical: the face must be visible from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead, with both edges of the face clear.
Does the background have to be white?
No colour is named. The guidelines ask for a "plain background" and no distracting shadows on the face or the background. That is deliberately unlike Singapore, which specifies white, or India, which specifies pure white — so a light grey wall is not automatically wrong here, but a busy one is.
My photo is a PNG. Will it be accepted?
Only JPG and JPEG are listed, so convert it. This is the most common silent failure with compression tools: the tool prefers WebP because it reaches a tight ceiling at better quality, and the form then rejects the format rather than the size. Compress first, then convert, then check the byte count again — JPEG is larger at the same visual quality, so a file that only just fit can creep back over 500 KB.
Is my photo uploaded to a server?
No. The compression runs in your browser and the file never leaves your device. You can confirm it in the browser network panel — the only requests are for the page itself.