Passport photo at home in New Zealand
New Zealand is the clearest green light in this series: the Department of Internal Affairs says outright that 'you can use a professional passport photo service or take a photo with your own device'. The passport is digital-first — you upload a file, there is no print size to cut — and the rules are expressed entirely in pixels, kilobytes and framing. The catch sits in the numbers themselves: a floor on file size as well as a ceiling, and a visa regime next door that explicitly refuses AI-edited files.
The passport upload: 3:4, big pixels, a file-size floor
The New Zealand passport photo is a colour portrait with a 3:4 aspect ratio, 900 to 4500 pixels wide and 1200 to 6000 pixels high, in JPEG, between 250 KB and 5 MB. The floor is the unusual part: a correctly sized image saved with heavy compression can fall under 250 KB and fail — the opposite problem to the portals that reject big files, and the reason the file-size guide cuts both ways. Framing is described in plain words rather than millimetres: a clear gap around the sides and top of your head, with shoulders and upper chest in frame. Your application may be delayed if the photo misses the requirements, so run it through the DIA's own online checker before submitting.
Visa and NZeTA photos: tighter face, no AI
Immigration New Zealand runs a separate standard for the visa and NZeTA photo: still 3:4 portrait JPEG, but between 512 KB and 3.14 MB, taken within the last six months, with the face covering 70 to 80 percent of the image and centred. INZ adds a sentence worth quoting in full: 'Photos that are AI enhanced or altered do not meet our standards. If you use AI to edit your photos your visa application or NZeTA request will be delayed or could be declined.' Beauty filters, background swaps and automatic retouching all live inside that sentence; upload what the camera saw.
Shooting it with a phone
Have someone photograph you from about 1.5 metres against a plain, light-coloured wall in even daylight — INZ notes a professional photographer makes acceptance more likely, which is honest expectation-setting rather than a requirement. Use the rear camera, stand far enough back that the crop to 3:4 still leaves the gap around your head, and keep the original file rather than a messaging-app copy, which is re-compressed below the kilobyte floors; the phone setup guide covers distance, zoom and timer settings.
What our checker contributes
Both NZ standards are fully measurable, which suits a measuring tool: we report the aspect ratio, pixel dimensions, file size against both the floor and the ceiling, the head-height percentage against 70 to 80 for visas, and the lighting and background checks, all before any payment. For the visa file we deliver without retouching, in line with INZ's AI warning; for the passport we render inside the 900 to 4500 pixel band at 3:4 exactly.
Frequently asked questions
Why was my photo rejected for being too small when it looks sharp?
Probably kilobytes, not pixels: the passport upload requires at least 250 KB and the visa upload at least 512 KB. Files exported by messaging apps or aggressive compressors fall under those floors while keeping their pixel dimensions. Re-export the original camera file at high JPEG quality.
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We are an independent service, not a government website. Applying for a passport or visa is done with your government; we only prepare the photo.