Every rejected e-visa costs you days you may not have. More often than not, the culprit is not the paperwork — it is the photograph.
The technical requirements
- Colour, taken within the last six months
- Full face, looking straight at the camera, eyes open
- Plain white or light background with no shadow behind you
- No glasses, no hat, no headphones
- Neutral expression, mouth closed
Where people go wrong
A photo taken indoors under a ceiling light throws a shadow across one side of the face. A phone held too close distorts the nose. A cropped holiday snap leaves someone else’s shoulder in frame. Each of these is enough to trigger a resubmission.
How to take it properly
Stand about two metres from a plain wall, facing a window so daylight falls evenly on your face. Have someone else take the shot at eye level. Crop so your head and the top of your shoulders fill the frame.
File format
Save as JPG, keep it under the size limit shown on the form, and do not apply filters or beauty correction. The face in the photo has to match the face at the border.