China visa photo online

For the online application form: 354 × 472 pixels (width × height), JPEG, 40–120 KB — the MFA poster allows up to 420 × 560 px, but the Manchester visa centre’s FAQ says the form’s photo cannot exceed 354 × 472. For the paper photo: 33 × 48 mm, which is 3.3 × 4.8 cm or 1.30 × 1.89 inches, and 390 × 567 pixels at 300 DPI. Pick “Online form (COVA)” for the file or “Paper photo” for the print; the two shapes differ (3:4 against 33:48), so make each one from the original picture.

The Chinese visa photo requirements on the MFA poster: white or close-to-white background with no borders, taken within 6 months, in colour. Frontal view with the entire head and face visible, neutral expression, eyes open, mouth closed, ears visible; head tilt no more than 20° sideways or 25° up and down. Eyeglasses are allowed only if the lenses are not tinted and there is no glare, shadow or frame over the eyes; hats or head coverings only for religious reasons and only if they hide no facial features. Digital file: JPEG, RGB, 354 × 472 to 420 × 560 px, 40–120 KB; paper photo: 33 × 48 mm with the head 28–33 mm high and 15–22 mm wide. These are the MFA poster rules republished by the Chinese Embassies in the US and the UK; the tool applies the size and file rules and leaves the rest to you.

No — the Chinese Embassy in Washington republishes the same MFA poster: 33 × 48 mm on paper, and a JPEG of 354 × 472 to 420 × 560 px and 40–120 KB for the online form. As of September 2026 the United States is not on the visa-free list in the Embassy’s FAQ on visa-free entry (updated February 2026), so US citizens apply for a visa through the China Online Visa Application System the Embassy launched on 30 September 2025: upload the photo in the form, then submit the passport to the Embassy or a Consulate-General after the online review. Pick “Online form (COVA)” here: 354 × 472 px passes the poster rule.

The Manchester visa centre’s FAQ gives three file rules for the online form: JPEG only, dimensions that cannot exceed 354 × 472 px, and a file size of 40–120 KB — a photo straight from a phone is far bigger in pixels and bytes, so it is outside these limits until it is cropped and resized. The form’s automatic check also judges the picture itself; for a 354 × 472 file the MFA poster asks for a face 205 ± 14 px wide, the crown 10–70 px below the top edge and the line through the eyes more than 256 px above the bottom edge, on a white or close-to-white background. If the check still fails after several attempts, the US Embassy says to continue the form and bring a standard ID photo when you submit your passport; the Manchester centre says that after three failed uploads you bring a recent paper photo and the centre helps you upload it.

For the file, yes. With “Online form (COVA)” selected it makes a 354 × 472 px JPEG and shows the file size next to the preview: “under 120 KB ✓” when the file is inside the limits, and a warning when it stays under the minimum even after the tool re-saves it at a higher JPEG quality within the 120 KB cap. It keeps a small margin — at least 42 KB (42 000 bytes) rather than 40 KB — so the file stays within 40–120 KB whether the form counts 1 000 or 1 024 bytes per KB. It does not check the face width, eye position, background, glasses or expression; the form’s own automatic check judges the picture when you upload it, so a file that passes here can still be marked as not qualified.

No. The photo is cropped, resized and saved as a JPEG by your browser on your own device; nothing is sent to ToolGale or anyone else, and nothing is stored. You then upload the finished file to the visa form yourself.

The MFA poster, the embassy pages and the visa centre FAQs we checked set rules for the photo — background, head size, file format — and none of them says who has to take it; the online form has its own cropping tool and an automatic check. Nothing in them rules out a phone photo taken against a white wall and cropped here to 354 × 472 px; if the form’s check keeps rejecting it, finish the form and bring a paper photo when you hand in your passport, as the US Embassy and the Manchester centre both advise.

Pick “Paper photo” and download the print sheet: one 4 × 6 in JPG with 4 copies of the 33 × 48 mm photo and grey cut lines. Order it as a normal 4 × 6 print at 100 % (actual size), with no fit, fill or borderless crop, then cut along the lines; from a computer, print the sheet at 100 % — the file carries 300 DPI. A single 33 × 48 mm JPG sent to a photo lab is rescaled to fill the paper and comes out the wrong size.

Yes, unless the trip is covered by the visa waiver. As of September 2026, ordinary UK and Canadian passport holders can enter China without a visa for up to 30 days for business, tourism, visiting family or friends, exchange and transit, from 17 February until 31 December 2026 (Chinese Embassy in the UK, notice of 15 February 2026). Longer stays, work and study still need a visa: the online form with a 354 × 472 px JPEG of 40–120 KB, then a visit to a Chinese Visa Application Service Center.