Heading to Addis Ababa, the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, or a business trip across Ethiopia? Your online application through the Ethiopian Immigration & Citizenship Service e-Visa portal (evisa.gov.et) needs a recent colour photograph that hits an exact standard: 35 × 45 mm on a plain white background, full face centred and evenly lit. The ClonyPDF Ethiopia Visa Photo Maker turns any phone snapshot into a portal-ready file that matches those dimensions, head-size ratio and file-size limits automatically. Most e-Visa photos are rejected for the wrong size, a shadowed or coloured background, or a picture that is simply too old — small slips that delay approval and waste your visa fee. This tool removes the guesswork so you get it right the first time.
Manually cropping to 35×45 mm, matching Ethiopia's head-size ratio and forcing a small enough JPEG in a photo app is fiddly and error-prone. The Ethiopia Visa Photo Maker does it in one pass:
Automatic crop to the 35×45 mm rectangular aspect ratio the Ethiopian e-Visa expects — no manual rulers.
Your head is positioned to the consular head-size rule (roughly 70–80% of the frame) and centred correctly.
Outputs the correct dimensions in millimetres and pixels (about 413×531 px at 300 DPI) at once.
Background removal delivers the clean, shadow-free white backdrop Ethiopia requires for a visa picture.
A compressed JPEG that sits comfortably under the portal's file-size cap so evisa.gov.et accepts it.
A tidy 3×4 cm print layout for any offline embassy or consular interview — no Photoshop, no guesswork.
These are the current Ethiopia e-visa photo requirements for a standard adult applicant. The Online portal tag marks fields checked when you upload to evisa.gov.et; Embassy marks the offline consular print route; Both applies either way.
| Requirement | Specification | Enforced by |
|---|---|---|
| Photo size | 35 × 45 mm (3.5 × 4.5 cm) for the e-Visa; 30 × 40 mm (3 × 4 cm) for offline consular applications | Both |
| Width | 35 mm (≈ 413 px at 300 DPI) | Online portal |
| Height | 45 mm (≈ 531 px at 300 DPI) | Online portal |
| Aspect ratio | Rectangular / portrait, roughly 7:9 (not square) | Both |
| Background colour | Plain white, even and shadow-free (no off-white, grey or textured backdrops) | Both |
| Head height / size | Face fills roughly 70–80% of the frame height, centred, looking straight at the camera | Both |
| Print resolution | 300 DPI minimum (600 DPI for crisper printed copies) | Embassy |
| Digital pixel dimensions | Minimum ~350 × 450 px; recommended ~413 × 531 px; keep it sharp and un-pixelated | Online portal |
| Maximum file size | Keep the photo small — comfortably under ~120 KB works well within the portal limit (passport bio-page scan up to ~2 MB) | Online portal |
| File format | JPEG / JPG is the safe choice; PNG is accepted at some upload steps, but avoid PDF for the photo | Online portal |
| Glasses | Best removed; if worn, no glare, no tint, frames must not cover the eyes; sunglasses never allowed | Both |
| Head covering | Only for religious reasons; full face visible from chin to forehead and both edges, no shadows | Both |
| Expression | Neutral, mouth closed, both eyes open, no smiling, facing the camera directly | Both |
| Photo age / recency | Taken within the last 6 months and a true likeness of your current appearance | Both |
| Digital submission | One colour JPEG uploaded with the e-Visa application at evisa.gov.et | Online portal |
| Printed copies | Offline embassy/consular route typically requires two printed 3×4 cm photos submitted with the form | Embassy |
For most nationalities the workflow is fully online, which is why your Ethiopia visa photo online file needs to be portal-ready before you start:
Go to evisa.gov.et, choose your visa type (tourist or business) and entry option, and enter your travel and passport details.
Upload a scan of your passport bio page and your digital visa photo. This is where the 35×45 mm, white-background JPEG is checked for size and quality.
Pay the service and visa fee online by card. Fees are generally non-refundable, so a rejected photo that delays approval can be costly.
Once approved, the e-Visa arrives by email as a PDF. Print it and carry it with the passport used in the application for entry.
Applying offline through an embassy or consulate instead? You'll submit a paper form with printed 3×4 cm photos rather than a digital upload — see the consular submission section below.
Beyond the headline Ethiopia visa photo size 35x45mm, the EICS applies the biometric-style conventions common to modern e-Visa systems:
The Ethiopia visa picture white background rule is the single most common sticking point. A wall that looks white to the eye often photographs as cream or grey once your camera adjusts, so automatic background replacement is the most reliable way to pass this check.
The portal cares about three digital things: dimensions, sharpness and file weight. Getting your Ethiopia visa photo in pixels right avoids the most frustrating upload errors.
Aim for about 413 × 531 px (35×45 mm at 300 DPI). Keep it above ~350×450 px so it never looks pixelated, and avoid huge dimensions that bloat the file.
Compress to a small JPEG — well under ~120 KB is a safe target for the photo. Oversized files are a frequent reason an upload silently fails.
Save as JPEG/JPG. It's universally accepted by the e-Visa upload and balances quality against file size better than PNG for photos.
The Ethiopia Visa Photo Maker exports at these targets automatically, so the file that lands on your device is already inside the portal's pixel and file-size window.
If you apply through an Ethiopian embassy or consulate rather than the online portal, the photo format shifts to the printed consular standard:
Because the print size (3×4 cm) differs from the e-Visa upload size (3.5×4.5 cm), it's worth generating both formats up front. The tool produces a print-ready sheet at the consular size alongside the digital upload file so you're covered whichever route you use.
Children and babies need their own Ethiopia visa photo that meets the same 35×45 mm, white-background standard — a parent cannot appear in the frame. Because posing an infant is hard, the EICS applies these expectations pragmatically:
For newborns, capturing a clean shot on a white blanket and letting the tool crop and centre the face is far easier than trying to sit an infant against a wall.
Ethiopia's e-Visa is part of a digital immigration database, so your photo is stored for identity matching against the passport you present on arrival. To read cleanly by facial-recognition checks, the image should show your whole face, undistorted and evenly lit:
This is also why a heavily edited or "beautified" photo can backfire: if the stored image doesn't match your real appearance at the border, it can raise questions during entry checks.
Yes — a modern phone camera is more than good enough for the Ethiopia e-Visa, as long as you control the background and lighting. Here's how to get a usable shot on the first try:
Use the rear camera for sharper detail. Stand 1–1.5 m from the wall and have someone shoot at eye level, framing head and upper shoulders.
Face a window in soft daylight so the light is even. Avoid overhead lamps or flash that throw shadows onto your face or the wall.
Stand a step away from a plain white wall so no shadow falls behind you. The tool cleans up minor colour casts automatically.
For the offline route, print the 3×4 cm sheet on glossy photo paper, or use any photo lab — never plain office paper.
Let the maker export a small JPEG at the right pixels so it slots straight into the evisa.gov.et upload without resizing.
Selfies (too close, distorted), busy backgrounds, smiling, shadows, and files that are too large or too small to upload.
Using the Ethiopia visa photo maker takes about a minute from snapshot to compliant file:
Drop in a clear, front-facing photo taken against any background — no need to find a white wall first.
The tool crops to the 35×45 mm rectangle and positions your head to Ethiopia's head-size ratio automatically.
One-tap background removal swaps your backdrop for the clean, shadow-free white the e-Visa requires.
Confirm size, head height, pixel dimensions (~413×531 px) and file size before exporting — the tool flags anything off.
Save an upload-ready JPEG for evisa.gov.et and a print-ready 3×4 cm sheet for any offline consular submission.
Travellers often assume every visa photo looks the same. It doesn't — the Ethiopia e-Visa photo and the widely referenced US (DS-160) visa photo differ in shape, head size and digital rules:
| Feature | Ethiopia e-Visa | US Visa (2×2) |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 35 × 45 mm | 2 × 2 in (51 × 51 mm) |
| Aspect ratio | Rectangular / portrait | Square (1:1) |
| Head size | ≈ 70–80% of frame height | ≈ 50–69% (1 in to 1⅜ in) |
| Background | Plain white | Plain white / off-white |
| Submission | Digital JPEG upload to evisa.gov.et | Digital upload to DS-160 (plus a print at interview) |
| Pixels / file size | ~413×531 px, keep well under ~120 KB | 600×600 to 1200×1200 px, up to ~240 KB |
| Key difference | Rectangular with a larger head crop | Square with a smaller head crop |
Not automatically. An Ethiopian passport photo is 3×4 cm (30×40 mm), while the Ethiopian e-Visa photo is 3.5×4.5 cm (35×45 mm) — different sizes with different crops, so a passport photo won't drop cleanly into the visa upload. If you need the matching passport format instead, see the 35×45 mm photo size guide and the passport photo size in pixels reference to get the exact dimensions before you export.
Most rejected Ethiopia e-Visa photos fail for the same avoidable reasons. The tool guards against every one of these:
Sorting the photo first is the simplest way to keep the rest of the application moving — it's the step most likely to trip travellers up mid-form.
Visa photo requirements can change and may vary by visa category and application route. Always verify the current rules with the official Ethiopian Immigration & Citizenship Service e-Visa portal (evisa.gov.et), or the relevant Ethiopian embassy, consulate or visa application centre, before you submit.
The Ethiopia Visa Photo Maker helps you create a compliant photo, but final acceptance always rests with the issuing embassy, consulate or immigration authority. This page covers photo compliance only and is not immigration, eligibility or legal advice.
Get an upload-ready 35×45 mm photo for your evisa.gov.et application — plain white background, correct pixels and a small JPEG file, plus a print-ready 3×4 cm sheet for the offline consular route. Upload once and let the tool handle the rest before you submit your Ethiopia e-Visa.
