If you're a foreign national applying for a Vietnam visa — whether a tourist e-Visa, business visa, student visa, or work visa — your photo has to match the spec published by the Vietnam Immigration Department's National Web Portal on Immigration: a 4 x 6 cm portrait, plain white background, no glasses, looking straight at the camera. Visa photo rules are enforced through an automated check during e-Visa upload, which can be stricter and less forgiving than a passport photo office reviewing your renewal photo by eye. A rejected or flagged photo can stall your application for days while you resubmit — far costlier than a passport photo redo. Passport Photo Maker builds your photo to the published spec, removes the background, and gives you a file ready for upload or printing.
Based on the Immigration Department's published e-Visa FAQ, the photo specification itself — 4x6 cm, white background, no glasses, looking straight ahead — is not described as varying by visa purpose. Tourist and business e-Visa applicants use the identical portrait spec. What does change is the submission channel, and student and work visas are the exception worth flagging carefully:
| Visa type | Typical application channel | Photo submission |
|---|---|---|
| Tourist e-Visa | Online e-Visa portal | Digital upload, 4x6 cm portrait + passport bio-page scan |
| Business (e-Visa eligible) | Online e-Visa portal | Same digital upload spec as tourist e-Visa |
| Student visa | Often consulate/embassy, via sponsoring school | Frequently printed photos for the application file — confirm with your consulate, as this is not governed by the e-Visa FAQ |
| Work visa | Often consulate/embassy, tied to work permit sponsorship | Frequently printed photos for the application file — confirm with your consulate or sponsoring employer |
We could not independently verify a separate, published photo-size deviation for student or work visas — what we found instead is that these categories more often route through a different application channel (consulate vs. e-Visa portal) rather than a different photo size. If your student or work visa is processed as an e-Visa, the 4x6 cm spec below should apply; if it's processed through a consulate, confirm directly with them.
| Photo size | 4 cm width x 6 cm height (also expressed as 2 x 2 inches by some processing centers) |
|---|---|
| Head/face area | Face fills approximately 75% of the frame; eye-to-top-edge distance about two-thirds of eye-to-bottom-edge distance |
| Background | Plain white |
| Resolution | Minimum 300 dpi |
| File format (e-Visa upload) | JPEG 2000 per the official e-Visa FAQ; some processing agents also report standard JPG/JPEG being accepted in practice — when in doubt, follow the format the upload field itself specifies |
| Glasses | Not permitted; face straight, both ears visible, bare head |
| Expression | Neutral, looking straight at the camera |
| Photo age | Recent — taken within the last 6 months |
| Digital submission rules | e-Visa applicants upload two images: the portrait photo above, plus a full scan of the passport bio-data page including the machine-readable ICAO lines. File size limits are reported by processing agents in the 1–2 MB range, but we could not confirm an exact limit on the official FAQ page itself — check the upload field for its stated limit before submitting |
| Varies by visa type? | The portrait spec itself does not appear to vary by visa purpose (tourist/business). Student and work visas more often use a different application channel (consulate) rather than a different photo spec — see the disambiguation note above |
Specs above are drawn from the Vietnam Immigration Department's published e-Visa FAQ (evisa.gov.vn). Figures not explicitly stated on that page — like exact file-size caps — are flagged rather than presented as confirmed.
For e-Visa applicants, the process runs through the online portal: you create an application, upload your portrait photo and passport bio-page, pay the fee, and wait for processing (commonly several business days). Visa-on-arrival applicants get an approval letter in advance and bring printed photos to present at the airport for stamping. Student and work visa applicants typically need a sponsorship or approval letter from a Vietnamese institution or employer first, then apply via consulate with printed photos as part of the documentation set.
The e-Visa portal asks for two uploaded images: your portrait photo (4x6 cm, the spec above) and a clear scan of your passport's data page, including the ICAO machine-readable lines. The system performs an automated quality check after upload — if your photo doesn't pass, you'll typically be notified by email with instructions to resubmit. This automated step is part of why e-Visa photo compliance can feel less forgiving than a passport photo counter, where a human can sometimes wave through a borderline shot.
If you're getting a visa-on-arrival stamp, you'll typically need two printed photos matching the same 4x6 cm spec, on plain bright background, presented at the airport counter alongside your approval letter. Consulate and embassy applications for student or work visas commonly ask for printed photos attached to a paper application form — requirements can vary slightly by the specific consulate, so confirm photo count and paper specifications with the consulate handling your case.
Children, including infants, need their own visa photo — they can't appear in a parent's photo or be held by anyone in frame. For babies who can't sit up, a common approach is laying the child on a plain white sheet to create an even background, with eyes open and no toys, pacifiers, or hands visible in the shot. The same 4x6 cm sizing and white background rules apply.
Yes — a phone camera is enough if you set it up correctly:
| Dimensions | Both commonly cited at 4x6 cm — Vietnamese passport and visa photos share the same standard sizing in most published guidance. |
|---|---|
| Head size | Visa guidance (face ~75% of frame) is published in detail on the e-Visa FAQ; passport photo offices typically apply a similar but less explicitly documented standard. |
| Background | Plain white for both. |
| Submission format | The visa photo is far more likely to require a digital upload through an automated check (e-Visa); a domestic Vietnamese passport photo is typically only ever printed and handed in person. |
| Compliance differences | The core spec is largely shared, but the visa process adds an automated quality gate and, for e-Visas, a paired passport bio-page scan that a passport application doesn't require. |
Honestly: for most applicants, the photo itself doesn't need to look different between a Vietnam visa and a Vietnam passport application — the dimensions and background rules largely match. What changes is how and where you submit it, and that's where the real compliance risk and rejection rate differs.
For Vietnam, the core specs largely overlap — but visa applications, especially e-Visa, route through an automated upload check that passport offices don't use, which makes small flaws more likely to cause a rejection.
If the dimensions and background match (4x6 cm, white background, no glasses), it may work — but for e-Visa applications you'll also need a separate scan of your passport's data page, which a passport photo alone doesn't cover.
For e-Visa applications, you'll typically be notified by email and asked to re-upload a corrected photo, which can add days to processing. For in-person or visa-on-arrival submissions, you may be asked to retake the photo on the spot, sometimes at an airport photo booth for a fee.
Reasonable corrections — background cleanup, cropping to the correct size, brightness/contrast — are standard and expected. What's not allowed is altering your actual appearance (smoothing your face, changing features) in a way that misrepresents how you look.
Yes — based on the official e-Visa FAQ, both use the identical 4x6 cm portrait spec uploaded through the same e-Visa portal.
Likely similar in dimensions, but the application channel is often different — student and work visas frequently go through a consulate rather than the e-Visa portal, which can mean printed photos and consulate-specific requirements. Confirm with the consulate or sponsoring institution handling your case.
The official FAQ specifies JPEG 2000 for the uploaded portrait photo. If your upload field behaves differently or accepts standard JPG, follow what the field itself indicates at the time you apply, since portal specifications can be updated.
Visa extensions handled in-country in Vietnam typically require a fresh photo meeting the same specifications as the original application — check with the immigration office or service handling your extension for the current photo count and format needed.
Upload a photo below and get a 4x6 cm Vietnam visa photo sized for e-Visa upload or printing — for tourist, business, student, or work visa applications.
Reminder: requirements can change and may vary by consulate for student/work visas — always confirm against evisa.gov.vn or your consulate before submitting. Passport Photo Maker helps you meet published specifications but cannot guarantee approval.
