How we verify official photo requirements

Where the rules come from

We read the rules where the authority that issues the document publishes them: its website, application forms, photo guidelines and, where they exist, the regulations themselves. For visas we use the foreign ministry, the visa portal or the embassy that handles the application.

Some government websites block automated access. For those we read a dated copy of the official page in the Internet Archive (Wayback Machine) and note it. We never bypass a CAPTCHA or a bot check.

A few entries could only be based on secondary sources, such as a news report or an encyclopedia. We show their publisher like any other source and mark the entry with low confidence.

What we record for each document

For every document we record, where the authority publishes it:

• printed size and digital file rules (pixels, file size, format)
• head height, eye line and space above the head
• background colours
• expression, glasses, head coverings and rules for babies and children
• how recent the photo must be
• whether a photo you take yourself is accepted, or whether the photo is taken at the office or by a professional
• every source, with its publisher and the date we checked it

What "verified on" means

The verification date is the day we last compared our entry with its sources. The current data was verified on October 8, 2026. When a rule changes, we correct the entry and update its date.

Monthly monitoring

On the 1st of every month an automated check reads all 413 official source pages behind our 156 documents, compares their text with the previous run and lists every page that changed, together with the documents that depend on it. Those documents are then checked again by hand.

Sources that block automated checks are reviewed by hand in a browser.

What confidence means

Each document has a confidence level (currently 89 high, 54 medium and 13 low):

• High: every rule we show was confirmed on an official source.
• Medium: the main rules come from official sources, but some details were ambiguous or could not be confirmed.
• Low: we could not read an official page, so the entry rests on secondary sources. Use it as a starting point only.

Every page links its official source. “Home photo OK” means a photo you take yourself is accepted. The Photo Acceptance Guarantee covers documents with high or medium confidence; on low-confidence pages a note next to the buttons says it does not apply.

Translations

Rules are researched in the language of the source. Pages in other languages show translated summaries of the same data, with the same numbers and the same source links. If a translation and the official source differ, the official source prevails.

What we are not

Ovalight is an independent service and is not affiliated with any government. We summarise published rules and link to them; only the authority that issues your document decides whether to accept a photo.