How to Take a Singapore Passport Photo at Home

Taking a Singapore passport photo at home is allowed. ICA accepts digital photos uploaded through its e-Service, but it does not recommend selfies, because they are often mirrored, distorted or badly lit. ICA suggests asking someone to take the photo for you, or using a passport photo app.

What you need

• A phone or camera, and someone to take the photo
• A plain white wall, door or a white bedsheet pinned flat
• Daylight from a window, or two lamps you can place on either side
• Clothes in a colour that stands out against white

How to take your passport photo, step by step

1. Turn off mirroring. Use the rear camera, or switch off the "mirror front camera" setting. ICA rejects laterally inverted photos.
2. Stand away from the wall. About half a metre to a metre in front of the white background helps stop your shadow falling on it.
3. Light your face evenly. Face a window, or place a light at 45 degrees on each side. Avoid overhead lights, flash and strong sun from one side.
4. Hold the camera at eye level, about 1.5 m away. Shooting from too close makes your nose look bigger and distorts your face. Zoom in slightly instead of moving closer.
5. Pose correctly. Look straight at the camera with your head upright, eyes open, mouth closed and a neutral expression. Tuck hair away from your eyes and check your shoulders are in the frame.
6. Check your glasses. If you wear them, look for glare on the lenses. Tilt the frames down slightly or take them off if the reflection won't go away.
7. Take several shots and choose the sharpest one with no shadows.

Resize your photo to 400 × 514 pixels

ICA's e-Service needs a 400 × 514 pixel photo in JPG, PNG or HEIC format, no larger than 8 MB. Crop your photo so that:

• the width-to-height ratio is 35:45, the same as a printed 35 × 45 mm photo;
• your face from chin to crown takes up roughly 55–78% of the photo height (25–35 mm of 45 mm);
• your face is centred with some space above your head and your shoulders visible.

Resizing and cropping are allowed. Filters, skin smoothing and other edits are not.

Free online tool

Make your Singapore passport photo online

Upload a photo, crop it to 35 × 45 mm / 400 × 514 px and get a white background in minutes.

Make my photo

Printing a 35 × 45 mm photo

If you are applying on a paper form overseas (form IMM 11 OS), you need a printed photo 35 mm wide by 45 mm high with no border. Print it on matte or semi-matte paper. ICA does not accept glossy, reflective prints for hardcopy submissions.

Check before you upload

See every correct and incorrect sample photo, or read the full Singapore passport photo requirements.