Read this first. Home Affairs recommends having your citizenship photo taken by a professional passport photo provider (it names the Australian Post Office) and having a digital copy emailed to you. It does not recommend online photo services or mobile apps, and the photo must be unedited — do not remove the background, moles, wrinkles, scars or red eyes. This tool only crops and resizes a photo you already have; it does not change how you look or the background.
The official file rules
For online citizenship applications, the Department of Home Affairs says the photo should be a digital JPEG between 70 Kb and 3.5 Mb, with a preferred resolution of 1200 × 1600 pixels. A scan of a photo, or a photograph of a photo, is not acceptable.
How to use it
- Choose the original digital photo (ideally the file your photo provider emailed you).
- Use zoom and the position sliders so your full face is centred and looking straight at the camera inside the 3:4 frame.
- Select Make 1200 × 1600 JPEG. The result shows the final file size, and a warning appears if the photo had to be enlarged or falls outside 70 KB–3.5 MB.
Tips
- Start from a photo that is at least 1200 pixels wide in the area you keep. Enlarging a small photo makes it soft.
- Don't crop too tightly: keep the whole face, hair edges and the top of the shoulders.
- The other rules still apply: no more than 6 months old, neutral or light grey background, even lighting, eyes open, mouth closed, neutral expression. See our citizenship photo requirements guide.
- Applying on paper instead? You need a printed passport-sized photo (35–40 mm × 45–50 mm). The passport photo size tool helps check framing.
Private by design
Your photo is processed in your browser with the built-in canvas encoder and is never uploaded to FileKivo.
Questions
- What size should an Australian citizenship photo be online?
- Home Affairs says a digital JPEG between 70 Kb and 3.5 Mb, with a preferred resolution of 1200 × 1600 pixels.
- Can I use a phone photo of a printed photo?
- No. Home Affairs says a scan of a photo or a photograph of a photo is not acceptable.
- Does this tool make my photo acceptable?
- No tool can guarantee that. It only sets the size and format; the Department decides whether a photo meets its requirements.
- Is my photo uploaded?
- No. It stays in your browser.