Passport photograph size in Nigeria: one table for every document

There isn't one passport photograph size in Nigeria: each office sets its own. The NIS passport portal asks for a 600×800 px upload under 2 MB on a white background. NYSC asks for 2×2 inches on white or off-white. The US visa uses 2×2 inch prints or a square JPEG from 600×600 to 1200×1200 px, up to 240 kB. Germany's missions in Nigeria want two 35×45 mm prints for a Schengen visa. For JAMB, WAEC GCE and the driver's licence, the photo is taken on the spot. You can make photos for print online from a good selfie in SelfieDoc: the service fits the size, background and head position to the requirements.

Passport photograph sizes in Nigeria by document

Checked: October 2026 against the official pages listed under Sources.

Two quick conversions: 2×2 inches is about 5.1×5.1 cm, a square. 35×45 mm is 3.5×4.5 cm, a portrait rectangle; at 300 dpi print quality that's 413×531 pixels.

Nigerian passport: 600×800 px upload plus prints

The NIS portal asks for a 600×800 pixel colour photo, under 2 MB, in JPG or PNG, on a white background. Glasses are not allowed, your ears must be visible, and your head should take up 50–69% of the image height. After the online part, you go to the passport office, where your photo and fingerprints are captured, and you bring two printed passport photographs endorsed at the back by your guarantor.

NIS doesn't print a size in millimetres for those paper photos. If you're unsure, ask your passport office before printing. The full rules are in our Nigerian passport photo size guide.

NYSC: 2×2 inches, white or off-white

The NYSC portal asks for a 2×2 inch photo on a white or off-white background with no shadow. Your eyes, nose, ears, mouth and jaw must be fully visible, and the picture should fill the frame and be centred. NYSC doesn't publish a KB limit on its public pages, so follow the upload screen. More in our NYSC passport photograph guide.

US visa: square photo, 240 kB file

For the DS-160 you upload a square JPEG, between 600×600 and 1200×1200 pixels, up to 240 kB, on a white or off-white background, with no glasses. Immigrant visa applicants interviewed at the US Consulate General in Lagos bring two colour prints of 2×2 inches each. Details for Nigeria and India are in our US visa photo requirements guide.

Schengen visa: 35×45 mm

Germany's missions in Nigeria ask for two biometric photographs, 3.5×4.5 cm, not older than six months, on a uniform white background, and not glued or stapled to the application form. Other Schengen countries publish their own checklists, so check the photo line for your destination.

Unlike the NYSC and US visa photos, this one is a rectangle, so a 2×2 inch print won't work.

University portals: check your school's own rule

Universities set their own upload rules, and they can be very different from the national ones. A clear example is the Obafemi Awolowo University student portal, used for the student ID card: a 360×400 pixel colour JPEG, under 50 KB, on a light sky-blue background, with no label on the photo.

So before you upload to any school portal, read the instruction on that page. A white-background passport photo that's perfect for NIS can be wrong for your school.

Where you don't need your own photo

Some offices take the photo themselves:

• JAMB UTME. JAMB says the application can't be completed until your fingerprints are captured and your photograph is "taken physically" at the CBT centre, with no submission of a passport photograph. Centres must capture you on a white or off-white background.
• WAEC GCE for private candidates. The WAEC registration portal sends you to a government-approved cyber café to have your fingerprints and passport photo taken.
• FRSC driver's licence. After applying online and paying, you go to the FRSC officer at the Driver's Licence Centre for biometric capture.

Don't pay a studio for photos these offices won't use.

Common mistakes with passport photograph sizes

• One print for every document. A 35×45 mm print won't fit a 2×2 inch slot, and a square won't pass for Schengen.
• Asking the studio for "passport size" without naming the document. Say "NYSC 2 by 2" or "Schengen 35 by 45".
• Red or blue background for the NIS passport, NYSC or US visa. All three ask for white (NYSC and the US also accept off-white).
• Uploading the full phone photo instead of a cropped one in the right pixel size and KB.
• Glasses on for the NIS passport or US visa, where they aren't allowed.
• Old photos. The US visa and the German Schengen checklist both set a six-month limit, and NIS asks for a photo from the last six months.

How to get the right photos

At a studio or business centre. Name the document and size: "NIS passport, 600 by 800 soft copy", "NYSC, 2 by 2", "Schengen, 35 by 45". Ask for both the soft copy and the prints.

At home with a phone. Fine for upload portals if you use a white wall and daylight. Our guide to taking a passport photograph with your phone goes through it step by step.

Online from a selfie. SelfieDoc crops the photo to the document format, sets the head position and checks the background before you get the file and a print-ready sheet. Your facial features stay as they are. Print the sheet on photo paper at any photo shop.

Sources

• Nigeria Immigration Service passport portal: photo instructions.
• Nigeria Immigration Service: passport requirements.
• NYSC portal: passport photograph specifications.
• US Department of State: visa photo requirements and digital image requirements.
• US Department of State: Consulate General Lagos, immigrant visa instructions.
• German Missions in Nigeria: tourist visa checklist.
• Obafemi Awolowo University ePortal: upload picture.
• JAMB: Manual for Officials of 2026 UTME.
• WAEC Nigeria registration portal.
• FRSC Nigeria Driver's Licence portal.