Saudi eVisa Photo: 200x200 px, 5-100 KB, White

Saudi Arabia's eVisa portal publishes one of the most precise photo specs on any tourist visa site: 200 x 200 pixels, 5 to 100 KB, white background, face 70 to 80% of the frame, taken within the last six months. One caveat up front: the portal (visa.visitsaudi.com) serves automated requests an access-denied page, so we could not load it live today. What follows is the portal's own Photo Specifications text, verified on September 20, 2026 against archived copies of the official page — captures from February and June 2026 show it word for word, unchanged since at least 2020.

Dimensions

200 x 200 pixels (width and height)

File size

5 to 100 KB

Framing

Close-up of face and top of shoulders; face 70-80%

Face coverage

Written as 70-80% of the face, or 1.4 x 1.6 in chin to crown

Photo age

No more than six months old

Background

White, no pattern, no shadows, one person only

Pose

Head square to camera, face and eyes straight at it

Headwear

Not permitted except religious; face shown chin to forehead

File format

Not stated on the specification page

Source: Saudi eVisa - Photo Specifications

What the spec actually says, line by line

Size. "200 x 200 in Width and Height and Image Size must be from 5 to 100 Kb." Two hard numbers: exactly square at 200 pixels a side, and a file between 5 KB and 100 KB. The lower bound exists to stop thumbnails — a 200 x 200 JPEG at normal quality usually lands between 10 KB and 40 KB, so the 5 KB floor is easy to pass and the 100 KB ceiling is the one to watch. Our file-size guide covers hitting a KB window without wrecking the image.

Framing. A close-up of your face and the top of your shoulders, "so that your face takes up between 70% - 80% of the face or 1.4" x 1.6" from the chin to the crown of the head." The wording is garbled — it most likely means 70–80% of the photo — but the inches figure is a useful cross-check: a chin-to-crown band of 1.4–1.6 inches on a 2-inch square photo is indeed about 70–80% of the height. Keep the full head including hair in frame; the spec notes that voluminous hair must be fully depicted without shrinking the face.

Background. White, no pattern, no shadows, and only the person being photographed — no group crops, no objects. A plain white wall with you standing a step in front of it is the setup; white-background technique explains the lighting that keeps the wall clean without putting a shadow on it.

Pose. Head "square to the camera" — neither tilted nor turned, though the spec oddly adds that the face "can be slightly rotated and or tilted". Eyes and face straight at the lens so both ears and cheeks are clearly visible. That ears-and-cheeks line is stricter than many portals: hair tucked behind ears is the cautious read.

Age and headwear. No more than six months old, "to ensure an up to date likeness". Headwear is generally not permitted, with exceptions especially for religious reasons; then the face must be visible from the lower tip of the chin to the forehead, with no shadow on the face — the same test most issuers use, covered in hijab in a passport photo.

What the page does not say. No file format is named — JPEG is the safe assumption for a photo upload, but the spec does not print it. No rule on glasses appears at all; the conservative choice is to take them off. And no rule on expression beyond head position — a neutral face with a closed mouth is the standard reading, not a stated one.

The visa this photo belongs to

The home page describes the tourist eVisa in three steps — fill the application, pay the fee, get the visa online — and lists 66 eligible countries: the US, UK, Canada, Australia, most of Europe, China including Hong Kong and Macau, Japan, South Korea and several Central Asian and Gulf states among them. The visa is one year, multiple entry, up to 90 days per stay, for tourism including events, family visits and Umrah — explicitly excluding Hajj. Nationals of unlisted countries are directed to the nearest Saudi embassy. A separate MOFA platform (visa.mofa.gov.sa) handles visit visas arranged through Saudi sponsors and businesses; the tourist eVisa on visa.visitsaudi.com is the self-service route for the listed nationalities.

Why the exact numbers matter

200 x 200 is a small file, and that is the point: the portal wants a thumbnail-grade portrait, not a print-resolution image. A full-resolution phone photo fails twice — it is the wrong shape and roughly a hundred times too large. Crop the square first, resize to exactly 200 pixels, then check the file lands inside 5–100 KB. Do not enlarge a smaller image to reach 200 px; upscaling blurs the face. And resist retouching: the spec asks for an up-to-date likeness, and an edited face is the wrong kind of likeness. How to take a passport photo at home covers the capture; the resize is a ten-second job in any editor.

1. 1

   Check the eligible-country list

   66 nationalities are listed on the portal's home page. If yours is not among them, the route is a Saudi embassy, not this portal.

2. 2

   Shoot against a white wall

   Step clear of the wall so no shadow lands on it. Face the camera square on, eyes straight at the lens, ears and cheeks visible, nothing on your head unless religious.

3. 3

   Crop square to 200 x 200 px

   Face and top of shoulders, face filling 70-80% of the height. Crop — never stretch — to the exact square.

4. 4

   Export under 100 KB

   Check the file lands between 5 and 100 KB. Reduce JPEG quality slightly rather than shrinking below 200 px.

5. 5

   Upload it in the application

   The spec page is the portal's own; if the upload screen states anything different, the screen wins.

Checklist before you upload

• Exactly 200 x 200 px, 5 to 100 KB
• White background, no pattern, no shadow, you alone
• Face 70-80% of the frame, chin to crown fully in view
• Taken within the last six months
• Head square, eyes straight at the camera, ears visible
• A hat, or a head covering that hides the chin-to-forehead edges
• A photo stretched or padded to look square
• A file over 100 KB or a thumbnail under 5 KB

For neighbouring Gulf portals, the UAE visa photo rules differ on almost every line, and Turkey's e-Visa accepts a much looser file but demands ICAO framing. Egypt's e-Visa, by contrast, publishes no photo rule at all. If you want a second pair of eyes on a source photo before you resize it for this portal, run it through our free check.

Frequently asked questions

What size photo does the Saudi eVisa need?

The portal's Photo Specifications page states a 200 x 200 pixel photo — equal width and height — with a file size from 5 to 100 KB. It must be a close-up of the face and top of the shoulders, face taking up 70 to 80% of the frame, on a white background.

What background does the Saudi eVisa photo need?

White, according to the portal's Photo Specifications page. The background must have no pattern and show no shadows, and the photo must contain only the person being photographed — no other people or objects.

How recent must the Saudi eVisa photo be?

No more than six months old. The spec says the face must be centred in the photo and no more than six months old "to ensure an up to date likeness", so reuse of an older passport photo is the wrong approach.

Can I wear a head covering in a Saudi eVisa photo?

The spec says head wear is generally not permitted, with exceptions especially for religious reasons. In that case the face must be visible from the lower tip of the chin to the forehead, with no shadows on the face.

Who can apply for the Saudi tourist eVisa?

The portal's home page lists 66 eligible countries — the US, UK, Canada, most of Europe, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and the GCC among them. The eVisa is a one-year, multiple-entry visa allowing stays of up to 90 days for tourism including Umrah, but not Hajj.

Why couldn't you read the Saudi portal directly?

visa.visitsaudi.com serves automated requests an access-denied page. We verified the specification against archived copies of the official Photo Specifications page — the wording has been unchanged in captures from 2020 through June 2026 — and flag that limitation in the article.

Sources

• Saudi eVisa portal - Photo Specifications (read via archived copies; live page blocks automated access)
• Saudi eVisa portal - home page (66 eligible countries, one-year multiple entry, 90-day stays)
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia - visa services portal (alternative channel for visit visas)