Canada · Citizenship
Canada citizenship photo
Every IRCC citizenship photo page opens with the same line: go to a commercial photographer or studio. The photo is 50 x 70 mm with the face 31 to 36 mm — and 'altered' covers even cropping and brightness correction, so the digital file must be the photographer's original. No app can meet that; we check the studio's photo free.
Free, on-device check. This document's rules mean there is nothing to buy.
The exact specification
The same numbers the checker applies.
- Printed size
- 2 × 50 × 70 mm
- Print rules
- Two identical colour prints for a paper grant or proof of citizenship (one to renounce), professionally printed. The back of each carries your name, the studio's name and complete address, and the date the photo was taken.
- Digital file
- JPEG/JPG · 420 × 540 to 4200 × 5400 px · 4 MB max
- Head size
- 31–36 mm chin to crown
- Background
- Plain white or light-coloured
- Glasses
- Accepted if the frames do not cover your eyes and there is no glare on the lenses. Sunglasses and tinted glasses are refused, even prescription ones.
- Taken within
- the last 6 months
Free check only. Every IRCC citizenship photo page opens with the same instruction: go to a commercial photographer or studio. Paper prints carry the studio's name, complete address and the date on the back, and the digital file must be the photographer's unedited original. No software can supply that. What we offer is a free pre-submission check on the photo your studio gave you.
About background editing. IRCC's list of alterations is unusually broad — it names cropping around the head, adjusting brightness and changing the background, including eliminating shadows. Background replacement is off by default; leave it off.
What the free check covers
We measure
- Head size against the published window
- Eye position, where the authority sets one
- Head tilt and rotation
- Background brightness and evenness
- Sharpness and exposure
Only you can confirm
- Glasses — we can't reliably detect them, so we flag rather than pass
- Expression and mouth position
- Red eye
- Filters, retouching or AI edits made before upload
We are an independent service, not affiliated with any government. The issuing authority always makes the final decision — a pass here means your photo meets the published measurements we can check.