🇰🇷South Korea Passport Photo
for $1

The official requirements

The Korea Passport Service sets the standard. A photo that misses any of these is rejected:

• Size: 35×45 mm (3.5×4.5 cm), portrait
• Background: plain white — uniform, no borders, ink marks, or shadows
• Head size: 32–36 mm from chin to crown
• Expression: neutral, mouth closed, eyes open looking straight ahead
• Glasses: allowed with clear lenses free of glare — frames must not cover the eyes
• Recency: taken within the last 6 months
• Color: color photo only — no retouching, filters, skin-smoothing, or AI editing

For a digital upload, the file must be a JPEG, 413×531 pixels, and no larger than 500 KB.

How to take a compliant photo

The one thing to watch in Korea is editing — beauty modes built into everyday cameras and apps will get a photo rejected. The setup:

1. Stand 4–6 feet from a plain white wall, far enough that no shadow falls behind you.
2. Light yourself evenly from the front — face a window.
3. Turn off every beauty mode, skin-smoothing, and AI “enhance” setting before shooting — many phones apply these silently by default.
4. Have someone else take it from chest height, straight on. A selfie distorts the face.
5. Look directly at the camera, neutral expression, mouth closed, both eyes open.
6. Crop to 35×45 mm with the head at 32–36 mm chin to crown — or upload the shot to a tool that crops to the Korean spec.

Why photos get rejected

The same problems get photos bounced repeatedly. Each one, and the fix:

• Digital alterations — filters, retouching, skin-smoothing, or AI edits. Turn all of it off; an altered photo is rejected.
• Wrong size — submitting the US 2×2 inch format. It must be 35×45 mm.
• Head outside the 32–36 mm window — too large or too small. Re-crop, or re-shoot from the right distance.
• Background not white — patterns, borders, or shadows. Use a plain white wall.
• Glare on glasses — reflections on the lenses. Tilt the head slightly, or take the glasses off.
• Photo older than 6 months — it must reflect your current appearance.

What to wear (and not wear)

There is no formal dress code, but a few choices reliably cause trouble:

Avoid: sunglasses and tinted lenses, circle lenses and colored contacts, non-religious hats. A white or very pale top blends into the white background — wear a darker, solid color.

Fine: ordinary everyday clothing, normal light everyday makeup, religious head coverings worn daily with the face fully visible. Glasses are fine — just keep the lenses clear and glare-free.

The trap in Korea is editing, not clothing: slimming the face, enlarging the eyes, or removing moles will get the photo rejected. If the photo looks noticeably better than you do in a mirror, it has probably been edited too far.

Where to get your photo

You can get a South Korean passport photo from a photo studio, a self-service booth, or online:

• Photo studio — common near government offices and stations; the studio takes the photo and prints it. Fastest if you’re already out, and staff know the 35×45 mm size. Ask them not to retouch the result.
• Self-service photo booth — booths in stations and stores have a passport preset that prints the correct size. Convenient, but check the head height and that no beauty filter has been applied.
• Online tool — upload your own shot; it is cropped and checked against the 35×45 mm spec, and you get a digital file plus a print-ready sheet. Make sure your own shot has every editing setting off first.

Whichever you choose, the only thing that matters is that the photo meets every rule above — especially the no-retouching rule.

Submitting your photo

How you submit depends on the route:

In person — South Korean passports are applied for at a passport counter — typically a district or provincial government office (gu-cheong or si-cheong) — or at a Korean embassy or consulate abroad. You bring a compliant 35×45 mm printed photo to the counter.

Digital file — For routes that accept a digital photo, use a JPEG (413×531 px, under 500 KB) on a plain white background.

Babies, kids & special situations

Infants and toddlers follow the same rules — plain white background, neutral face, no pacifier, no hands or arms in the frame, both eyes open. Lay the baby on a white sheet and shoot from directly above.

Religious head coverings are allowed when worn daily for religious reasons; the face must stay fully visible from forehead to chin.

Glasses are allowed with clear, glare-free lenses and frames that don’t cover the eyes. Circle lenses and colored contacts that enlarge or recolor the iris are not allowed — only clear vision-correcting contacts. Ordinary makeup is fine; AI “auto-beautify” is not.