Visa Photos - Immigration New Zealand

Kia Ora & Howdy! It’s Madison with Queen of the South Co. Today I’d like to talk about a few tips and guidelines for your Immigration New Zealand Visa photo! (as always, here's the disclaimer that I am not an immigration expert and am therefore not offering official advice :) 

***Scroll to the bottom for the TLDR! (too long didn't read)

We’ve been living in New Zealand for over 2 years now, so it’s that time! We’re now eligible to submit our Permanent Resident Visa application! This visa is the last stop on the road to citizenship. One pathway of which is being a resident for 5 years (hot tip - you can submit the citizenship application in your 5th year at day 240 instead of 360!). But, regardless of which visa you're submitting, you'll need a visa photo. 

If you're submitting physical, paper applications, you'll need to print the photos out. If you do print them, they need to be 35 mm wide x 45 mm high. However, we’ve done all of our applications digitally (recommend!), and have never had to that.

So! Step one is to take a photo of yourself. (All the official immigration NZ guidelines for that can be viewed here)

I used a tripod phone holder on selfie mode (so I could see the screen) with a ring light and remote clicker that I often use for my store! You can't use a traditional selfie, so if you don't have a tripod, you'll either need to get creative and prop you're phone up and use the timer mode, get a friend or family member to take one of you or, go to a place that takes headshots. But remember, you need to use a neutral background that isn’t solid white (unlike passport photos). 

You can either take the photo in a 3:4 ratio (easiest option) or adjust that manually afterwards. If you're using an iphone, you can go to your camera, swipe up on the text that says "photo" right above the shutter button, and it should give you a few options for the aspect ratio. 

Obviously there’s lots of ways to get the photo off your phone and onto your computer (if that’s what’s you’re using to submit your visa). If your phone automatically uploads all photos to google photos, you can go and grab it there. I like to keep it simple, so I just emailed it to myself. Even though you’re going to open the email right away, it’s still handy to fill out the subject line as "visa photo" so you can find it again if necessary! 

The visa photo needs to be a minimum of 900 pixels wide, up to a maximum of 2250 pixels wide. The height is a minimum of 1200 pixels tall, up to a maximum of 3000. This can be adjusted easily on your computer's photo editor. Below is a screenshot of what that looked like on my laptop: 

 

In addition to the 3:4 ratio and the pixel parameters, the photo also needs to be somewhere between 512KB and 3.14MB, and in either a JPG or JPEG format.

You want your face to be in the center of the photo. The above graph can be helpful... but also a little intimidating! I don't think INZ is grabbing out a ruler to make sure your nose is in the exact center! As long as a bit of your shoulders is in the photo and there's some space at the top and side of your head, you're good! Also, if they need a new photo from you, they're not going to throw your entire application into the trash--um mean, "rubbish". It might just hold things up a bit. 

Here's a quick rodeo-round up of all the requirements: 

• Head in center of photo
• Look straight at the camera with a neutral expression
• Photo is in a 3:4 ratio
• 900 - 2250 pixels wide x 1200 - 3000 pixels tall
• Between 512KB and 3.14MB
• JPG or JPEG format
• No crazy bright clothing (bummer for vintage lovers like myself)
• Background is neutral, not busy, but not solid white
• No dark/heavy framed glasses
• No headwear unless for religious reasons (see official guidelines for that)
• Don't use photo editors or AI to "photoshop" the photo into meeting the requirements
• Photo must be taken within the last 6 months... which mine definitely was... *cough* 

Hope this was helpful and thanks for reading y'all. 

Make sure to check out Queen of the South Co. for vintage treasures from the wilds of New Zealand! 

Cheers!

Madison