"PP size photo" is what most people in Nepal call a passport-size photo. We found no single Nepali rule that sets one size for every form, but Nepal's Department of Passports and the Nepali embassy pages we found that give a size for a Nepali citizen's photo all use the same one: 35 mm wide and 45 mm high (3.5 × 4.5 cm), on a white background. The Department of Passports calls that size a "passport-size photograph". This guide gives that size in centimetres, inches and pixels, lists the offices that ask for it, and explains when you need no PP size photo at all.

The short answer

QuestionAnswer
Size35 mm wide × 45 mm high
In centimetres3.5 × 4.5 cm
In inches1.38 × 1.77 inches
In pixels at 300 DPI413 × 531 pixels
In pixels at 600 DPI827 × 1063 pixels
BackgroundWhite
FaceAbout 70% of the photo (Embassy of Nepal in Canberra)

The size, the background and the face come from the official pages in the table further down. The inches and pixels are our conversions of 35 × 45 mm, not extra rules. One page gives pixels of its own: for the NRN card, the Embassy of Nepal in Seoul asks for a photo of "45 mm x 35 mm, 400x300 pixels". Both are written height first, so that is 300 pixels wide and 400 pixels high.

When you do not need a PP size photo

  • The Nepali e-passport. You fill in the online pre-enrolment form at home, and your photo and biometrics are taken at the enrolment centre. The Department of Passports asks only newborns and children under 5 to bring one: 35 × 45 mm, on a plain white background, without borders (see the table below). The Nepal e-passport page has the details.
  • A Nepal visa or ETA, for foreign visitors. The Department of Immigration asks for a recent passport photo with a white background, uploaded with a scan of your passport. The Nepal visa photo page gives the file rules and makes the photo.

Nepali offices that ask for a PP size photo

Office and serviceWhat the official page asks for
Department of Passports: e-passport for a newborn or a child under 5A passport-size photograph, 35 × 45 mm, with a plain white background and without borders
Embassy of Nepal, Ottawa: travel documentThree passport size photos, 45 mm high and 35 mm wide
Embassy of Nepal, Canberra: newborn's e-passportTwo 35 × 45 mm, high-resolution, borderless photos on a white background, the face covering about 70%, no tika on the forehead
Embassy of Nepal, New Delhi: e-passport for a child under 5A 35 × 45 mm, high-resolution, borderless photo on a white background
Embassy of Nepal, Seoul: NRN identity cardA recent passport-size photo, 45 × 35 mm, 400 × 300 pixels

Other offices and online forms can set their own rules. When a form gives a size in pixels or KB, its numbers are the ones that count.

How to make a PP size photo

  1. Stand in front of a plain white wall, facing a window so the light is even. Keep your face clearly visible and your forehead clear: the embassy in Canberra does not accept a photo with tika on the forehead.
  2. Open Resize a photo to 3.5 × 4.5 cm and add your photo. It makes a 35 × 45 mm photo with 300 DPI saved in the file, which is 413 × 531 pixels.
  3. Drag the picture to frame it, so that your face covers about 70% of the photo, as the Canberra embassy asks.
  4. To print it, ask a photo shop to print the file at actual size (100%), or print it on photo paper yourself with "actual size" chosen, never "fit to page". Measure the print with a ruler: it should be 35 mm wide and 45 mm high.

When a form asks for KB or pixels

Some online forms give the photo size in KB or pixels instead of millimetres. Then follow the form: Make a photo smaller keeps a photo under a KB limit, and Resize a photo makes exact pixels. If a form refuses a file that looks small enough, KB, MB and why the same file shows two sizes explains why.

Sources