October 26, 2026 · Knowledge
Bottom line first: get the orientation right, then worry about the baby. Travel Permit and passport-style photos are portrait 33mm×48mm (33 wide, 48 tall), while a China visa photo is landscape 48mm×33mm. Same numbers, opposite orientation — reusing one for the other is the easiest way to get sent back. Travel Permits are filed online in the "China Consul" app, so check the app's own cropping and detection prompts before you upload and let its review be the final word.
1. The hard requirements — all of them
- Size and background: portrait 33mm×48mm, color, front-facing, bare head, plain white background — no shadows, patterns, other people, or objects.
- Recency: taken within the last 6 months and showing how your child looks now. Don't reuse a photo from when your baby was months younger.
- Face: facing the camera, eyes open, all features fully visible, hair not covering brows or eyes; a natural expression — no need to force a smile.
- Clothing and accessories: no hats, headbands, or head coverings (religious or medical reasons excepted); no tinted glasses; avoid white or very light tops that blend into the white background.
- No retouching: no beauty filters, no AI face swaps, no composite images. The photo must be true, sharp, and in focus.
2. Photographing a child: pick the pose by age
Technique matters more than equipment here. Shoot when your child is fed, rested, and alert; take a dozen or more frames and pick the best one later — don't count on a single shot.
- Not sitting yet: lay your child on a flat white sheet and shoot straight down from above; or cover a car seat with a white cloth — the seat itself must not show.
- Sitting steadily: sit your child against a white wall, camera at head height, straight on — not from above, not from below.
- Only the child may appear: no adult hand steadying the head or back, no pacifier, toy, comfort blanket, or bottle in frame. Even a fingertip at the edge can fail the photo.
- Very young infants: aim for eyes open and looking at the camera. Reviewers may allow some leeway for the tiniest babies, but don't gamble on it — submit a clear, eyes-open shot if you can get one.
3. The four most common rejections
- Submitting a visa photo instead. A landscape 48×33mm photo uploaded as-is has the wrong orientation and proportions.
- An adult's hand in frame. A hand holding the head or back is the top rejection reason for infant photos.
- Something in the mouth or on the head. Pacifiers, hats, headbands, and bows all obscure the face — remove them before shooting.
- A photo too old or too edited. A months-old photo or one smoothed by a beauty filter may fail both the system check and human review.
Before you upload, run this check in order: is it portrait? Is the background plain white? Are the eyes open? Is your child the only person in frame? If all four pass, upload it. Not sure whether your photo will pass? Contact us — send the photo over and we will look at it before you file, saving you a rejection round. For the latest official rules, see the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles and the prompts inside the "China Consul" app.