Why was my visa photo rejected by the London embassy?

Question

Question about the photo please guys 💖
Hey all! Wondering if anyone else has encountered this - I've no idea why my photo was rejected.

It has no shadows, no jewellery, looking straight at camera with closed mouth, not smiling, hair not on face, white background, no glasses.

I am worried if the second photo isnt accepted then my visa could be rejected. I mean, i don't even know what to change from the photo because they haven't said why it's not okay. To me it seems to follow everything on the embassy's guidance list. My hair is totally off my face- it slightly covers one ear, but according to their guidance list this is fine and it just needs to be off the face.

It was taken by a professional passport photographer - the only thing I can assume is that he has used AI to lighten/brighten it somehow and that the embassy has detected this? Is that a 'thing'?

London embassy if anyone is curious 😊

Thanks in advance everyone 🫶🏻

Ask Thailand · Answer

A user reported their visa photo was rejected despite following the embassy's guidelines, raising concerns about potential impacts on their visa application. The photo reportedly had no shadows, no jewelry, and adhered to the specified criteria, leading the user to speculate that AI adjustments might have caused the rejection. Several commenters suggested that the embassy prefers more casual selfie-style photos taken with smartphones rather than professional ones, and they discussed common pitfalls, such as image size and the proportion of the face in the photo.

Wannikea ********* · Answer

It's pretty clear they want you to use your mobile phone. So set up the background and the picture with the right lighting, don't smile and tada. File size must be less than 3 megabytes

GentleTu******** · Answer

Take a selfie

Danza ******* · Answer

I had issues with the size of the image, they would not accept an image taken in Thailand to Thai standards at a Kodak place for visas, it was weird, had to go have another one done which was bigger 🤷‍♂️

Toni ******* · Answer

They want selfie, not professinal photo... my picture on my visa is hilarious 🤣

Anonymous ****************** · Answer

The message says your face needs to take 70 to 80% of the photo. What percentage did your original photo take up? There have also been reports of requests for taking photos with a smartphone, and people theorizing that they wanted generic everyday photos that were realistic instead of a professional photo with unrealistic lighting.

Sean ********** · Answer

I can only guess... I'm wondering HOW they would tell if your photo is more than 6 months old and assuming they are checking the metadata... (or perhaps none exists so they cannot verify).

It seems the easiest remedy is to just do what they ask... take a new photo with your phone, which will embed current metadata (time, location, device) and would indisputably meet their requirement.

Why was my visa photo rejected by the London embassy?

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