VisaPhotoCheckPreview first

Check your document before the portal refuses it

Visa portals reject uploads for reasons they rarely explain. A file two kilobytes over the limit, a PNG where only PDF is accepted, a scan saved from a password-protected document — each one fails, and most portals say only that something went wrong. This page checks your file against the rules the authority actually published, before you waste an attempt.

Supported portals

Your document never leaves your browser

The check runs entirely on your own machine. Your passport scan is not uploaded, not stored, and never reaches our servers — the page reads the file's size, type and structure locally and compares them against the portal's rules. That is also why the answer appears instantly instead of after an upload.

What this checks, and what it does not

This is a file-level check: format, size, and whether the file is password protected. Those are the rules portals publish and enforce automatically, and they are the reasons an upload fails outright rather than being reviewed and rejected later. It does not yet judge the contents of the scan — whether every corner of the page is visible, whether the image is sharp enough to read, or whether the machine-readable zone is legible. Those are being built; until they exist, this page will not pretend to check them.

Common questions

Why does my document upload keep failing?
Almost always one of three things: the file is larger than the portal's limit, it is in a format the portal does not accept, or it is password protected. Portals check these automatically before a human sees the application, and most report only a generic error. Checking the file first tells you which of the three it is.
Is my passport scan uploaded anywhere?
No. The check runs in your browser using your own device. The file is never transmitted to us or to anyone else, which is why the result appears in under a second.
The portal says my file is too large. What do I do?
Re-export it at a lower resolution rather than compressing an already-compressed file. For a scan, 150 or even 96 DPI is usually enough to stay readable while cutting the file size substantially — Canada's immigration service recommends exactly this. Avoid re-saving a JPEG repeatedly; each save loses more detail.
Can I upload a photo of my passport instead of a scan?
Several authorities allow it. The US State Department's own instructions say you can either scan or photograph your documents. Check the specific portal's page — this tool links the official source for each one.
Where do these rules come from?
Each portal's rules are quoted from that authority's own published page or PDF, with the source linked on the portal's page and the date it was last read. Where an authority does not publish a rule, none is enforced — an unstated limit is left unchecked rather than guessed.

You will need a compliant photo too

The same application needs a passport-style photo meeting its own published rules — head size, background and file limits. Check yours free before you submit.

Check my photo — free