43×55mm Photo — Size, Pixels and Conversion

How Many Pixels Is 43×55 mm? Values at 300 and 600 DPI

A 43×55 mm photo is **508×650 pixels** at 300 DPI: 43 ÷ 25.4 × 300 = 507.87 and 55 ÷ 25.4 × 300 = 649.61. The same formula at 600 DPI gives 1015.75 × 1299.21, i.e. **1016×1299 pixels**. That second line matters, because the “1016×1300 pixels” requirement circulating around UAE portals is exactly 43×55 mm at 600 DPI — not a second, separate requirement but the same size stated in another unit. Every size derived from the same formula is listed in the full table of document photo sizes.

The last column is the key to this page: 43×55 covers 2,365 mm², while 35×45 mm covers 1,575 mm². The ratio is exactly **1.50** — a 43×55 print is half again as large a surface as 35×45, and holding the same print density therefore needs half again as many pixels. That is why the file budget changes even though the aspect ratios are nearly identical.

Which International Standard Defines 43×55 mm? (2026)

The honest answer is **none of them**. ICAO Doc 9303 Part 3 defines quality and placement rules for the biometric portrait but contains no print size called 43×55 mm. On the UAE side the picture is also different from what is assumed: Dubai’s GDRFA service pages list the photo requirement for entry permits and residence applications simply as “personal photo (white background)”, with no millimetres. The federal ICP’s own Smart Services user manual states **3.5×4.5 cm with a white background** for its services and adds that the photo must be recent and in conformity with ICAO specifications, without a frame, image width 35-40 mm: ICP Smart Services user manual (PDF).

So where does 43×55 come from? Not from a regulation but from **print practice**: the application centres, typing centres, agencies and airline visa desks that actually process UAE applications have asked for this print size for years, and the market settled around it. Our system also produces UAE orders at this size. The practical conclusion: treat 43×55 mm not as an “official standard” but as **the size your channel wants**, and ask your agency or portal in writing before you file. Channel-level detail and UAE application routes are in the UAE / Dubai visa photo guide; the size comparison by country sits on the visa photo sizes page.

How Do You Convert Your Existing 35×45 to 43×55?

The good news first: the gap between 43/55 = 0.782 and 35/45 = 0.778 is only **0.5%**. In other words 43×55 is not a re-cropped version of 35×45 but an almost exactly **scaled-up** one. You do not need to change the head ratio, the eye line or the pose; only about 0.3 mm of height is trimmed from the same frame. That is far easier than moving to a size whose ratio genuinely differs, such as 50×60 mm.

The bad news is on the pixel side: the 300 DPI export of 35×45 is 413×531 pixels, while the 300 DPI target for 43×55 is 508×650. The gap is 23% — printing a ready-made 300 DPI file at 43×55 means inflating it by a quarter, and that shows on paper. A 35×45 file produced at 600 DPI (827×1063 pixels), by contrast, is **more than enough** for a 300 DPI 43×55 print; there the operation is downscaling rather than upscaling, so no quality is lost. What decides the outcome is not the size but the resolution of the file you already hold.

How Many 43×55 Prints Fit on a 10×15 Sheet?

A 10×15 cm photo sheet is really 102×152 mm. Placed upright, 43×55 mm photos fit two columns across (2 × 43 = 86 mm) and two rows down (2 × 55 = 110 mm), giving **four** copies. Turning them sideways makes things worse (one column × three rows = three copies), so the upright layout wins. For comparison, the same sheet yields 8 copies at 35×45 and 9 at 33×48. The large surface of 43×55 is paid for exactly here.

Since UAE applications usually run on one or two printed copies, four is comfortably enough; the rest stay in the drawer in case a long stay triggers a second photo request. Different sizes can also come out of the same shoot: a digital file for the Umrah/Hajj visa if you continue into Saudi Arabia, or a 35×45 version for international passport procedures — each rendered separately for its own pixel-DPI target rather than copied from one file.

Which Rules Stay the Same as the Size Grows?

Moving to 43×55 changes only the surface and the pixel budget; the content rules hold. The items that can be verified in official UAE texts are these: the background must be **white**, the photo **recent** and in conformity with ICAO specifications, without a **frame**, eyes open and hands not visible above shoulder level. UAE government visa and identity services sit under one roof: u.ae — Visa and Emirates ID services. The “last 6 months” limit does not appear as a number in the official text, but it is settled market practice; your own channel may want something shorter.

On the upload side, the file bands channels report (JPEG, a particular KB range, a minimum pixel count) vary between portals and agencies; since official service pages do not publish those numbers, take the warning on the upload screen as your reference. Two practical cautions are constant: a white top against a white background costs you the body outline, so a plain dark or mid-tone top is safer; and glare on spectacle lenses is a returned-file reason in every channel. To see which rule arrives with which size per document, look at the biometric photo sizes by document in Turkey page.