Get your photo into the laoevisa.gov.la upload format — JPG or PNG under 10 MB, 4×6 portrait shape, HEIC converted — entirely in your browser. The photo never leaves your device.
Laos's official eVisa portal (laoevisa.gov.la, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Lao PDR) states the photo rules in its own FAQ: your photo must be sized 4×6 cm, in colour, taken within the last 6 months, with no shadows, a plain white background, facing the camera, with a neutral expression and both eyes open. The upload widget itself says JPG, JPEG or PNG, maximum size 10 MB. That's the whole published file spec — there is no official pixel count and no minimum file size. This page is preset to it: drop your photo and PixFit hands back a file the form takes, without the photo ever leaving your device.
Here's the part worth knowing before you spend time on pixel-perfect preparation: when you pick a file, the application form opens its own crop window locked to the 4:6 shape — you drag the dotted rectangle over your face — and then the portal re-encodes your crop itself (scaled to about 1000 pixels wide) before it's uploaded. So there is no point micro-optimising kilobytes for this form. What actually matters is: a sharp, well-composed source photo, a file the picker will accept (JPG or PNG under 10 MB), and enough resolution that the portal's own downscale stays crisp. If your photo already meets that, upload it as-is and let the portal's crop window do the framing.
Three real jobs. First, iPhone photos: the portal's file picker asks for JPG or PNG — an HEIC straight off an iPhone needs converting, and PixFit decodes HEIC in your browser and hands back a JPEG. Second, oversized files: a modern phone photo or a scan can exceed 10 MB, and the form rejects it client-side with “Maximum file size is limited to 10MB only” — the preset target fixes that at the best quality that fits. Third, framing control: if you want to decide the crop yourself rather than fight the dotted rectangle on a phone screen, type a 2:3 portrait size such as 800x1200 into Exact size and drag the crop preview — the portal's crop window will then match your framing almost exactly. There's no minimum, so nothing needs padding.
The FAQ links the portal's own reference sheet of rejected photos, and it's specific: blurred or washed-out or overlit photos fail; a non-neutral expression fails; a face too small in the frame fails (retake closer up — enlarging a tiny head can't add detail); hair covering part of the face fails; a patterned or coloured background fails (plain white is the rule); glasses with reflections, tinted lenses, or frames covering the eyes fail — the sheet's passing examples do show clear glasses worn straight; a covered face fails, while religious headwear is shown passing when the face stays fully visible; and yes, the sheet includes “no upside down photograph”. PixFit fixes format and bytes; every rule in this paragraph is about the photograph itself.
Third-party “Laos visa photo” pages garble this spec in every direction: one quotes “600×750 pixels minimum, 300 DPI, under 2 MB” — those are the UK visa numbers with a wrong cap attached; two near-identical guides sell “152×227 pixels (2MB maximum)”, a resolution that appears nowhere official and would look terrible after the portal's own processing; another says “40×60 mm at 300 dpi, max 2 MB”; another recycles the US DS-160's “600×600 to 1200×1200” square spec — the Laos photo is not square. The recurring “2 MB” looks like the portal's supporting-document limit mis-attributed to the photo: hotel bookings, flight details and similar attachments are capped at 2 MB, while the photo and passport uploads take up to 10 MB. The numbers on this page come from the portal's own FAQ and its form's own validation; if the upload screen disagrees, the portal wins.
The application also wants a photo of your passport bio page covering the whole page including the MRZ — the two machine-readable lines at the bottom — because the system reads your details off it. Photograph the full page flat, in even light, with no glare across the MRZ, and don't crop the edges. Same limits as the photo: JPG or PNG, up to 10 MB. Note that only ordinary passports can apply for the eVisa, and your passport must be valid for more than 180 days from your arrival date — the portal makes you renew first otherwise. Some applications also ask for a passport cover image or supporting documents (hotel, flights, bank statement); those slots are capped at 2 MB each, and the same tool above will compress into that.
Worth knowing before you pay, straight from the FAQ: the eVisa is single entry with a 30-day stay permit; the approval letter is valid for 60 days after you receive it (enter within that window); processing takes about 3 working days and the system only accepts applications at least 5 days before arrival — so this is not an airport-queue decision. The eVisa works at 9 designated ports including Wattay International Airport (Vientiane), Luang Prabang and Pakse airports and the Friendship Bridge crossings — enter elsewhere and you're doing visa-on-arrival again, with no refund. The fee is non-refundable in all cases, so check the photo against the official sheet before paying.
Two cautions. First: the only official application site is laoevisa.gov.la — the space around it is crowded with agency and lookalike sites charging a markup on the same application. Type the address rather than clicking an ad. Second: a visa photo travels with your passport details, so it shouldn't detour through a resizer's server — PixFit re-encodes entirely in your browser, nothing is uploaded, and the re-encode strips EXIF metadata (including GPS) as a side effect. Applying elsewhere in the region? See the Vietnam e-Visa, Thailand e-Visa and Indonesia e-VOA pages, or the full verified table.
Spec source: the portal's own FAQ and photo reference sheet at laoevisa.gov.la, and the upload form's own published limits, as read July 2026. These numbers change — if your upload screen disagrees, believe the portal.