PDF size limits by portal type: visa, exam, job, court

The limits by portal type, checked on 11 October 2026

Where we could confirm a figure on the portal owner’s own page, it is named. Where we could not, the row describes the pattern and says so; we do not print a number we could not check.

Sources, by name: the Department of State’s “Step 8: Scan collected documents” page; IRCC Help Centre, “Is there a file size limit for documents I upload to my account?”; LinkedIn Help, Easy Apply.

Portals check more than size

A file under the limit can still be refused. These are the other checks, with the fix for each.

• A password. The National Visa Center rejects password-protected files, and many portals do the same without saying why. If you know the password, Unlock PDF removes it.
• One file per field. Many portals take 1 file per upload field, and a second upload replaces the first. When a field wants several pages, merge them into 1 PDF first, then compress the result.
• Several pages as 1 file. The National Visa Center asks for a document with several pages to be scanned and uploaded as 1 file, not 1 file per page. Same fix: merge, then compress.
• The file type. PDF is preferred by most document fields. A field that says JPG means JPG; renaming a PDF does not convert it.
• A minimum scan resolution. Some portals, courts in particular, ask for a minimum scan resolution so pages stay legible. A tight size limit and a high minimum resolution can pull against each other; when they do, fewer pages per file is the way out.

Photo fields and document fields are different

Many application forms have a separate field for a passport photo or a signature, with its own small limit and usually its own format: JPG, not PDF. Do not upload a PDF there. If your photo or signature is inside a PDF, PDF to JPG turns the page into a picture you can crop and upload. The document fields are where the PDF limits in the table apply.

Per file or per application

Read whether the limit is per file or for the whole application. A per-file limit of 4 MB with 10 fields is generous: split a long bundle into its natural documents and each one has room. A limit for the whole application is the hard one; then every document competes for the same space, and removing pages nobody asked for saves more than any setting.

Hit the exact number

For a limit in KB, use the matching size page; each opens the compressor with the target already typed in, and counts 1 KB as 1,000 bytes so the file passes whichever way the portal counts:

• Compress to 50 KB
• Compress to 100 KB
• Compress to 200 KB
• Compress to 500 KB
• Compress to 1 MB

For any other number, such as 4 MB, type it into the size target of the tool above. The tool keeps the best quality that fits, whatever the preset: on a 4 MB target our 10-page colour scan of 17.6 MB comes out at 3.3 MB with its pictures at 150 dpi, sharp enough to zoom into. At the other end, 100 KB holds about 5 scanned pages. The 100 KB guide has the full table.

What this table cannot promise

Limits change without notice, and the portal’s own help page is the source; this table is the map. We checked the named figures on 11 October 2026, and older copies of the same pages show different numbers, which is exactly why the date is there. When the upload screen and this page disagree, the upload screen wins.

The compressor cannot fix a document the portal does not want: a photo where a scan is expected, a missing page, a blurry original. It shrinks pictures and leaves text as text, and when a target cannot be reached it says how close it got. For a CV that will not fit a job site, see Resume PDF too big; for email rather than upload limits, the attachment limits table.