Compress a PDF for a Visa Application on Your Mac

It depends on the portal and sometimes on the document slot, and the numbers change. Smol cannot tell you your cap, so read it on the upload page itself. These are the official places to look.

Write the number down in megabytes, then compress and check the output against it. Smol sets quality and pixel size, not output bytes, so it cannot promise a file lands under a cap; the per-file sizes it shows are how you confirm.

The general USCIS file online page does not state a USCIS file size limit. Use whatever figure USCIS shows for your form or upload screen, not a forum post.

If an upload fails, compress that one file rather than all of them. A multi-page scan is the usual cause, and the PDF too big to upload guide walks through the diagnosis. Keep the original so you can submit it by another route if a reviewer asks for a higher-quality copy.

The CEAC document upload size is whatever the portal or your appointment instructions state for the document you are uploading. Read it there, then match it. This page does not quote a number because the portal is the only source that stays current.

Start with the Medium PDF preset on a scan. If the file is still over, move to Small and open the result to confirm every line is legible. Photos follow stricter rules, covered below.

For a scanned passport PDF, size comes from page images, so Smol’s PDF presets, which cap the long edge of each page image, do the work. Medium caps it at 1200 px, Small at 900.

Smol does not do OCR itself. In that same test a separate tool, OCRmyPDF, made the text layer, and Smol Medium then took the file from 5,017,560 to 288,609 bytes, 94.2% smaller, with the text layer intact. Different scans give different results.

Check the official photo rules for pixel dimensions, format and file size first, then compress to fit. Smol does not check whether a visa photo complies with those rules: composition, background, head size and expression are yours to verify.

Compress with output JPG and quality 85 to 90 as a starting point (a choice, not a requirement). Smol resizes images to fit inside 2000 × 2000 px by default, so set the maximum dimension to match the rules, or turn resize off if the rules specify exact pixels. Use Compress rather than Convert, because quality applies only to Compress. Metadata is stripped by default, which removes EXIF and GPS. On 24 small test photos at default settings Smol cut JPEGs by 69.3%; see the benchmark. Phone-sized photos will differ. If the HEIC from an iPhone is the problem, the HEIC to JPG guide covers it.

1. 1

   Read the cap on the upload page

   Note the megabyte limit and the accepted formats for that slot.

2. 2

   Copy the scan next to the original

   Smol writes a copy with a _compressed suffix and does not overwrite the original by default.

3. 3

   Drag the PDF into Smol and choose Medium

   Mixed files can go in together: PDFs and photos in one batch.

4. 4

   Read the output size and open the file

   Zoom into stamps, dates and the machine-readable zone at the bottom of the passport page. If unreadable, go up one preset.

5. 5

   If still over, go down one preset

   Move from Medium to Small and recheck. Avoid Tiny for identity documents.

6. 6

   Upload the compressed copy and keep the original

   Keep the full-quality scan for any interview or request for the original.

Preview is free and fine for a single simple file, though its Reduce File Size can make text worse. For identity documents, avoiding an online upload is a reasonable preference; the legal and HR guide covers the trade-offs. If a lawyer files for you, the law-firm page covers that side.

You need to verify a photo meets the rules. Smol does not check compliance of a visa photo. Use the official checker or photo tool.

You need to redact, sign, merge or OCR. Smol does none of these. Merging several documents into one PDF needs another tool first, then Smol can shrink the result.

You apply once and are not on a Mac. Smol is macOS only, and a one-time application may not justify $29 when Preview or a rescan gets you under the cap.

You need legal advice. Smol does not tell you which documents to submit or whether a scan is acceptable. Ask an attorney or the agency. Related: the confidential documents page and the education uploads page.