How to shrink PDFs for visa and immigration uploads (IRCC, USCIS, UK, Australia)
Passports, bank statements and certificates have to fit a portal's size limit, and they are exactly the files you should not upload to a random website. This guide shows how to shrink them on your own device.
Upload limits we checked on 15 September 2026
- IRCC (Canada): up to 4 MB per file in the secure account, and as low as 2 MB on some portals.
- USCIS online filing (US): up to 12 MB per file.
- IRS Document Upload Tool (US): 15 MB, 120 pages and 40 files per upload.
- UK visa document upload (UKVCAS): reported as 6 MB per file.
- ImmiAccount (Australia): 5 MB per attachment, and no password-protected PDFs.
- Portals change their limits. Always check the current instructions on the portal itself.
Steps
- Photos of documents? Open Images to PDF first and put the pages in order.
- Open Compress PDF and drop the file.
- In "Fit a portal's limit", pick your portal. The target size is set 10% under its limit.
- Press Run. The sizes before and after are shown.
- Open the result at 100% and check that every line is readable before you upload.
If the file is still too big
- Scan in greyscale or black and white at 150-200 dpi: colour scans are the usual reason a page is heavy.
- Remove blank pages with Remove blank pages.
- Split one large document into parts with Split PDF, choosing "By file size" and the same portal.
- Upload one document per file where the portal allows it, instead of one huge PDF.
Doing a whole application at once
The official recipes "Documents for an IRCC upload", "Evidence for USCIS online filing", "UK visa document upload" and "Attachments for ImmiAccount" chain these steps. Running a recipe on many files at once needs Pro.
Questions and answers
Are my passport scans uploaded?
No. Compression runs in your browser; the files never leave your device.
Does Orihako guarantee my application is accepted?
No. It prepares the file; the immigration authority decides what it accepts. Check its instructions and that the result is readable.
Is it free?
Yes, one file at a time. Many files at once, or chained steps, need Pro.
Last updated: 2026-09-15