COMPEX Application Documents: Photo, Signature and PDF Upload Guide

Three rules make uploads unusually important in COMPEX. First, the application cannot be edited after Step 2 is submitted, so the Preview screen is your only chance to catch mistakes. Second, incorrect information can cost you the scholarship at any stage, even after selection. Third, selected candidates later bring their original documents to the Embassy for verification, so what you upload now must match what you show later.

In other words, the upload section is not a formality. It is the record the Embassy and the receiving institution rely on, and any mismatch between it and your originals creates problems that cannot be fixed online.

The online form asks for a small set of mandatory files. The list below gives the format and size our tool produces for each one, based on the requirements stated for the current cycle.

Depending on your situation you may also need supporting documents, such as a certificate from your school Principal if you are still appearing in Class 12, or a grade-to-percentage conversion if your board reports grades. After paying the application fee, you also upload the scanned bank challan in Step 3. Sample formats for several of these are on our documents page at /documents.

• Recent passport-size photograph: JPG or JPEG, 100 to 200 KB, 700 x 900 pixels, 200 DPI, 3.5:4.5 aspect ratio, white background.
• Scanned signature: JPG with a small file size within the portal's stated range (our tool produces a file of about 100 KB).
• Citizenship certificate with its English translation certified by a Notary Public: one PDF within the official size range.
• Class 10 pass certificate: one PDF within the official size range.
• Class 12 certificate: one PDF within the official size range.

The photo is the strictest upload, because it has an exact pixel size, a resolution and a file size range all at once. 700 x 900 pixels gives a 3.5:4.5 shape, the proportions of a standard passport photo. If you simply stretch a phone photo to those dimensions, your face will look distorted; the image has to be cropped to the right shape first and then resized.

The 100 KB minimum catches many people out. A heavily compressed photo can fall below it and be refused even though it looks fine on screen, while a photo straight from a modern phone is usually far above 200 KB. Hitting that window by trial and error in a phone editor is tedious, which is the main reason we built a tool for it.

• Use a recent photo against a plain white wall or sheet, with even light from the front.
• Face the camera directly, with your full head and the top of your shoulders in the frame.
• Avoid filters, beauty modes, caps and tinted glasses.
• Do not photograph an old printed photo or crop yourself out of a group picture.

Sign on plain white paper with a dark pen, using the same signature that appears on your other official documents. Consistency matters, because your signature may be compared with forms you sign later in the process.

Photograph or scan it in good daylight, then crop tightly so the signature fills most of the image with only a small white margin. Shadows are the most common problem, so hold the phone directly above the paper and away from any lamp that casts your hand's shadow across the page.

Nepalese citizenship certificates are issued in Nepali, so COMPEX asks for an English translation certified by a Notary Public. Ask the notary to translate every field, including names, dates and addresses, and check the spellings against your mark sheets before you leave. A difference between two spellings of the same name looks trivial but can raise questions at verification. We show a sample translation layout on our documents page.

The citizenship upload is usually several pages: the front and back of the original plus the translation. These need to be combined into one PDF in a sensible order, original first and translation after. If your Class 10 or Class 12 documents run to more than one page, combine those pages in the same way.

If your board reports grades or GPA, use the percentage conversion provided by your school or board and enter those figures consistently in the form. A percentage you calculated yourself that does not match the official conversion is a common source of trouble later.

Tip: Keep the upper size limit in mind while scanning. A high-resolution colour scan of three pages can easily exceed it, while a moderate resolution with light compression usually keeps text sharp and the file within range.

Most upload errors share one cause: preparing files in a hurry on the last day. Preparing everything a week before the deadline gives you time to fix problems calmly and avoids the slow portal performance that often comes with closing dates.

• File too large: compress it with a proper tool rather than lowering quality until the text blurs.
• Photo too small: it must be at least 100 KB, so re-export at higher quality instead of adding blank borders.
• Wrong format: phones may save photos as HEIC or PNG. Convert them properly, because renaming photo.png to photo.jpg does not change the actual format.
• Sideways or upside-down pages: rotate scans before converting them to PDF.
• Missing pages: the citizenship upload needs both sides of the original and the translation in one PDF.
• Cut-off edges: make sure document corners and the issuing authority's seal are visible.
• Wrong file in the wrong slot: name your files clearly before you start, for example class12.pdf and citizenship.pdf.

Our COMPEX document tool at /tools/compex-documents prepares the five core files in one place. For the photo, it opens a cropper locked to the 3.5:4.5 shape, produces a JPG of exactly 700 x 900 pixels at 200 DPI within the 100 to 200 KB window, and checks the result against all four requirements before you download it. For the signature, it compresses your image into a suitably small JPG.

For citizenship, Class 10 and Class 12, you can add several photos or scans and the tool merges them into a single PDF of about 700 KB, comfortably inside the official range. One detail worth knowing: when you add a PDF, the tool uses its first page, so if your scan is a multi-page PDF, add each page separately as an image. When you finish, you can download each file individually or all of them together as a ZIP.

Processing happens entirely in your browser, and your files are not sent to our server, which matters when you are handling a citizenship certificate. Even so, open every output file and confirm it is readable before uploading it to the portal. A tool can resize a blurry scan, but it cannot make it sharp.

Run through this sequence once, slowly, before final submission. Keep a folder with every file you uploaded and a copy of the submitted form; if your payment does not show on the portal within 48 hours, the grievance process asks for a scanned copy of the paid challan, and having everything together saves time.

1. Open each prepared file and confirm it is the right document, the right way up and fully readable.
2. Compare your name, date of birth and parents' names in the form with your citizenship certificate and its translation.
3. Check that the percentages you entered match your mark sheets or official conversion.
4. Review your course choices and institute preferences, since the preference order cannot be changed later.
5. Read the whole application on the Preview screen before final submission.
6. After submitting, download the bank challan, pay at Nepal SBI Bank, and complete Step 3 by entering the challan details and uploading its scan.