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PDF upload size limits for official portals

Most files are compressed because a portal refuses anything larger. Here are the published limits for 50 common immigration, government, court, job, school, email, AI, e-signature and selling platforms — each with its official source, the date we checked it, and the exact target to type into a compressor.

Type the target into the size box of Compress PDF. Targets sit slightly under each limit, so the file passes whether a portal counts a megabyte as 1,000,000 or 1,048,576 bytes.

Compress a PDF to a target size

Immigration and visas

Government, tax and benefits

  • IRS Documentation Upload Tool

    United States

    Published limit
    15 MB per file, up to 40 files per submission; PDF, JPEG or PNG
    Target to type (MB)
    14
    Watch out for
    Some special characters in file names are refused; keep names to letters, numbers and dashes.

    Compress for the IRS Document Upload Tool

    IRS — Document Upload Tool video scriptChecked October 6, 2026

  • VA.gov claim status tool (evidence uploads)

    United States

    Published limit
    25 MB per file; PDF, GIF, JPEG, BMP or TXT
    Target to type (MB)
    23.5
    Watch out for
    Split large records into several files, each under 25 MB.

    Compress to 23.5 MB

    VA.gov — Claim status tool FAQsChecked October 8, 2026

  • HealthCare.gov Marketplace documents

    United States

    Published limit
    10 MB per document; PDF, JPEG, JPG, GIF, XML, PNG, TIFF or BMP
    Target to type (MB)
    9.5
    Watch out for
    File names can’t include special characters such as / \ : * ? " |

    Compress to 9.5 MB

    HealthCare.gov — How do I upload a document?Checked October 8, 2026

  • Grants.gov application packages

    United States

    Published limit
    Set by each funding agency; Grants.gov suggests keeping the whole package, attachments included, under 200 MB
    Target to type (MB)
    Under your agency’s limit
    Watch out for
    Keep file names to 50 characters or fewer and to the allowed characters, or the whole application can be rejected.

    Grants.gov — Applicant FAQsChecked October 8, 2026

  • USPTO Patent Center

    United States

    Published limit
    25 MB per PDF document (10 MB per DOCX)
    Target to type (MB)
    23.5
    Watch out for
    Larger drawings or appendices can be filed as several documents, each under the limit.

    Compress to 23.5 MB

    USPTO — Patent Center user guide (September 2025)Checked October 8, 2026

  • U.S. Copyright Office (eCO registration)

    United States

    Published limit
    500 MB per uploaded file
    Target to type (MB)
    475
    Watch out for
    Works larger than that can be split into several files, each under 500 MB.

    Compress to 475 MB

    U.S. Copyright Office — eCO FAQsChecked October 8, 2026

  • CRA “Submit documents” (My Account and business accounts)

    Canada

    Published limit
    500 MB in total per submission for most programs; 1 GB for compliance and audit
    Target to type (MB)
    Under 500 in total
    Watch out for
    Each file must have a unique name.

    Canada Revenue Agency — Submit documents onlineChecked October 8, 2026

  • HMRC compliance check documents

    United Kingdom

    Published limit
    15 MB per file, up to 10 documents at a time; PDF, JPEG, XLSX, ODS, DOCX, ODT, PPTX or ODP
    Target to type (MB)
    14
    Watch out for
    Send more than 10 documents in several rounds.

    Compress to 14 MB

    GOV.UK — Send documents to HMRC for a compliance checkChecked October 8, 2026

  • HMRC Customs Declaration Service documents

    United Kingdom

    Published limit
    10 MB per file, up to 10 files at a time; JPG, PNG, TXT or PDF
    Target to type (MB)
    9.5
    Watch out for
    An invoice, bill of lading and licence saved in one PDF count as one file.

    Compress to 9.5 MB

    GOV.UK — Upload documents for the Customs Declaration ServiceChecked October 8, 2026

  • HMRC customs comprehensive guarantee application

    United Kingdom

    Published limit
    41 MB in total for form CCG1F and all supporting documents
    Target to type (MB)
    Under 41 in total
    Watch out for
    Financial statements and forecasts are usually what take up the space.

    GOV.UK — Apply for a customs comprehensive guaranteeChecked October 8, 2026

  • Companies House “Upload a document”

    United Kingdom

    Published limit
    4 MB per document, as a PDF
    Target to type (MB)
    3.8
    Watch out for
    Merge a form and its continuation pages into one PDF before uploading.

    Compress to 3.8 MB

    Companies House — Upload a document guidanceChecked October 8, 2026

  • Centrelink online account (document upload)

    Australia

    Published limit
    Under 10 MB for all files in one upload, up to 10 files; JPG, PNG or PDF
    Target to type (MB)
    9.5 in total
    Watch out for
    The limit covers every file in the upload together.

    Compress to 9.5 MB

    Services Australia — Centrelink online account help: upload documentsChecked October 8, 2026

Courts

Courts also set rules for searchable text, PDF/A, scan resolution and bookmarks. See the court e-filing PDF rules.

Jobs and hiring

School and admissions

  • Turnitin submissions

    Global

    Published limit
    Under 100 MB and under 800 pages per file
    Target to type (MB)
    95
    Watch out for
    The file also needs at least 20 words of text; a scanned PDF without text can be refused.

    Compress for Turnitin

    Turnitin Guides — file requirementsChecked September 27, 2026

  • UCAS application documents

    United Kingdom

    Published limit
    5 MB per document; five at a time, 30 per application
    Target to type (MB)
    4.7
    Watch out for
    Uploading supporting documents is optional and does not replace answering the application questions.

    Compress to 4.7 MB

    UCAS — Uploading documents to your applicationChecked October 8, 2026

  • LSAC law school applications (attachments)

    United States

    Published limit
    3 MB per attachment, such as a personal statement or résumé
    Target to type (MB)
    2.8
    Watch out for
    File names must not contain spaces or special characters.

    Compress to 2.8 MB

    LSAC — JD help and FAQsChecked October 8, 2026

  • Liaison centralized application services (CAS)

    United States

    Published limit
    15 MB per uploaded document
    Target to type (MB)
    14
    Watch out for
    The limit is for the Upload Documents step of the applicant gateway.

    Compress to 14 MB

    Liaison — Upload documentsChecked October 8, 2026

  • Student Finance England evidence

    United Kingdom

    Published limit
    16 MB per file
    Target to type (MB)
    15
    Watch out for
    Only send evidence when Student Finance England asks for it.

    Compress to 15 MB

    GOV.UK — Student Finance England how-to guideChecked October 8, 2026

Email

AI assistants, notes and forms

E-signature

Selling and publishing

Cite or link to this table

Writing a guide, help page or article? Use the table freely under CC BY 4.0: credit DocuGrip and link to this page. The CSV has every row, its official sources and the date each limit was checked.

Citation

DocuGrip. "PDF upload size limits for official portals." Updated October 8, 2026. https://docugrip.com/pdf-upload-size-limits

Link code (HTML)

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Download all 50 limits (CSV)

Questions

What if my portal is not listed?
Use the limit shown next to the upload field. Type a target slightly under it — for example 4.8 for a 5 MB limit — and check the result is still legible.
How current are these limits?
Each entry shows the date we checked it against the official source linked below it. Portals change their rules; the limit on the upload page itself always takes precedence.
Is DocuGrip affiliated with these agencies?
No. This is an independent summary of limits the agencies publish, kept with links so you can check each one yourself.

A limit changed, or your portal is missing? Tell us and we will check the official source.