PDF Upload Size Limits for Courts, Immigration, Grants and Government Portals (Checklist)
The situation
The upload fails with "file exceeds the maximum size". The help page says 35 MB. A colleague swears it is 50 MB. A blog post from 2019 says 10 MB. All three can be true — for different courts, different years, or different parts of the same system.
The reliable move is to read the limit from the portal itself, then compress to a number just under it. This page collects published limits so you know what range to expect, with the source for each.
Published limits (check the source before you file)
Limits change. Each row links to where the number was published; confirm it on the day you upload.
| System | Limit | Source |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Bankruptcy Court, E.D. New York (CM/ECF) | 4 MB per document or attachment | nyeb.uscourts.gov |
| U.S. District Court, C.D. California (CM/ECF) | 35 MB per PDF | cacd.uscourts.gov |
| U.S. Bankruptcy Court, D. Utah (CM/ECF) | 35 MB per PDF | utb.uscourts.gov |
| U.S. Bankruptcy Court, W.D. Louisiana (CM/ECF) | 50 MB per PDF | lawb.uscourts.gov |
| U.S. District Court, W.D. Washington (CM/ECF) | 100 MB per document or attachment | wawd.uscourts.gov |
| California Superior Courts (e-filing, default) | 25 MB per document; 35 MB per envelope | One Legal help center |
| USCIS online filing (myUSCIS) | 12 MB per file; older form flows enforced 6 MB | USCIS filing tips via uscis.gov/file-online — confirm on the form's upload page |
| U.S. Dept. of State, NVC / CEAC | 2 MB per file (as reported by filers) | Confirm on travel.state.gov before uploading |
| Courts of Victoria, Australia (CMS) | 50 MB per file | courts.vic.gov.au |
| South African Revenue Service e-Filing (transfer pricing files) | 5 MB per file | sars.gov.za |
| University of Michigan eResearch (IRB) | 268 MB per file | documentation.its.umich.edu |
| Gmail / Outlook.com (email, not a portal) | 25 MB / 20–25 MB | See the email guide |
Two patterns in that table matter more than any single number:
- The spread is enormous — 2 MB to 268 MB. "Court filing limit" is not a number; it is a question for a specific court.
- Many systems have two limits: per document and per transaction (the "envelope"). A filing of five 20 MB exhibits can fail on a 60 MB envelope even though every file passed the 25 MB document check.
Checklist before you upload
- Get the number from the portal's own help page or clerk's notice, not from a forum. Note the date you checked.
- Per file or per submission? If both, plan the total.
- Units. Some systems count 1 MB as 1,000,000 bytes, others as 1,048,576. A 5% margin covers either.
- Format rules. Many systems accept only PDF, some only PDF/A, some refuse encrypted or form-field PDFs. Compression does not change format, but rewriting can break PDF/A — re-validate.
- Legibility standard. Court rules often require that scans be legible when printed; immigration officers read evidence on screen. Keep typed text at 200 dpi or better, grayscale.
- Signatures. Certificate-based digital signatures are invalidated by any modification. Compress, then sign.
Step by step
- Set the target at 95% of the limit — 33 MB for 35 MB, 11.4 MB for 12 MB.
- Compress to that target. In PDF300, enter the number and download. If the tool reports the target is not reachable at legible quality, move to step 4.
- Verify size and legibility. File size on disk; first, middle, last pages and the page with the smallest print at 200% zoom.
- Split when needed. Most e-filing systems allow exhibits or volumes as separate uploads. Name them so the order is unambiguous:
Exhibit_A_part1.pdf,Exhibit_A_part2.pdf. - Record what you did. Date, original size, target, result, tool and settings. If a filing is questioned months later, the record answers it.
FAQ
The portal rejected a file that was under the limit. Why?
Usually one of: the envelope limit, the units mismatch, a file that was encrypted or had a damaged structure, or an upload that stalled and was measured incomplete. Re-check the total, re-save the PDF cleanly ("Save As"), and retry on a stable connection.
Will compressing invalidate my e-signature?
A certificate-based digital signature: yes, always. A scanned or drawn signature image: no — it is just an image, and it survives as long as resolution stays reasonable.
What if the file is still over the limit after splitting as far as the rules allow?
Convert to grayscale, drop to 150 dpi for pages that are reference material only, remove attachments. Then contact the clerk or help desk; most systems have a documented exception route (paper, USB, secure transfer) for oversized filings. Asking is faster than a rejected filing.