12 to 15 mm, called the vertex distance. A contact lens is on the cornea. For high prescriptions (over 4.00 D.) moving the lens from the spectacle plane to the cornea can make a significant difference.
For example, a patient who requires a power of -8.00 D. in a spectacle lens at a vertex distance of 12 mm will only require -7.30 D. in a contact lens at the cornea.