How to take photos for a passport. Where is the best place to take a photo? Electronic and other formats

With the introduction of a new type of foreign passport, the photo requirements for a foreign passport have also changed. The fact is that now the electronic chip contains, in addition to other information, a two-dimensional photograph depicting the face of the document owner. That is, the image must be available in electronic form. A photo for a new type of international passport, if taken independently, must meet certain requirements in 2019.

Paper photos

Along with new passports, classic documents or so-called old-style foreign passports continue to be issued. A paper photograph is simply pasted onto the forms of these certificates. The photo for an old-style international passport in 2019 must meet the following parameters:

Size – 35 x 45 mm.
Printed on photo paper.
Color or black and white (full color preferred).
Photo paper should be matte.
The face does not fit into an oval or frame.
The photo is taken strictly from the front.
Light background for photography.

To obtain an old-style ID, you must provide four copies of the photo. New generation passports will require only two photographs.

Biometric passport photo

When issuing documents of a new type in 2019, a photo for a foreign passport is taken by an inspector of the state agency for migration issues. In this case, employees use special equipment configured to the correct parameters. Obviously, in this case, all the requirements that a photograph in electronic form must meet are automatically met.

In addition, if additional image processing is necessary, the government agency should have special graphic editors available that allow for quick correction of the resulting image.

If the state agency for migration issues at the territorial internal affairs body located at the applicant’s place of residence does not have equipment that meets the necessary characteristics for obtaining biometric data of a citizen, he must apply for a new international passport to a government agency equipped with everything necessary. Today, there is already a fairly large list of multifunctional centers capable of issuing new passports, and therefore taking photographs for them in electronic form.

When applying for a biometric document, you must also provide two paper photographs. The requirements for them are similar to those described above for the old-style certificate. These images are used for the application form for issuing a foreign document.

Photography for minors and minors also meets the presented characteristics.

General image requirements

When ordering or making a photo for a foreign passport, you need to take into account not only the size, but also the style of the image. The applicant must wear plain (but not white) clothing. Uniforms and workwear are not allowed. It is also prohibited for the face to be obscured by objects such as sunglasses, hats, or jewelry. Headdresses are permissible only if they are for religious reasons, but they must not cover the face. If the applicant wears glasses (for vision), then they must be present in the photograph.

The photo should not have any creases, highlights, shadows or other imperfections.

Facial expression should be neutral. The person's gaze should be directed directly at the camera lens.

The background for the photograph should be neutral, plain and light. Motley, multi-colored colors and patterns on the background are not allowed. Also, the image should not have “corners”, ovals, frames and other unnecessary details.

Digital photo yourself

When submitting documents for a new generation international passport through the government services portal, the applicant must attach a photograph in electronic form to the application. The system will automatically check the photo for compliance with the necessary requirements.

To travel abroad, Russian citizens need a foreign passport, but obtaining one is not as difficult as it might seem. The procedure for applying for a foreigner has been significantly simplified. It is now possible to submit an application through the State Services website. Obtaining a foreign passport through the State Services portal allows you to avoid queues. But additional difficulties arise - documents must be submitted electronically. Let's figure out what the requirements are for a digital photo for the State Services for a foreign passport.

Technical requirements

In terms of technical characteristics, a photo for a foreign passport must meet the following parameters:

Image encoding format: JPEG or JPEG 2000.
Minimum allowed resolution of the attached file: 450 dpi.
Maximum file size: 300 KB.
The photograph can be in color (in a 24-bit color space) or black and white (in an 8-bit monochrome space).

Photo requirements

In addition to technical characteristics, the image must meet the following requirements:

The size of the photo should be proportionally 35x45 mm.
The height of the face in the photograph is from 29 to 34 mm, the pupils are located at the same height in the eye area, and the nose is located on the central line of the image.
The photo is taken from the front and without headgear.
The face should be clear, not blurry.
Photographs wearing headdresses are only permitted for religious reasons. The oval of the face should remain open and recognizable.
If you wear glasses all the time, you can take pictures with them on. The main thing is that the glasses have clean and transparent lenses without tinting and do not create glare during shooting. The frame is not allowed to cover the eyes.
You cannot be photographed in uniform.
There should not be any unnecessary objects or people in the photo.
Photographs should be taken against a single-color background; light blue or light gray are recommended.
When photographing, there should be a neutral facial expression, the eyebrows should be “relaxed”: not drawn together or raised. The eyes are open, but not wide, as in life. Looking straight into the camera, mouth covered.
You cannot retouch a photo.

To get a photo that meets all your requirements, contact your nearest photo center. You can also take a photo at home, sitting with your back to the wall, covering it with a light gray or light blue cloth, and then crop the images in any graphic editor, adjusting it to the requirements of the government services website.

The government services website has a photo editor that allows you to crop, rotate photos, reduce or increase brightness, and remove red-eye.

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The question of how to take a photo for a foreign passport is not worth it if you contact professionals from a photo studio. It’s another matter if you need to apply for a passport now, but there is no time to go to the city to take a photo. In such cases, you have to resort to alternative options and take photos yourself.

Requirements for a passport photo on the State Services portal

The size of the image is reduced when resaving in any editor. In the specified online service, just open the photo and click “file-export”. The quality level is indicated here - just change the adjustment to the desired percentage value.

The resolution of 300 pixels is set in the settings of the device with which the photo is taken. Using the specified editors (or any other), the image size is set and changed to the required 35 by 45 mm (in programs, the measurement value is mm).

How to take a photo for a passport

Above we discussed the technical characteristics of the text. But compliance with them alone is not enough for a photograph that is submitted along with other documents for a foreign passport. The following requirements apply to the image:

Lack of facial expressions, grimaces, emotions;
When taking a photo, you need to sit upright;
The gaze should be directed forward, directly into the lens;
Mouth closed;
The face is illuminated evenly, there should be no shadow;
Long hair should not cover the face;
No red eyes, these photos are retaken;
Casual clothing as shown, no "overalls";
Background – white;
Clear photo, no blur on the face;

The face in the photo should occupy at least 70% and no more than 80%. It is prohibited to process a photograph using editors in order to add effects to it. They are used only to establish the required technical parameters specified above.

A headdress is allowed in the photo if it is related to religious characteristics. The main requirement is that the oval of the face should not be hidden.

How to upload a photo to State Services for a foreign passport?

The resulting photo must be copied to a computer or flash drive so that it can be easily uploaded to the portal when applying for a document for foreign travel.

Before you upload a photo to State Services for a foreign passport, you need to go through a long journey:

Complete registration;
Receive a confirmation code;
Select the department and type of service;
Fill out the form.

And only then the system will offer (sixth step) to upload a photo.

After uploading the image, you need to adjust it in the system itself in relation to the three lines located and crop it. The system will offer to do all this; you won’t have to search for anything yourself. Next, click the “save” button.

The system will not accept a file that does not meet any parameters.

You will have to adjust it to the required technical requirements or take a new photograph, taking into account the previously admitted shortcomings.

It makes no difference what kind of passport the photo is taken for - biometric or old-style. For the first, the passport is photographed directly at the territorial office of the GUVM itself, and a digital photograph is needed when filling out the application form. The requirements for the photo are the same as for the old-style international passport.

Full list of passport photo requirements

The applicant's image must be consistent with his current appearance.
The photograph must show only one person. There should be no other objects in the photograph.
The image must be strictly frontal, with facial expressions (expression) that do not distort its features, without turning or tilting the head.
The facial expression should be neutral, the eyebrows should be in a normal position (not raised as if in surprise, not drawn together on the bridge of the nose), the eyes should be “normally” open (hair should not obscure them), looking straight ahead at the camera, not squinting to the side, mouth closed .
The citizen's eyes must be open.
General and detailed blur of the photograph and the presence of blurred highlights in the image of the eyes are unacceptable. The face in the photo should be in focus from the tip of the chin to the hairline and from the nose to the ears.
Distortion of characteristic facial features in photographs is unacceptable.
It is advisable to take photographs in a plain suit (dress).
The use of yellow, red and other shades of lighting in photographs is not allowed. Lighting should not distort the natural color of the skin. We do not allow the “red eye” effect in the photograph.
The face must be evenly illuminated, the facial area must be clearly visible and free of shadows, and the irises and pupils of the eye must be clearly visible.
The background is white, smooth, without stripes, spots and images of foreign objects and shadows.
It is permitted to submit photographs wearing hats that do not hide the oval of the face by citizens whose religious beliefs do not allow them to appear in front of strangers without hats.
For citizens who constantly wear glasses, it is mandatory to take photographs with glasses without tinted lenses. Glasses must have clean and transparent lenses so that the pupils and irises are clearly visible. The frame of your glasses should not cover your eyes. Glasses should not be a source of glare in the photograph.
Photos in uniform will not be accepted.
Editing or modification of the digital image is not permitted.
The distance from the bottom point of the chin to the conventional horizontal line drawn through the pupils of the eyes should be (12±1) mm. The interpupillary distance should be at least 7 mm.
The image-free upper field above the head was (5±1) mm.
The size of the face oval image in the photograph should be 70–80 percent of the photo size.

Technical requirements for photography:

File format: JPEG, PNG, BMP.
The photograph can be taken in 24-bit color space or 8-bit monochrome (black and white) space.
The minimum size of an attached file is 10 KB, the maximum is 5 MB.
The minimum resolution of the attached photo should not be less than 300 DPI.
Aspect ratio (W * H) – 35 x 45 mm.

When obtaining any identification card, a mandatory condition is the presence of a photograph. You can take a photo in any photo studio that has the appropriate license. The situation is somewhat different with a foreign passport. It is necessary to take a photo with your international passport in compliance with all necessary conditions, because this document will serve as identification outside your home country. In 2019, there are two types of foreign passports, new and old generation. The requirements for photographs for their design are somewhat different, and the number of submitted photographs is also different.

The general requirements for a photograph for our international passport are similar to the parameters for any identity card:

A citizen must not wear a head covering (with the exception of a hinjab for a Muslim woman or a cap for an Orthodox Jew).
If a person always wears glasses, the photo should be with glasses. Transparent glass without glare, darkening is not allowed.
The image should be strictly “full face”, the shoulders should also be directed straight. The oval of the face should be completely open.
Clothes are plain, light colors, but not white; uniforms are not allowed.
The face is calm, without emotions. The eyes should be clearly visible in any case. The line connecting the eyes should be strictly horizontal.
The background for the photo is light gray or light blue (other colors are not allowed).

You can take a photo for your passport at any photo salon. Nowadays, an experienced amateur photographer, with a strong desire, can take a photograph for a foreign passport on his own. The only obstacle to this is that the passport photo must be on good quality matte photo paper.

For a passport using the old template, the photograph is submitted on paper. A new passport is made with a digital photograph.

Requirements for photography using the old template

The photo is attached to the application form and pasted into the passport. The requirements for the quality of the image and the quality of execution are quite high, because identification is carried out precisely by the photograph of the owner, which reflects all the individual characteristics of the face.

Four photographs printed on matte photo paper are attached to the completed application form. Photos must have the following parameters:

Photo size 35 mm x 45 mm.
The face must occupy at least 29 mm x 34 mm in the total area, with a distance from the edge of at least 2 mm.
The bottom of the photo is placed in a blurry semi-oval.

All regulatory documents indicate that the picture can be either black and white or color, but color is preferable.

Photo requirements for a biometric passport

A photo for a new international passport is taken using special equipment from the Federal Migration Service. Specialists of the Main Department of Migration Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs will fulfill all the required parameters, so the applicant does not have to worry about this. If documents are submitted in person, there is no need to attach a photo to the application form.

With the development of the online service of State Services, an increasing number of citizens submit documents through a single portal. In this case, attaching the photograph file to the package of documents is necessary.

The requirements for a photo for a document using the new template are not as high as the requirements for a photo for an old-style international passport. This is explained by the fact that to produce a document, it will be done at the Federal Migration Service; the 10-year validity period of the passport will make changes to the owner’s appearance, and biometric data can also be used for identification.

Along with the general requirements for appearance, the following requirements apply for the photo that will be attached to the application form:

The photo size should be in proportions 35 x 45.
The file size is no more than 300 KB and with a resolution of at least 450 pixels per inch.
color in 24-bit, monochrome in 8-bit, JPEG.
The position of the head is full face, the line of the eyes should be strictly horizontal.

When submitting online, the photo file is attached to the documents at the very end of filling out all forms. When submitting documents in person, two photographs are attached to the application form, which most often may not be necessary. The photo requirements for the new international passport are not very strict and serve more for storage in the personal file with the application form, and not for the document itself.

Child photo in passport

A child’s photo on an old-style international passport is no different from an adult’s. In order not to upset the baby with an unfamiliar environment, you can take pictures at home. Older children love to take pictures in public.

Requirements for parameters remain general. Photos of children pasted into the parent's passport serve as identifiers when crossing the border and must be clear enough. They can be either color or monochrome.

It is somewhat more difficult to photograph a child with a new biometric passport. You can try to submit a digital version online, but more often children have to come to the migration service department.

As experts advise, for young children it is more convenient to prepare a document using the old template. A 14-year-old citizen definitely needs his own passport, so it is already possible to make a passport for more than 5 years - a biometric one. Unless, of course, frequent trips abroad are planned.

The standard package of documents required to obtain a foreign passport includes 4 photographs.

They must meet certain standards, otherwise the applicant may be denied the document. How to take a photo for a passport so that the documents are accepted for consideration?
In order to do everything right, you need to keep certain standards in mind. Applying for a foreign passport will go without any problems if you familiarize yourself with the requirements for personal photographs for Russian citizens. All of them are contained in the technical requirements created by the Russian government. At the same time, the requirements for old and new passports are the same, except for some points.
A personal photograph of a Russian citizen for a foreign passport can be black and white (old-style document) or color (for a biometric passport). Its size should be 37x47 mm (+ 2mm), and after cutting for gluing, its size should be 35x45 mm.
The photo should be taken only from the frontal view, and it should be printed only on matte photo paper. If you are applying for a biometric passport, the photo can be taken in an oval or without it. If you are applying for an old-style international passport, then the photo should have a blurry oval at the bottom.
Headwear and accessories that cover the face (glasses, headbands, etc.) are not allowed, except those that have a confirmed medical prescription. It is better to choose clothes that are not very dark; the background in the photo should be light and monochromatic.
Please note that the application form can also be submitted electronically, which is considered a more convenient method, as you do not have to stand in a long line. But you need to submit it along with an uploaded photo, so you can ask the photo studio to send you a digital version of the photo onto a flash drive. Before taking a photo for your international passport, you need to notify the photographer in the photo salon in advance about the purpose for which you are taking the photo - an experienced specialist will know exactly what standards the photo in paper and digital form must meet.
By the way, you will only have to use the services of a photographer if you are applying for an old-style international passport. For a biometric passport, photographs are taken by specialists from the Federal Migration Service using special equipment.
We issue a child’s international passport – requirements for children’s photos.
How to take a photo of a child for a passport so that there are no problems with obtaining the document? Let’s say right away that they are no different from photographs taken for adult applicants. If you are planning to make a passport for a child under 14 years of age, please note that a photo must be provided in any case, even if the baby is only a few months old. For young children, it is recommended to make old-style passports, since their validity is only 5 years, and not 10 years, like a biometric passport.

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