Austria passport photo
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The requirements
| Print size | 35 x 45 mm |
|---|---|
| Head height, chin to crown | 30-36 mm The head from chin to crown should take up about two thirds of the picture and must never be higher than 36 mm; 30 mm is that two thirds of the 45 mm frame, written out here as the minimum. Hair, including tall hairstyles, may extend beyond the frame. The distance between the pupils must be at least 8 mm, 10 mm is optimal. |
| Background | Single-coloured light background, ideally grey, with enough contrast to face and hair, no pattern and no shadows |
| Glasses | Allowed, as long as the eyes are fully visible with no glare and no tint. |
| Expression | Neutral, mouth closed, both eyes open. |
| Head covering | Only for religious or medical reasons, and the face must be visible from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead. |
| Ears | No |
| Photo age | 6 months |
| Also required |
|
Austria publishes a maximum head height (36 mm) but no exact minimum: the wording is that the head should take up about two thirds of the picture, which is roughly 30 mm, so this file records the ceiling only rather than inventing a lower bound. The pupil to pupil distance of at least 8 mm is the practical minimum size test. Austria still works from a paper photo brought to the passport authority, unlike Germany which moved to compulsory digital transmission in 2025.
Applying in Austria
Austria still runs on paper, and that is the most useful thing to know about it. The application checklist asks for one photograph in portrait format, 35 by 45, in colour, not older than six months, meeting the interior ministry's Passbild criteria. You bring it to the passport authority. Germany moved to compulsory digital transmission in 2025 and Austria did not, so advice written for one country is now actively wrong for the other.
The framing rule reads oddly until you do the arithmetic. The head from chin to crown should take up about two thirds of the picture and must never be higher than 36. Two thirds of the 45 frame is roughly 30, which is where the lower figure on this page comes from: the ministry publishes the ceiling and describes the floor. It also publishes a test that no other authority we have read uses, a minimum distance between the pupils of 8 mm, with 10 mm called optimal.
Two small rules cost people a reprint. Colour is compulsory: a black and white photograph cannot be used for the passport, the identity card or a residence title. And the background shade is chosen against your hair rather than fixed, medium grey suiting light hair and light grey suiting dark hair, because what the ministry wants is contrast at the edge of the head. As of September 2026 an ordinary passport is 112 euro, an Expresspass 148 euro and the one day version 326 euro.
Why photos get rejected here
A head taller than the maximum
36 is a ceiling with no tolerance above it. Cropping in tight to make the face look clear is the usual way to exceed it, and it is the one measurement the ministry states as an absolute.
Eyes closer together than 8 mm on the print
The pupil distance is Austria's practical test for whether the face is large enough. A photograph taken from a distance and cropped in can pass a percentage rule and still fail this one, because cropping does not add detail.
A black and white print
Colour is required for the passport, the identity card and residence titles alike. This catches people using a classic portrait or a photo booth set to monochrome, and no amount of quality makes up for it.
The classic portrait pose
The ministry names it: a half profile, or shoulders turned to the camera, is not allowed. A photographer who habitually shoots portraits will produce this without being asked, so say what the picture is for.
A mirrored or stretched image
The head must not be distorted or otherwise altered, with mirrored shots and changes of proportion both named. Phone front cameras save a flipped frame by default on many handsets, and squeezing a photo to fit a template changes the proportions.
A background with too little contrast against the hair
The rule is not a fixed colour but a relationship: medium grey for light hair, light grey for dark hair, enough contrast to both face and hair, no pattern and no shadows. Grey hair against light grey is the case that most often fails it.
What helps
Match the grey to your hair, not to a swatch
Light hair takes a medium grey, dark hair a light grey. Our background replacement can set either, and choosing deliberately is more reliable than accepting the default.
Keep the print in colour
Black and white is refused for every Austrian document photo. If you are printing at home, check that the driver has not defaulted to greyscale.
Shoot at full resolution and crop down
The 8 mm pupil distance is a detail requirement as much as a framing one. A photograph taken close and printed large keeps that detail; one enlarged from a small crop does not.
Let tall hair leave the frame
Hair, including tall hairstyles, may extend beyond the edge of the photograph. Shrinking the head to fit all of it in is what pushes the face under the size the ministry wants.
Apply at whichever office suits you
An application can be filed at any passport authority in Austria regardless of where you live, and some municipalities accept applications as a service. That often means a shorter wait a short train ride away.
Price the hurry against the wait
As of September 2026 the ordinary passport is 112 euro and arrives by post in about five working days. The Expresspass is 148 euro for two to three working days, and the one day version is 326 euro for the next business day.
Babies and young children
Austria publishes a short, strict child rule: children must be alone in the photograph, the face fully visible and the eyes open. There is no relaxation of the expression or the gaze of the kind Switzerland and Poland write out, and nothing that allows a parent to appear while steadying a small head. Fingerprints are not collected before the age of twelve, and the validity of a child's passport differs from an adult's. Practically, the eyes-open requirement is the whole difficulty, and the way round it is daylight and patience rather than technique: a settled child in a bright room photographs on the second or third attempt, a tired one does not photograph at all.
Glasses
Glasses are allowed only if the eyes stay clearly visible, and the conditions are listed rather than implied: no reflections on the lenses, no tinted lenses and no sunglasses, and the rim or frame must not cover the eyes. Frames that sit high enough to cross an eyebrow are the ones that catch people out, because they look fine in a mirror and cover part of the eye area in a straight-on photograph. If the reflection will not clear, moving the light source off the lens axis works better than removing the glasses, since a photograph without them looks less like the face at the counter.
Head covering
Head coverings are permitted on religious or medical grounds only, and the interior ministry's criteria sheet applies the usual condition that the face must stay clearly visible. Nothing in the published wording asks for a written declaration or a certificate from a religious community, which is lighter than the Polish requirement, but it is also not a promise that the counter will not ask. Because the Austrian framing rule measures from the chin to the crown, a covering worn low over the forehead can also push the apparent top of the head down and make the face read as smaller than it is.
Applying online
Austria has no photograph upload. You bring one print of 35 by 45 to the passport authority, in colour and no more than six months old. The application can be made at any passport authority in the country regardless of residence, and some municipalities accept applications as a service. This is the clearest difference from Germany, which moved to compulsory digital transmission of the photograph in 2025; Austrian advice and German advice are no longer interchangeable.
Questions about Austria photos
Does Austria still accept a printed photo, now that Germany does not?
Yes. The Austrian checklist still asks for one printed colour photograph brought to the passport authority. Germany moved to compulsory digital transmission in 2025; Austria has not followed.
What does an Austrian passport cost, and what does express buy?
As of September 2026, 112 euro for the ordinary passport, arriving by post in about five working days; 148 euro for the Expresspass in two to three working days; 326 euro for the one day version.
Why does Austria measure the distance between the pupils?
It is a test of detail rather than of framing. At least 8 mm between the pupils on the print, with 10 mm called optimal, means the face carries enough resolution to be compared.
My hair is tall. Can it run past the edge of the photo?
Yes. Hair including tall hairstyles may extend beyond the frame. Shrinking the whole head to fit it in is what makes the face too small.
Which shade of grey should the background be?
Medium grey suits light hair and light grey suits dark hair. The rule is about contrast at the edge of the head, not about a single approved colour.
Do I have to apply in the town where I live?
No. Any passport authority in Austria will take the application whatever your address, and some municipalities accept applications as a service on top of that.
Where these numbers come from
Official sourceEvery measurement on this page comes from the issuing authority's own published requirements.
- Passbild-Kriterienchecked September 2, 2026
- Fotomuster fuer Ausweisdokumente (Foto-Mustertafel, PDF)checked September 2, 2026
- Reisepass - Neuausstellungchecked September 2, 2026
- Passbildkriterien (Lexikon)checked September 2, 2026
Reviewed by Editorial teamHow we check our numbers