Brazil passport photo
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The requirements
| Print size | 50 x 70 mm |
|---|---|
| Head height, chin to crown | The authority publishes no head height |
| Background | Plain white background (fundo branco), recent colour photo |
| 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. |
| Also required |
|
Brazil photographs the applicant at the Federal Police unit, so most adults never submit a photo. The only printed size the Policia Federal publishes is 5x7 cm (50x70 mm), colour, white background, in Instrucao Normativa 173/2020 art. 47: it is required for children under 5 (who are exempt from capture) and as the fallback when the electronic capture fails. No head height, eye line or photo age is published, so those fields are omitted rather than guessed. Passports applied for abroad are handled by Brazilian consulates under Ministry of Foreign Affairs rules, which may ask for a photo with different measurements.
Applying in Brazil
Brazil captures your photograph at the Federal Police unit, together with your fingerprints, during the in-person stage of the application. There is no upload and nothing to bring, which for most applicants makes the photograph the one part of the process they do not have to think about. The parts that do go wrong are administrative: an unpaid or expired payment slip, a missing document, or an identity document whose photograph does not identify you clearly.
There is exactly one exception, and it is the reason this page matters to anyone preparing a photograph. An applicant under five must bring a recent print, 5 by 7 cm, on a white background. The Federal Police add two conditions that are specific and worth quoting: the photograph is refused if the child's face is partly covered by accessories, ornaments or adornments, and a photograph with closed eyes is refused unless the applicant is a newborn.
Brazil is also more permissive than most countries about what may appear in the frame. Ordinary eyeglasses are allowed. So are earrings, necklaces, piercings, make-up, religious head coverings and veils, corrective wigs, bows, tiaras and voluminous hairstyles, provided none of them covers the shape of the face or the eyebrows. What is prohibited is coloured contact lenses that change the colour of your eyes, which the Federal Police exclude under civil aviation and ICAO rules.
Why photos get rejected here
A child's photo with the face partly covered
For applicants under five the print is refused if the face is partly covered by accessories, ornaments or adornments. Hair clips, bows and headbands are the usual culprits, and they are easy to remove before the photograph rather than after the refusal.
A child's photo with the eyes closed
A photograph with closed eyes is refused unless the applicant is a newborn. That is a narrower allowance than the United Kingdom's, which extends to any child under one, so a sleeping one-year-old is a problem here.
Coloured contact lenses
Lenses that alter the colour of the eyes are prohibited under civil aviation and ICAO rules, because eye colour is an identity checkpoint. Ordinary corrective lenses and ordinary eyeglasses are both fine.
An expired or unpaid payment slip
The GRU payment slip expires around 20 days after it is generated, and an unpaid or expired slip stops the application before any photograph is taken. This is a more common cause of failure in Brazil than anything photographic.
Anything covering the face outline or eyebrows
Accessories, veils, wigs and hairstyles are all permitted so long as they do not obscure the shape of the face or the eyebrows. That single condition is what decides each of them, rather than a list of banned items.
What helps
Only under-fives need a photograph
If the applicant is five or older, do not prepare a print. The Federal Police capture the photograph and the fingerprints at the appointment, and a photograph is not on the list of documents to bring.
For a small child, take many frames
The two refusal conditions for an under-five print are a partly covered face and closed eyes. Both are moments rather than mistakes, so photograph in a burst and choose afterwards rather than trying to catch the right instant.
Watch the payment slip's expiry
The GRU expires roughly 20 days after generation. Generating it early and then booking a later appointment is the sequence that most often leaves people paying twice.
Collect within ninety days
A passport not collected within 90 calendar days is cancelled and the fee is forfeited. Processing is 6 to 10 business days after the appointment as of September 2026, so the collection window opens well before the deadline.
Everyone needs a CPF
The CPF taxpayer number is mandatory for every applicant including minors. For a first passport for a baby that is often the step families have not done, and it cannot be resolved at the Federal Police counter.
Babies and young children
This is the part of the Brazilian process where a prepared photograph matters. An applicant under five must bring a recent print, 5 by 7 cm, on a white background, and the Federal Police publish two specific refusal conditions for it: a face partly covered by accessories, ornaments or adornments, and closed eyes unless the applicant is a newborn. The closed-eyes allowance is narrower than the British one, which covers any child under one, so plan for open eyes from about a year old. Lay the child on a plain white surface, photograph from directly above, remove clips and bows first, and take many frames.
Glasses
Ordinary eyeglasses are permitted, which puts Brazil with South Africa and the Netherlands rather than with the countries that ban them. What is prohibited is coloured contact lenses that alter the colour of the eyes, excluded under civil aviation and ICAO rules because eye colour is used to confirm identity. That distinction is unusual and worth reading carefully: the restriction is on lenses that change your appearance, not on lenses or glasses that correct your sight.
Head covering
Religious head coverings and veils are permitted, and the Federal Police list them alongside wigs, bows, tiaras and voluminous hairstyles under a single condition: they must not cover the shape of the face or the eyebrows. The eyebrow requirement is more specific than most countries publish and it is the one that decides borderline cases, since a covering worn forward on the brow fails on the eyebrows before it fails on anything else. We did not find a requirement for a written declaration, so we are not stating that one is needed.
Applying online
There is no photo upload. The Federal Police capture the facial photograph and fingerprints at the unit during the in-person stage. The single exception is an applicant under five, who brings a physical print. The process runs in six stages: form, payment, appointment, attendance, status, collection, with the payment slip expiring about 20 days after it is generated.
Questions about Brazil photos
Do I need to bring a photo for a Brazilian passport?
Only if the applicant is under five. For everyone else the photograph and fingerprints are captured at the Federal Police unit during the in-person appointment.
What are the rules for a child under five?
A recent print on a white background. It is refused if the child's face is partly covered by accessories, ornaments or adornments, and a photograph with closed eyes is refused unless the applicant is a newborn.
Are contact lenses treated differently from glasses in Brazil?
Ordinary eyeglasses are permitted. What is prohibited is coloured contact lenses that change the colour of your eyes, excluded under civil aviation and ICAO rules because eye colour is used to confirm identity.
Why did my application fail before I even reached the photo?
Most Brazilian refusals are not photographic. An unpaid or expired GRU payment slip, missing documents, or an identity document whose photograph does not clearly identify you are the usual causes.
What happens if I miss the 90 day collection window?
It is cancelled after 90 calendar days and the fee is forfeited. Processing is 6 to 10 business days after the appointment as of September 2026, so there is time, but the deadline is real.
Does my baby need a CPF?
Yes. The CPF is mandatory for every applicant including minors, and it is the step families most often discover late when applying for a first passport for a child.
Where these numbers come from
Official sourceEvery measurement on this page comes from the issuing authority's own published requirements.
- Instrucao Normativa 173/2020 DG/PF (Regulamento de documentos de viagem)checked September 3, 2026
- Passaporte: Duvidas (Polícia Federal FAQ)checked September 3, 2026
Reviewed by Editorial teamHow we check our numbers