Czechia passport photo
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The requirements
| Print size | 35 x 45 mm |
|---|---|
| Head height, chin to crown | 70-80%ICAO 9303 general rule, not published by the authority No chin to crown height is published, so the 70-80% band is the generic ICAO Doc 9303 Part 3 rule applied as a labelled fallback, not a national figure. The Ministry of the Interior requires at least 2 mm between the top of the head and the top edge of the photo, and the facial part of the head (eyes to chin) to be at least 13 mm. |
| Background | White to light blue, or a light grey colour if needed; various hues of these colours are accepted |
| Expression | Neutral, mouth closed, both eyes open. |
| Also required |
|
Czechia does not take a submitted photo for passports: the office photographs you when you file the application, in the country and at embassies alike, so you must appear in person. The 35 x 45 mm format published here is the Czech Ministry of the Interior photograph standard, quoted from the ministry page that sets out photograph requirements for applications (its immediate context is residence applications by third-country nationals, which is the case where a printed photo is still handed in). Use it when a Czech authority does ask you for a document photo. Note that the Czech head rule is unusual: it is specified as the eyes to chin distance (at least 13 mm) plus a minimum 2 mm gap above the head, not as a chin to crown range, so no minMm or maxMm is published here.
Applying in Czechia
Czechia states it in one line: obcan nepredklada fotografii, the citizen does not submit a photograph, because the office takes the picture when the application is filed. That is why you must attend in person, and it holds at Czech embassies too, where the clerk records the biometric application electronically and you sign on a tablet. For a passport, then, there is nothing to prepare photographically and everything to prepare about the appointment.
The interior ministry still publishes a photograph standard, and it is the one to use when a Czech authority does ask for a print, which happens for residence applications by foreign nationals and for other document types. It is stricter about the physical object than almost any other standard we have read: 35 by 45 standing on the shorter side, corners straight or rounded to a radius of 3 mm plus or minus 0.5, and the print itself between 0.13 and 0.27 mm thick.
The Czech head rule is also written differently from everyone else's. There is no chin to crown range. Instead the ministry requires at least 2 mm between the top of the head and the top edge of the photograph, and the facial part of the head, from the eyes to the chin, to be at least 13 mm. Because that is not the measurement other authorities publish, our tool falls back on the international portrait band, labelled as a fallback rather than as a Czech figure.
Why photos get rejected here
Turning up expecting to hand in a photograph
For a passport there is nothing to hand in. The wasted step here is the reverse of the usual one: people bring prints, and the office photographs them anyway.
Less than 2 mm of space above the head
The ministry standard requires a gap between the top of the head and the top edge. A crop that clips the hair or sits flush against it fails on that margin even when the face is the right size.
A face too small to reach 13 mm from eyes to chin
The Czech minimum is stated on that segment rather than on the whole head. A photograph taken from too far away can satisfy a generic 70 percent rule and still miss this one.
A turned head or a glance over the shoulder
The standard names the failure precisely: looking over the shoulder, turned to the side or with the head inclined is not accepted. The head and the upper shoulders face the camera.
Reflection or glare across an identifying feature
The photograph must be free from reflection or glare that would markedly change the eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth or chin. Flash bounced off a forehead is the everyday version of this.
Retouching, or any digital processing before printing
Retouching, other modifications of the negative or positive, and digital processing of the image before printing are all excluded. Phone beauty modes apply this by default and are the usual reason a home file breaks the rule without anyone choosing to.
What helps
For a passport, prepare the appointment rather than the photo
The office photographs you, in Czechia and at embassies alike. Personal attendance is the requirement that cannot be worked around.
Turn off the beauty mode before you shoot anything Czech
Digital processing before printing is banned outright, and the smoothing many phones apply by default counts. Switching it off in the camera app takes a moment; undoing it afterwards is not possible.
Leave a clear margin above the hair
At least 2 mm above the top of the head on the print. Our crop can hold that margin, but it needs headroom in the original frame to work with.
Choose the speed against the collection point
The 30 day route is collected where you applied, the 5 working day route there or at the Ministry of the Interior, and the 24 hour route at the ministry only. If Prague is far away, the fastest option is not the fastest in practice.
Budget for the hurry
As of September 2026 an adult passport is 600 CZK in 30 days, 3,000 CZK in 5 working days and 6,000 CZK in 24 hours. For a child under 15 the same three routes are 100, 1,000 and 2,000 CZK.
Plan to collect in person
The passport cannot be posted. Personal collection is required, so factor a second visit into the timing whichever speed you choose.
Babies and young children
A child under fifteen gets a five year passport rather than a ten year one, and the fee follows the same three speeds at a much lower level: 100 CZK in 30 days, 1,000 CZK in 5 working days and 2,000 CZK in 24 hours as of September 2026. The photograph question is the same as for an adult, which is to say there is not one: the office takes the picture when the application is filed, so a child attends the appointment. Fingerprints are captured from the age of twelve. Czechia publishes no relaxed expression or gaze rule for young children in the photograph standard, which matters only for the document types where a print is still handed in.
Glasses
The interior ministry's photograph standard publishes no separate glasses rule. What it governs instead is the effect: the photograph must be free from reflection or glare that would markedly change identifying traits such as the eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth or chin. Read plainly, that permits glasses and refuses what glasses often do to a photograph. Clear lenses with the light kept off the lens axis satisfy it; a flash reflection sitting over an eye does not, whether it comes from spectacles or from a shiny forehead. Because the passport picture is taken at the counter, the clerk retakes it when the glare is there.
Head covering
No head covering rule appears in the ministry's photograph standard, and none appears in the passport information page, which is unusual for a country in this region. The standard's operative requirements are about the pose, the margins, the reflection and the print material. Since the passport image is captured at the counter, this is decided in the room rather than by a document you bring. For the document types where a print is still submitted, the safe preparation is the one every neighbouring authority publishes: the face fully visible and unshadowed from the chin to the hairline, with hair not covering the face, which the Czech standard does require explicitly.
Applying online
There is no photograph upload for a Czech passport and no way to supply an image in advance. The competent office takes the picture at the moment of application, captures the facial image and, from the age of twelve, fingerprints, and records a digitised signature. Czech embassies work the same way: the clerk registers the biometric application electronically and you sign on a tablet. The 30 day route is collected at the office where you applied or another designated office, the 5 working day route there or at the Ministry of the Interior, and the 24 hour route at the ministry only.
Questions about Czechia photos
If the office photographs me, why does Czechia publish a photo standard?
Because other Czech applications still take a print. The standard's immediate context is residence applications by foreign nationals, and it is the format to use whenever a Czech authority does ask for a photograph.
What does a Czech passport cost if I need it tomorrow?
6,000 CZK for an adult and 2,000 CZK for a child under fifteen in the 24 hour route as of September 2026, and that route is collected only at the Ministry of the Interior.
Why does the Czech standard describe the thickness of the print?
It treats the photograph as a physical object that has to survive handling and scanning: 0.13 to 0.27 mm thick, smooth surfaced, with corners rounded to a 3 mm radius or left straight.
Can a Czech document photo be black and white?
Yes. The standard accepts a black and white or a colour photograph, which is rarer than it sounds; Belgium and Austria both refuse black and white outright.
Where do I collect a passport issued in 24 hours?
At the Ministry of the Interior, and in person. Czech passports are never posted, so the fastest issue still needs a trip to Prague to pick it up.
What is the Czech head rule if there is no chin to crown range?
Two separate minimums: at least 2 mm between the top of the head and the top edge, and at least 13 mm from the eyes to the chin. Everything else on this site's head band is a labelled fallback.
Where these numbers come from
Official sourceEvery measurement on this page comes from the issuing authority's own published requirements.
- Zakladni informace k cestovnim pasumchecked September 2, 2026
- Photograph (requirements for applications)checked September 2, 2026
- Vystaveni cestovniho pasu na zastupitelskem uradechecked September 2, 2026
Reviewed by Editorial teamHow we check our numbers