Germany passport photo
You cannot supply this photo yourself
A printed photo can no longer be handed in for a passport applied for inside Germany. The picture is taken at the office itself, or produced by a registered photo service and delivered to the office over a certified channel, so a file made on your phone cannot be submitted at home. Missions abroad are the exception.
The editor below still earns its place. It is correct for consular and visa applications, which this rule does not cover, and it will tell you whether a photographer's file actually meets the measurements before you pay for prints.
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The requirements
| Print size | 35 x 45 mm |
|---|---|
| Head height, chin to crown | 32-36 mm Optimale Gesichtshoehe 32 mm to 36 mm, measured from the chin to the crown of the head, which the Fotomustertafel expresses as the face filling 70 to 80 percent of the photo height. Children up to the age of 9: 22 mm to 36 mm, that is 50 to 80 percent. |
| Background | Plain single-coloured background, preferably light grey, free of shadows and clearly contrasting with face and hair |
| 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 |
| Also required |
|
Germany is the important case for a self-service photo tool. Since 1 May 2025 you cannot hand a printed photo to a German passport office: the picture must be taken in the office or produced by a registered photo service and delivered to the office over a certified encrypted cloud, so an app-generated file cannot be submitted domestically. The measurements below still matter, because German missions abroad continue to accept paper photos of 35 x 45 mm and because the same geometry is what the studio or the office terminal must hit. The older BMI Passbild-Schablone also lists a tolerated face height wider than the optimal 32 to 36 mm band; the German missions publish the tolerance as reject only below 27 mm or above 40 mm.
Applying in Germany
Germany is the country where this tool cannot produce the photograph you need. Since 1 May 2025, paper photographs are no longer accepted anywhere in Germany for the documents most people are applying for: the Reisepass, the Personalausweis, the elektronischer Aufenthaltstitel and travel documents issued under immigration law. The rule is not about quality. It is about provenance, and the reason the ministry gives is morphing, the technique of blending two faces into one image that passes as both. Photographs already in circulation had defeated detection, so the supply chain was closed instead.
Two routes remain, and both end with the image arriving digitally at the authority. The first is capture inside the office itself, on the authority's own equipment. The second is a registered Fotodienstleister, a photographer or booth operator who uploads your picture to an encrypted cloud certified by the Federal Office for Information Security and hands you a printout carrying a Data-Matrix code. The clerk scans that code to retrieve the image. Without the printout the image cannot be found, which makes a small piece of paper the most important thing you carry to the appointment.
Two details are worth correcting before you go looking for a suitable wall. The binding standard, Anlage 8 of the Passverordnung, names no background colour at all. It asks for a single-colour, shadow-free background with clear contrast to the face and the hair, so the light grey you see in every illustration is a convention rather than the rule. And the face has to fill 0.7 to 0.8 of the image height, which is a proportion rather than a figure in millimetres.
Why photos get rejected here
Arriving without the Data-Matrix printout
Where a photographer uploaded your image to the cloud, the printed code is the only way the clerk can retrieve it. The authority states plainly that without the printout the staff cannot find your photograph, and the appointment cannot proceed on the strength of your memory of having had one taken.
Bringing a printed photograph
The transition period ended on 31 July 2025, after which paper photos were no longer tolerated even in exceptional cases. A print made to the old standard is now refused on its format rather than on its content.
Glasses over the eyes, reflecting, or too dark
The Fotomustertafel's own error panels show a frame covering part of the eye, a reflection on the lens and a lens too dark to see through. All three are separate failures, and all three disappear if you take the glasses off.
An expression that is not at rest
Laughing, an open mouth, a grimace and squinting all appear among the rejected examples. The requirement is a neutral face with the mouth closed and the eyes clear and unobstructed, looking straight into the lens.
A patterned or shadowed background
The background must be a single colour, free of shadow and in clear contrast to both the face and the hair. A patterned wall fails on the pattern, and a wall you are standing close to fails on your own shadow.
Retouching, filters or soft focus
Any post-processing that alters the face is among the rejected examples. This includes the smoothing that some cameras and phone apps apply without being asked.
What helps
Budget for the photo as a separate fee
Where the authority takes the picture using PointID, the federal charge is EUR 6.00 as of September 2026, added to the document fee. Other providers set their own prices, so the figure at a photographer will differ.
Ask for the cloud copy to be kept
The uploaded image is deleted as soon as the authority downloads it, unless you ask for it to be retained. On request it can be kept for six months, which is worth doing if a second document is due in that window.
Treat the printout as the document
Keep the Data-Matrix printout with your appointment papers rather than loose in a pocket. It is the only link between you and the photograph, and it cannot be reissued at the counter.
You normally get a choice of shots
At an authority terminal you are usually shown up to three pictures and pick one, and the session can be stopped and restarted. It is worth looking properly rather than accepting the first frame out of politeness.
Abroad the old rules still apply
German consulates may still accept a printed portrait, 45 mm high by 35 mm wide and borderless, until the missions have their own capture equipment. The photographer cloud route is domestic only, so an application made abroad is the one case where a print is still the right thing to bring.
Allow at least three weeks
The ministry states that a passport takes at least three weeks from application as of September 2026. The express route is ready on the third working day if the order reaches the producer by midday.
Babies and young children
The photo standard gives children their own proportion: the face fills 50 to 80 percent of the image height rather than the adult band, and for children under 10 minor deviations are accepted. Under 6, further exceptions apply to head position, expression and eye visibility, which is the formal way of saying that a small child who will not sit still and look forward is not automatically refused. What does not change is the route. A baby's photograph also has to reach the authority digitally, either from a terminal or through a photographer's upload, so there is no home-photo shortcut for a child either.
Glasses
Glasses are not banned, but the Fotomustertafel devotes three of its rejected examples to them: a frame that covers any part of the eye, a reflection on the lens, and lenses dark enough to obscure the eyes. Because a reflection is created by the lighting rather than by the eyewear, it is not something you can reliably prevent by adjusting the glasses. Exceptions to the wider photo rules are granted only for long-term or permanent medical reasons, such as facial paralysis, asymmetry, or an inability to hold the mouth closed at rest.
Head covering
A head covering is accepted for religious reasons. The condition is that the face remains visible from the chin to the forehead with no shadows falling across it. The standard illustrates the boundary with two rejected examples, a cap and a burka, which mark the two ways a covering fails: one is not religious, the other conceals the face. We did not find a published requirement for a written declaration to accompany a German application, which is a difference from the United States, so we are not stating that one is needed.
Applying online
The photograph reaches the authority digitally, but you are never the sender. Either the office captures it on its own equipment, or a registered photo service uploads it to a certified encrypted cloud and gives you a Data-Matrix-Code printout to present at the counter. There is no route by which a file you made yourself becomes a German passport or identity card photograph, so the answer to the practical question is no.
Questions about Germany photos
Can I still bring a printed photo to the Buergeramt?
No. Paper photographs stopped being accepted for passports, identity cards and residence titles on 1 May 2025, and the grace period for exceptional cases ended on 31 July 2025.
What is the Data-Matrix-Code printout and what happens if I lose it?
It is the slip a registered photographer gives you after uploading your picture to the certified cloud, and the code on it is how the clerk retrieves the image. The authority states that without the printout it cannot find your photograph, so a lost slip means going back to the photographer.
How much does the photo at the authority cost?
Where the office uses PointID, the federal charge is EUR 6.00 as of September 2026, on top of the document fee. Photographers set their own prices, so the cost of the cloud route varies.
Is a photo I take myself useless in Germany?
For a passport, identity card or residence title, yes. The ministry says home-taken photographs remain usable for many other documents and names swimming and angling permits as examples. We could not confirm the position for a German driving licence on an official page, so we are not stating it.
What changed in German passport and identity card fees in 2026?
From 7 February 2026 the ministry lists EUR 70.00 for an adult passport valid ten years, and EUR 37.50 for applicants under 24 with six years validity. The identity card is EUR 46.00 for applicants aged 24 and over, raised by the regulation of 30 January 2026.
Will every Buergeramt have a photo terminal?
We could not confirm the state of the rollout on an official source. Press reporting describes uneven coverage, with some people travelling a considerable distance to reach a terminal, but that is secondary reporting rather than a ministry statement, so treat it as an indication and phone ahead.
Where these numbers come from
Official sourceEvery measurement on this page comes from the issuing authority's own published requirements.
- Lichtbild-Schablone fuer Personen ab einem Alter von 10 Jahren (BMI24048, Stand Juli 2025)checked September 2, 2026
- Fotomustertafel: Qualitaetsmerkmale biometrischer Fotos fuer Dokumente (BMI24037, Stand Juli 2025)checked September 2, 2026
- Der deutsche Reisepasschecked September 2, 2026
- Ab wann darf ich zur Beantragung von Ausweisdokumenten kein Papier-Passbild mehr mitbringen?checked September 2, 2026
Reviewed by Editorial teamHow we check our numbers