Hungary 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 The authority publishes no head height. This band is the generic ICAO Doc 9303 Part 3 portrait rule, head 70-80% of the image height, which is also what every authority in this data set that publishes a percentage gives. |
| Background | White background on the printed ID photo (feher hatteru igazolvanykep) asked for by Hungarian consulates |
| Also required |
|
In Hungary the passport photo is normally taken at the counter: the facial image, signature and fingerprints are all recorded when the application is submitted at a district office (jarasi hivatal), a government window or a consulate. A printed ID photo (igazolvanykep) is needed only in two cases: when the applicant cannot attend in person for health reasons certified by the treating doctor, and for a child under 12 who does not attend. Hungarian consulates state the standard size for that photo as 3,5 x 4,5 cm in colour on a white background, which is the ordinary Hungarian igazolvanykep format. No head height, expression or glasses rules are published by the passport authority, so none are invented here; the tool falls back on the ICAO frame that the 35 x 45 mm format implies.
Applying in Hungary
In Hungary the passport photograph is taken at the counter. When you file the application at a kormanyablak in any district office, at the passport authority or at a consulate, the clerk records your facial image, your signature and your fingerprints in one sitting. Nothing is handed in, which is why the government's own procedure description lists no photograph among the things you bring. The appointment is the whole photographic event.
Two cases fall outside that, and both are about somebody who is not standing in front of the clerk. A printed ID photo, an igazolvanykep, is required when the applicant's state of health prevents a personal appearance and the treating doctor certifies it in writing, and for a child under twelve who does not appear in person. Hungarian consulates describe the photo for those cases as one colour print with a white background in the standard 35 by 45 size, on ordinary photo paper.
The fees are unusually legible, because Hungary publishes the base and the hurry separately. As of September 2026 a ten year adult passport is 17,000 forint, or 19,000 with postal delivery, and a five year book for a child aged six to twelve is 8,500. The speed is priced on top: 19,000 forint more for five days, 29,000 for three, 39,000 for twenty four hours. The ordinary period is twenty days, counted from the day after the application is received.
Why photos get rejected here
Bringing a photograph nobody asked for
The commonest wasted step in Hungary is arriving with prints. Unless the health exception or the under-twelve case applies to you, the clerk photographs you and the prints stay in your pocket.
A print with nothing written on the back
Consulates ask for the name and the date of birth to be written on the reverse of the igazolvanykep. A photograph that arrives blank cannot be matched to the file if it separates from it.
A background that is not white
Where a print is required, Hungarian consulates ask for a feher hatter, a white background, rather than the light grey several neighbouring countries prefer. Cream and light blue are not the published value.
Ordinary paper instead of photo paper
The consular wording is rendes fotopapiron, on proper photo paper. An ink jet print on office paper is refused on the material rather than on the picture, and it is the failure a home printer produces most reliably.
The doctor's certificate missing from a health exception
The exception is not that you cannot attend; it is that your state of health prevents it and the treating doctor confirms that in writing. Without the certificate the application goes back to needing a personal appearance.
What helps
Ask whether you are in one of the two print cases
Health with a doctor's certificate, or a child under twelve who does not attend. If neither applies, you need no photograph at all and the appointment does the work.
Write the name and date of birth on the back
Consulates ask for it on the igazolvanykep. Use a soft pen and press lightly so nothing shows through on the face side.
Price the speed before you choose it
The surcharges are large next to the base fee: 19,000 forint more for five days, 29,000 for three and 39,000 for twenty four hours, on top of 17,000 for an ordinary ten year book as of September 2026.
Consider the postal option
Adding postal delivery took the ten year fee from 17,000 to 19,000 forint when we checked. That is a small premium against a second trip to collect.
For a child under six, bring the print
Consulates can photograph a child aged six and over on the spot, but not a younger one. If your child is under six and you are applying abroad, the print is not optional.
Any kormanyablak will do
The application can be filed at the government window of any district office in the country, not only the one where you live, which usually means a shorter wait somewhere nearby.
Babies and young children
Hungary splits children by two ages and it is worth knowing which one you are dealing with. A child under twelve who does not appear in person needs a printed igazolvanykep, because there is nobody at the counter to photograph. At a consulate the line is drawn lower: staff can take the picture on the spot for a child aged six and over, so only a child under six always arrives with a print. Fingerprints are not taken from a child under twelve and the signature is recorded only from twelve upwards, and only from applicants who can write. The book itself is valid three years under six, five years from six to eighteen, and a five year passport for a child of six to twelve cost 8,500 forint as of September 2026.
Glasses
The Hungarian passport authority publishes no glasses rule for the facial image, which is consistent with a process where the clerk operates the camera and judges the result on the spot. The government procedure description and the decree that governs the application both describe the capture without setting conditions on eyewear. We are not going to import a rule from a neighbouring country and present it as Hungarian. What we would do in the room is what every authority that does publish a rule asks for: clear lenses, no reflection, no frame across the eyes, and no tinted lenses. If the clerk is not happy with the reflection, the retake costs nothing but a minute.
Head covering
As with glasses, no head covering rule is published for the Hungarian facial image, and no written declaration process appears in the procedure description or in the government decree that implements the travel act. That silence is not the same as a permission, and it is not the same as a ban. Because the picture is taken at the counter, the question is settled in person rather than by a document you prepare in advance. If you wear a covering daily, expect the clerk to work from the same principle every neighbouring authority applies, which is that the face must stay visible and unshadowed from the chin to the hairline.
Applying online
There is no photograph upload for a Hungarian passport. The facial image, the signature and the fingerprints are recorded together when the application is filed, at the government window of any district office, at the general passport authority or at a consular office abroad. The two exceptions are handled with paper: a printed igazolvanykep for an applicant whose health prevents attendance, certified by the treating doctor, and for a child under twelve who does not appear. Consulates can photograph a child of six and over themselves.
Questions about Hungary photos
When does Hungary ask for a printed photo?
In two cases only: when your state of health prevents a personal appearance and your treating doctor certifies it, and for a child under twelve who does not attend.
What is the base fee for a ten year Hungarian passport?
As of September 2026, 17,000 forint for a ten year adult book, 19,000 with postal delivery, and 8,500 for a five year book for a child of six to twelve.
Can a consulate photograph my child, or do I bring a print?
Consulates can take the picture for a child aged six and over. For a child under six you bring one colour print with a white background on proper photo paper.
What does the twenty day period run from?
From the day after the application is received, not from the day you booked. The faster options are twenty four hours, three days and five days, each with its own surcharge.
Why is there a one year passport for 3,000 forint?
It is the book issued without fingerprints. The low fee reflects the short validity, and it exists for cases where a full biometric enrolment cannot be completed.
Who has to sign the application?
The signature is recorded only from applicants aged twelve or over who are able to write. Below that age the file carries no signature.
Where these numbers come from
Official sourceEvery measurement on this page comes from the issuing authority's own published requirements.
- Utlevel - ugyleirasokchecked September 2, 2026
- Maganutlevel igenylese 12 even aluliak reszere (Hungarian Embassy in Stockholm)checked September 2, 2026
- Maganutlevel igenylese 12 even aluliak reszere (Hungarian Embassy in Brussels)checked September 2, 2026
- 101/1998. (V. 22.) Korm. rendelet a kulfoldre utazasrol szolo 1998. evi XII. torveny vegrehajtasarolchecked September 2, 2026
Reviewed by Editorial teamHow we check our numbers