Israel passport photo
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The requirements
| Print size | 50 x 50 mm (2 x 2 in) |
|---|---|
| Head height, chin to crown | The authority publishes no head height |
| Background | Plain white background |
| Also required |
|
Israel is a square photo country, like the United States, not a 35x45 mm one. The missions publish the size twice, as 5x5 cm and as 2 x 2 inches; those differ by 0.8 mm, so both are recorded and the millimetre value is the one to cut to. Scope: this is the non biometric travel document that Israeli missions abroad issue. The biometric passport is applied for at a Population and Immigration Authority office inside Israel, where the photograph is taken on the spot. www.gov.il, which carries the domestic rules, answers 403 to every request from this machine (plain fetch, headless browser and curl alike), so no domestic figure could be read today and none is guessed here. No head height, no maximum photo age and no digital upload rule could be verified.
Applying in Israel
Israel is a square photo country. Its missions ask for a 50 by 50 picture, published in two units on the same pages, as 5 by 5 cm and as 2 by 2 inches. Those two are not identical, they differ by under a millimetre, and the millimetre value is the one to cut to. If you have applied anywhere in Europe, the shape is the first thing to change: nothing made for a 35 by 45 mm frame can be trimmed into this one.
Scope matters more here than on most of our pages, so read it before you prepare anything. What we verified is the travel document that Israeli missions abroad issue: two recent photographs on a #FFFFFF background, a full front view of the face, not blurry, with the face fully visible and clearly identifiable. The biometric passport is a different process, applied for at a Population and Immigration Authority office inside Israel, where the photograph is taken on the spot.
We could not read the domestic rules at all. gov.il, which carries them, answered 403 to every request we made, from a plain fetch, from a headless browser and from curl alike. So this page publishes no Israeli head height, no maximum photo age and no digital upload rule, because no official source for them was reachable. Those gaps are real, and we would rather name them than fill them with figures from commercial sites.
Why photos get rejected here
A rectangular photograph
The Israeli frame is square. A 35 by 45 mm print, or a file cropped to that proportion, is the wrong shape before any measurement is checked, and cropping it square leaves the head too large or the shoulders cut off.
A single print
Two recent photographs are required with a consular application. One is not a partial submission, it is an incomplete file, and the mission will not photocopy the second for you.
A blurry image
Sharpness is one of only three quality tests the missions publish, which tells you how much weight it carries. Camera shake in low light and a phone that focused on the background are the two everyday causes.
A face that is not fully visible
The published test is that the face is fully visible and clearly identifiable. Hair across a cheek, a heavy shadow down one side, or a chin lost in a high collar each fail it without anything else being wrong.
A three quarter pose
The requirement is a full front view. A portrait taken with the shoulders turned reads as flattering and is refused, which is the commonest way a photograph from a studio sitting fails a document requirement.
What helps
Cut to the millimetre value, not the inch one
The missions publish both 50 by 50 and 2 by 2. They differ slightly, and the millimetre figure is the safer one to trim to.
Print two from the same file
Two recent photographs are the requirement. Taking both from one export keeps them identical, which is what a consular officer expects when they compare the pair.
Check which process you are in
A travel document at a mission abroad takes prints from you. A biometric passport inside Israel is photographed at the Population and Immigration Authority office, so nothing you make at home is used.
Use a genuinely white background
White is the only value the missions publish, with no grey or blue alternative. Our background replacement sets it exactly, which is more reliable than finding a wall that is white under the light you have.
Confirm the detail with your own mission
Different Israeli missions publish the requirements with slightly different wording, and we could not reach the domestic authority at all. The mission handling your file is the one to ask about anything this page does not cover.
Babies and young children
Israel publishes no separate photograph rule for babies or young children on the consular pages we could verify. The same requirement stands: two recent photographs, a full front view, a white background, not blurry, with the face fully visible and clearly identifiable. There is no published relaxation of the gaze or the expression of the kind Switzerland and Poland write out, and no wording that permits a parent to appear in the frame while steadying a child. Because the frame is square rather than tall, an infant photographed lying on a plain white sheet fits it more naturally than the European format, which usually leaves too much empty space above the head.
Glasses
No Israeli page we could reach publishes a glasses rule for a passport or travel document photograph, in either direction. That is a gap in what we could verify rather than an absence of a rule: the domestic authority's site refused every request we made, and the consular pages give the size, the count, the background and three quality tests and stop. We will not present a rule borrowed from another country as Israeli. The one published test that does bear on it is that the face must be fully visible and clearly identifiable, which a reflection across a lens defeats. Clear lenses with the light off the lens axis is the way to satisfy that.
Head covering
As with glasses, nothing is published on the pages we could read, and the domestic source was unreachable. No written declaration process, no religious exception wording and no medical exception appears in the consular requirements we verified. Head coverings are worn daily by many Israeli applicants, so the silence is more likely to reflect the brevity of the consular page than an absence of practice. The published requirement that the face be fully visible and clearly identifiable is the one to work to: a covering that leaves the whole face clear from the chin to the hairline, with no shadow across it, satisfies the only test we can quote.
Applying online
We found no Israeli route that accepts an uploaded photograph. A consular application takes two printed photographs handed in with the file. Inside Israel the biometric passport is applied for at a Population and Immigration Authority office, where the photograph is captured on the spot, so again nothing is uploaded. Whether any part of the domestic process accepts a file we could not establish, because gov.il refused every request from our network.
Questions about Israel photos
Is an Israeli photo square like the American one?
Yes. Israel and the United States are the two square format countries on this site. Everything prepared for a 35 by 45 mm European frame is the wrong shape for both.
Which Israeli application does this page cover?
The travel document issued by Israeli missions abroad. The biometric passport applied for inside Israel is a different process and its published rules were not reachable from our network.
Do I bring photographs to a biometric passport appointment in Israel?
No. At a Population and Immigration Authority office the photograph is taken on the spot, which is why the consular requirement and the domestic one differ so much.
Is 5 by 5 cm the same as 2 by 2 inches?
Not exactly. The two published figures differ by under a millimetre. Cut to the millimetre value and the print satisfies both readings.
Why does this page give no rule about glasses or a head covering?
Because no Israeli source we could reach publishes one. The domestic site refused our requests and the consular pages stop at size, count, background and three quality tests.
Where these numbers come from
Official sourceEvery measurement on this page comes from the issuing authority's own published requirements.
Reviewed by Editorial teamHow we check our numbers