Kazakhstan 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 | Not stated in the Kazakh rules. A plain light background is the ICAO norm and is what service centres use; see notes. |
| Also required |
|
Marked secondary on purpose. The 35x45 mm size is solid: it is written into government decree no 852 of 26 August 2013, read today in the Adilet system run by the Kazakh Ministry of Justice, and it applies to the passport and to the identity card alike. Everything else is not: Kazakhstan publishes no background colour, no head height, no expression or glasses rule and no maximum photo age for these photographs, and the background value in this file is the ICAO norm rather than a Kazakh rule. The service standard of the Interior Ministry, which would be the place for such detail, could not be located on a government host today; the gov.kz service page links only to fee and procedure acts. In practice most applicants never supply a print at all, because the image is captured at the Government for Citizens service centre. Do not upgrade this spec to official until a Kazakh source for the background and framing is found.
Applying in Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan publishes one photograph number and no others. Government decree no 852 of 26 August 2013 requires two photographs of 35 by 45 when the application is made on a paper form, in paragraph 6 for the passport and paragraph 13 for the identity card of a citizen. That is the whole documented standard. No background colour, no head height, no expression, no glasses rule and no maximum photo age appears anywhere on a government host we could reach.
In practice most people never hand a print over. When the application is taken through the Documenting and Registration of Population registration point at a Government for Citizens service centre, the image and the fingerprints are captured there. An application made online through the e government portal takes a different shape again: it asks the applicant to attach a sample photograph and a sample signature, in line with the same Rules.
We want to be exact about the weakness in this page, because it is the reason our confidence is marked secondary rather than official. The size is solid, read today in the Adilet legal information system run by the Ministry of Justice. Everything else that a photo standard would normally carry is missing, and the Interior Ministry service standard that would hold it could not be located on a government host. The background value our tool applies is the international norm, not a Kazakh rule.
Why photos get rejected here
One print where the decree asks for two
Two photographs are required for the paper form, for the passport and for the identity card alike. A single print leaves the form short, and it is the one requirement the decree states without ambiguity.
Bringing prints to a service centre that captures the image
Where the application goes through the registration point at a Government for Citizens centre, the photograph and the fingerprints are taken there. Prints prepared in advance are not used, and the visit is unavoidable either way.
An online application without the signature sample
The e government route asks for a sample photograph and a sample signature together. People prepare the picture and forget that the signature is a second attachment with its own requirements.
Working from a neighbouring country's rulebook
Guidance written for Russia or for another neighbour circulates as though it were Kazakh. Because the decree is short and the rest is unpublished, borrowed rules are the most likely source of a photograph nobody asked for in that form.
What helps
Find out which route you are on first
A paper form takes two prints. A Government for Citizens service centre captures the image. The e government portal asks for a photograph and a signature sample. The three want different preparation.
Use the decree size, not a studio's habit
35 by 45 is the figure written into government decree no 852, and it covers the passport and the identity card. Our export cuts it directly.
Prepare the signature as carefully as the photo
For the online route it is a second attachment, not an afterthought. A clean signature on white paper, photographed square and evenly lit, scans better than one written on a screen.
Treat the background as our choice, not as a rule
No Kazakh source publishes one. Our tool applies a plain light background because that is the international norm the region works to, and we would rather label that than pretend otherwise.
Print two from one export
Both photographs should be identical, which is what taking them from a single file guarantees. Our print sheet lays a pair out on one page.
Babies and young children
Kazakhstan publishes no separate photograph rule for children. The decree sets the same two 35 by 45 photographs for the paper form whatever the applicant's age, and where the Government for Citizens service centre captures the image it does so for children as well. Nothing published relaxes the expression, the gaze or the head size for a young child, and nothing describes how an infant should be supported for the picture. That silence is not a permission to invent one: if you are photographing a baby for a Kazakh application, the safe preparation is the international norm, a child alone in the frame against a plain light background, with no adult visible.
Glasses
No Kazakh source we could reach publishes a rule about glasses. The decree gives the number of photographs and their size and stops. The Interior Ministry service standard, which is where a rule of this kind would live, could not be found on a government host, and the gov.kz service page links only to fee and procedure acts. We will not borrow a rule from a neighbouring country and present it as Kazakh. Where the image is captured at a service centre, the operator decides in the room. Where a print is submitted, clear lenses with no reflection and no frame across the eyes is the reading least likely to cause a problem.
Head covering
As with glasses, nothing is published on any Kazakh source we could reach, in either direction. No religious exception, no medical exception and no written declaration process appears in decree no 852 or on the gov.kz service page. The practical answer depends on the route: at a Government for Citizens centre this is settled with the operator when the image is captured, and for a paper form there is no published test to satisfy other than the size. We would prepare to the international norm, the whole face visible from the chin to the hairline with no shadow across it, and treat that as reasoning rather than as a Kazakh rule.
Applying online
There are three routes and they want different things. A paper form takes two printed photographs of 35 by 45. An application through the Documenting and Registration of Population registration point at a Government for Citizens service centre needs no photograph, because the image and the fingerprints are captured there. An application through the e government portal asks the applicant to attach a sample photograph and a sample signature, in line with the same Rules. We could not verify a current fee or a processing period from a government page that rendered for us.
Questions about Kazakhstan photos
Which government decree sets the photo size?
Government decree no 852 of 26 August 2013, read in the Adilet legal information system run by the Ministry of Justice. It sets the same size for the passport and for the identity card.
Does the online application need a photograph?
Yes, and a signature sample with it. The e government route asks for both, in line with the same Rules that set the printed size.
Is there a Kazakh background colour rule?
None that we could find on any government host. The value our tool applies is the international norm, and we label it that way rather than presenting it as Kazakh.
Is one sitting enough for the passport and the identity card?
Yes. Paragraph 6 for the passport and paragraph 13 for the identity card both require two photographs of the same size, so one sitting covers both documents.
Do I still need prints at a Government for Citizens centre?
No. Where the application is taken through the registration point there, the image and the fingerprints are captured on the spot and no photograph is handed in.
Where these numbers come from
Secondary sourceThe issuing authority does not publish these numbers in a form we can cite directly. They come from a reputable secondary source and are marked as such.
- Pravila oformleniya, vydachi, zameny, sdachi, izyatiya i unichtozheniya pasporta grazhdanina Respubliki Kazakhstan, udostovereniya lichnosti grazhdanina Respubliki Kazakhstan, paragraph 6checked September 2, 2026
- Vydacha pasportov, udostovereniy lichnosti grazhdanam Respubliki Kazakhstan (state service page)checked September 2, 2026
Reviewed by Editorial teamHow we check our numbers