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SizefotoPassport and ID photos, measured to the millimetre

Portugal passport photo: there is none to bring

No photo to bringOfficial source

No size, no background colour, no print. The authority produces the image itself, so nothing here is yours to prepare.

Why there is no editor on this page

Our editor cuts a photo to a published size. Portugal publishes none for this document, so there is nothing to cut to. We would rather say that than hand you a crop no office asked for.

Portugal electronic passport

Portugal publishes no photograph specification for the electronic passport. Every official list of what an applicant brings, national and consular, names only the Cartao de Cidadao or Bilhete de Identidade and the previous passport, and the application can only be made in person at a counter. The government portal states separately, for the Cartao de Cidadao, that the citizen's biometric data including the photograph is registered in the IRN system and is refreshed by renewing in person, which is the mechanism that explains why no photograph is asked for.

How the image is produced

An officer photographs you at the counter when you apply.

No official page says it outright. Every published list of what to bring contains no photograph, and that is what this rests on.

Documents this coversPassport

Where a photo is still accepted

  • Scope: the Passaporte Eletronico Portugues. The passaporte temporario, issued in exceptional cases with one year of validity, was not researched and may behave differently.

  • No official page states this for the passport in so many words; the three requirements lists are complete and contain no photograph, which is what the conclusion rests on.

Applying in Portugal

Portugal takes the photograph itself, and this is written into law rather than left to policy. Article 25 of Lei 7/2007 restricts the collection and verification of the facial image, the fingerprints, the signature and the height to the receiving and issuing service, performed by a worker credentialed by the Institute of Registries and Notaries. The passport page says the same thing in plainer words: the passport has to be taken by the person themselves and the request can only be made at the counter.

One consequence surprises people who have prepared carefully. The background you sit against barely matters, because the counter pipeline extracts the face and removes the background before the image is stored. The technical standard behind it is ISO/IEC 19794-5, working at a minimum of 500 dots per inch with at least 120 pixels between the centres of the eyes. Neither the wall behind you nor the shirt you chose is doing the work that it does in a country where you supply the print.

There are three real exceptions, and they are the only situations in which a photograph you provide is used. A newborn's first Cartao de Cidadao, requested through online birth registration, accepts an uploaded image. A temporary passport or single travel document issued by a consulate wants two physical photographs taken less than a year ago on a plain background. And a technical rule allows an officer to scan a paper photograph you supply, though live capture remains the fallback whenever the quality is insufficient.

Why photos get rejected here

  • Buying photographs for a passport appointment

    This is the commonest wasted step rather than a rejection. The what-to-bring list for a Portuguese passport names your Cartao de Cidadao or Bilhete de Identidade and does not ask for a photograph, because the image is captured at the counter.

  • Consular photographs older than a year

    The temporary passport rule sets its own limit, and it is one year rather than the six months most countries use. A photograph within six months is comfortably inside it; one from eighteen months ago is not, even though it might pass elsewhere.

  • A supplied paper photo scanned below the threshold

    Where an officer scans a photograph you brought, the technical rule requires at least 500 dots per inch. A small or soft print does not reach it, and the officer falls back to live capture, which is the outcome the print was meant to avoid.

  • A poor upload during online birth registration

    This is the one genuine consumer upload channel in Portugal, and no millimetre size, background colour or resolution is published for it. Without a published rule, the practical risk is an image that is too small or too soft rather than one that breaks a stated limit.

  • Trying to renew the Cartao de Cidadao online twice in a row

    The card cannot be renewed online two consecutive times. The second renewal has to be made in person so the biometric data can be refreshed, which is the same reason the photograph is captured at the counter in the first place.

What helps

  • Do not buy photographs for a passport

    Bring your Cartao de Cidadao or Bilhete de Identidade. The photograph is taken at the counter, so a set of prints is money spent on something that will not be used.

  • Know which of the three exceptions applies to you

    A supplied photograph is used only for a newborn's first Cartao de Cidadao through online birth registration, for a consular temporary passport, or where an officer scans a print you brought. Outside those, it is not.

  • Remember the Portuguese passport is a five-year document

    It is valid five years for everyone, adults included, and there is no ten-year Portuguese passport. Nor are duplicates issued: a lost passport is replaced with a new one, not a second copy.

  • Budget by speed, not by document

    As of September 2026 an adult passport on the mainland is EUR 65 for the normal five working day service, EUR 85 for two days, EUR 95 for one day, and EUR 100 for same-day issue at Lisbon airport. Home delivery adds EUR 10 in Portugal or EUR 30 abroad.

  • Check your card if it was issued in that three-year window

    Cartoes de Cidadao issued between 13 August 2021 and 9 June 2024 are valid only until 3 August 2031, regardless of the date printed on them. A new model has been in use since 11 June 2024, with a larger printed photograph.

Babies and young children

The one place in Portugal where you supply a photograph for a routine document is a newborn's first Cartao de Cidadao, requested as part of online birth registration. The service accepts a PDF, PNG, JPG or JPEG upload, and the card is free for babies up to one year old. We could not find any published requirement for that upload: no size in millimetres, no background colour, no resolution figure. That is a gap in the official guidance rather than an omission on our part, so aim for a sharp, well-lit, front-facing image and expect the service to say if it cannot use it.

Glasses

We could not confirm a Portuguese rule on glasses at national level, and we are not going to state one. No Portuguese law or official page we read specifies eyewear, tinting or frames. The requirements apply only by reference, through ICAO Doc 9303 and ISO/IEC 19794-5, which ask for the eyes to be clearly visible. In practice the question rarely arises, because the operator takes the photograph and will tell you if the glasses are causing a reflection. Any claim that Portugal has its own published glasses rule is an inference rather than a citation.

Head covering

As with glasses, we found no Portuguese national rule on head coverings, and no published religious or medical exception, because the photographic requirements are inherited from the international standard rather than restated in Portuguese law. What that standard requires is a clearly visible face. Since the image is captured by a credentialed officer at the counter, this is a conversation at the desk rather than a document you prepare in advance. If it matters to your application, ask the registry office when you book rather than relying on a photographic guide.

Applying online

For a passport and for an adult Cartao de Cidadao there is no upload route, because the law restricts collection of the facial image to the issuing service and a credentialed worker. The single consumer exception is a newborn's first Cartao de Cidadao through online birth registration, which accepts a PDF, PNG, JPG or JPEG upload with no published size or resolution requirement. A consular temporary passport takes two physical photographs less than a year old instead.

Questions about Portugal photos

Do I need to bring photographs for a Portuguese passport?

No. The what-to-bring list names your Cartao de Cidadao or Bilhete de Identidade, and the photograph is captured at the counter. The law restricts collection of the facial image to the issuing service.

Does the background behind me matter?

Much less than elsewhere. The counter pipeline extracts the face and removes the background before storing the image, so what is behind you is not doing the work it does in a country where you supply the print.

Is there any situation where I supply the photo?

Three. A newborn's first Cartao de Cidadao through online birth registration accepts an upload, a consular temporary passport wants two prints less than a year old, and an officer may scan a paper photograph you bring if its quality is sufficient.

How long is a Portuguese passport valid?

Five years, for adults as well as children. There is no ten-year Portuguese passport, and duplicates are not issued: a replacement is a new passport rather than a second copy of the old one.

Can I renew my Cartao de Cidadao online every time?

No. It cannot be renewed online twice in a row. The second renewal has to be made in person so that the biometric data, including the photograph, can be refreshed.

Why does this page not give a Portuguese rule on smiling or glasses?

Because we could not find one. Portugal inherits the photographic requirements from ICAO Doc 9303 and ISO/IEC 19794-5 rather than publishing its own, so a claim that Portugal specifically forbids something is usually an inference from the international standard.

Where this comes from

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