Qatar passport photo
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The requirements
| Print size | 35 x 48 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 | Plain grey background |
| Also required |
|
Read this one with care. The Qatari missions write the size as '4.8X 3.5' with no unit; centimetres is the only reading that makes sense for a printed portrait photograph, so it is recorded here as 35 mm wide by 48 mm high. Two missions publish the identical wording, which is why it is used at all. The issuing authority is the Ministry of Interior (Nationality and Passports Department) and Qataris inside Qatar apply through MOI service centres and Metrash, where the photograph is normally taken on site; moi.gov.qa, portal.moi.gov.qa and the hukoomi.gov.qa service pages could not be opened from the network used for this research, so no Ministry of Interior page confirms the size, the exact shade of grey, or any head size, expression, glasses or head covering rule. Treat the frame as provisional until a Ministry of Interior page confirms it.
Applying in Qatar
Read this page with more caution than most. Everything on it comes from two Qatari missions abroad, in Washington and in London, which publish the identical sentence for issuing a passport to Qatari citizens: attach two personal photos with a grey background, photo size 4.8 by 3.5. No unit is given. Centimetres is the only reading that makes sense for a printed portrait, so our spec records 35 by 48, and we treat the frame as provisional until a Ministry of Interior page confirms it.
Two things about that requirement are worth noticing anyway. The background is grey, not the white that dominates in the Gulf, and two missions publish it independently, which is why we use it at all. And the same two photographs are required for a passage permit, the emergency travel document issued to return to Qatar, so one sitting covers both.
Inside Qatar the process is different and we could not verify it. The issuing authority is the Nationality and Passports Department of the Ministry of Interior, and Qataris apply through Ministry service centres and Metrash, where the photograph is normally taken on site. We could not open moi.gov.qa, portal.moi.gov.qa or the hukoomi.gov.qa service pages from our network on either day we checked, so no Ministry page confirms the size, the exact shade of grey, or any rule about head size, expression, glasses or head coverings.
Why photos get rejected here
A white background
Both missions publish grey, and they publish it in the same sentence as the size. White is the regional default and it is not what the consular requirement asks for, so a photograph made to a Gulf template is the wrong colour here.
One print where two are asked for
Two personal photographs are attached to the application, and the same pair is required for a passage permit. A single print leaves the file incomplete before anything else is looked at.
A photograph cut to the European frame
The Qatari frame is taller than the 35 by 45 mm most European applications use. Trimming a European print to 35 by 48 leaves the head sitting too high with too little below the chin.
Applying the consular rule inside Qatar
The requirement on this page is what missions abroad publish. Ministry of Interior service centres and Metrash normally take the photograph on site, so preparing prints for a domestic application may be preparing something nobody asks for.
What helps
Use grey, and set it deliberately
Both missions publish a grey background. No shade is given, so a mid to light neutral grey with clear contrast against hair and clothing is the reading to work to, and our background replacement can set it exactly.
Print two from one export
The pair should match. Taking both from a single file guarantees that, and our print sheet lays them out on one page.
Confirm the size with your mission
The published figure carries no unit. Asking the mission handling your file to confirm centimetres before you print costs one email and saves a wasted set.
Keep the pair for the passage permit
The emergency travel document for returning to Qatar takes the same two photographs. If you are already at a studio, a second set costs almost nothing.
Do not assume a glasses or head covering rule
No Qatari page we could reach publishes either. Our tool warns rather than fails on glasses, and for Qatar that warning is genuinely a question for the mission rather than a verdict.
Babies and young children
No Qatari source we could reach publishes a separate photograph rule for babies or young children, so the consular requirement reads the same way for every applicant: two personal photographs with a grey background at the published size. Nothing relaxes the expression, the gaze or the pose for an infant, and nothing describes how a child should be supported for the picture. That is an absence of information rather than an absence of practice, and we are not going to fill it in. If you are photographing a child for a Qatari application, ask the mission what it accepts before the sitting rather than after.
Glasses
No Qatari page we could reach publishes a rule about glasses, in either direction. The consular pages give the number of photographs, the size and the background colour, and stop there. The Ministry of Interior pages that would carry a full standard did not answer from our network on either day we checked. We are not going to present a rule borrowed from a neighbouring Gulf state as Qatari. The safest preparation is the international norm: clear lenses, no reflection, no frame across the eyes, and no tinted lenses or sunglasses. Treat that as reasoning rather than as a quoted Qatari requirement.
Head covering
As with glasses, nothing is published on the sources we could read. Head coverings are worn daily by most Qatari applicants, so the silence certainly reflects the brevity of a consular page rather than an absence of practice, and it would be misleading to present it as a permission or as a ban. The international norm the region works to is that a covering worn for religious or customary reasons is accepted provided the full oval of the face stays visible from the chin to the hairline with no shadow across it. Ask the mission handling your file if you need something firmer than that.
Applying online
We found no Qatari route that accepts an uploaded passport photograph. The consular process takes two printed photographs handed in with the file. Inside Qatar, applications go through Ministry of Interior service centres and Metrash, where the photograph is normally taken on site, but we could not open any Ministry page to confirm how that works or whether any part of it accepts a file. Everything on this page comes from two missions abroad.
Questions about Qatar photos
Why is the Qatari photo size marked provisional?
Because the missions publish it as 4.8 by 3.5 with no unit. Centimetres is the only sensible reading for a printed portrait, but no Ministry of Interior page was reachable to confirm it.
Is the Qatari background really grey rather than white?
Two Qatari missions publish grey, independently and in the same wording. That is why we use it, even though white is the regional default.
What is a passage permit?
The emergency travel document issued to return to Qatar. The consular pages ask for the same two personal photographs as a passport application.
Do Qataris applying inside Qatar bring photographs?
Normally no: applications go through Ministry of Interior service centres and Metrash, where the photograph is taken on site. We could not open a Ministry page to confirm the detail.
Can the same two photographs cover a passport and a passage permit?
The published requirement is identical for both, so one sitting produces what each needs. Print two sets if you may need the second document.
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.
- Consular services: issuance of passportschecked September 2, 2026
- Consular services: issuance of passportschecked September 2, 2026
Reviewed by Editorial teamHow we check our numbers