Vietnam passport photo
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The requirements
| Print size | 40 x 60 mm |
|---|---|
| Head height, chin to crown | The authority publishes no head height |
| Background | Plain white photo background |
| Glasses | Not allowed. Remove them for the photo. |
| Head covering | Not allowed. |
| Ears | Yes |
| Photo age | 6 months |
| Also required |
|
The size is published in centimetres (4 cm x 6 cm) and converted here to 40x60 mm. This is the domestic procedure handled by the provincial Immigration Management offices of the Ministry of Public Security; the same photo wording is used by the Immigration Department for applications abroad. No head height, eye line or digital pixel rules are published, so those fields are omitted. 'Dau de tran' literally means bare head, which is why headCovering is set to not_allowed. The Immigration Department site xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn was unreachable from the network used for this research, so the Ministry of Public Security service portal was used instead; both are Ministry of Public Security properties.
Applying in Vietnam
Vietnam writes its photo rule as one sentence in the administrative procedure record, and every clause in it costs somebody a rejected application. The photograph is newly taken and no more than six months old, 40 by 60, the face square to the camera, the head bare, the face clear, both ears clearly visible, no glasses, decent formal clothing, on a #FFFFFF background. Nothing about head height, eye line or pixels is published, so the sentence is the whole standard.
Two of those clauses catch people who have applied elsewhere. Glasses are excluded outright, with no glare-free exception of the kind most of Europe allows, so a daily wearer has to be photographed without them. And the head has to be bare: the Vietnamese wording is dau de tran, literally bare head, which is why our spec records head coverings as not allowed rather than as a religious exception. Both ears must show, so hair worn forward has to be set back.
The route is the domestic one handled by the provincial immigration offices of the Ministry of Public Security, and the procedure record gives eight working days for it. The application can be started on the ministry's own public service portal, dichvucong.bocongan.gov.vn. The immigration department's site, xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn, was unreachable from our network on both days we checked, so everything on this page comes from the ministry portal instead. The two are properties of the same ministry, and the photo wording on them matches.
Why photos get rejected here
Glasses left on
The procedure record says khong deo kinh, no glasses. There is no reflection-free exception and no medical wording, so a photograph in everyday spectacles does not meet the requirement however clear the eyes are.
An ear hidden by hair or a collar
Ro hai tai, both ears clear, is a separate clause from the one about the face. Long hair worn forward, a high collar or a scarf across the jaw each hide an ear without doing anything else wrong.
Anything on the head
The head must be bare. A cap, a hat or a hood is refused, and the record publishes no religious exception, which is a narrower rule than most of the countries on this site apply.
A photograph older than six months
Anh moi chup khong qua 06 thang sets a hard limit rather than the softer current-appearance test used by Russia and Romania. Reusing the picture from a previous application is the common way to fall foul of it.
Casual clothing
Trang phuc lich su, decent formal clothing, is written into the requirement itself. A vest, a beach shirt or bare shoulders is a clothing failure rather than a photographic one, and no amount of retaking fixes it.
A background that is not plain white
Phong anh nen trang leaves no room for the light grey and light blue that neighbouring countries accept. A cream wall reads as off-white in print and is the usual reason a home photograph is turned back.
What helps
Take the glasses off before you frame the shot
Not after, and not only for the retake. Allow a few minutes between removing them and shooting so the pads leave no marks on the nose.
Tie hair back until both ears show
The ear clause is the one people fail without noticing. Check both sides in the preview rather than trusting the mirror.
Cut to the Vietnamese size, not the European one
Vietnam uses 40 by 60, published as 4 cm by 6 cm. A 35 by 45 mm print made for a Schengen application is the wrong shape as well as the wrong size.
Wear a collared shirt or a plain formal top
Formal dress is part of the published requirement. Dark colours also separate the shoulders from the white background, which helps the print as well as the rule.
Check the fee before you pay it
The procedure record still lists 160,000 VND for a new passport and 320,000 VND for a replacement after damage or loss, marked as applying to 31 December 2023. That end date has passed, so the figure on the page is stale and the counter will quote the current one.
Allow eight working days
That is the period the procedure record gives for the domestic route through a provincial immigration office. Nothing about the photograph shortens it.
Babies and young children
Vietnam publishes no separate rule for babies or young children. The single photo sentence in the procedure record applies to every applicant, which means a child's picture is judged on the same points as an adult's: bare head, both ears visible, no glasses, formal clothing, plain white background, and no more than six months old. There is no published relaxation for a closed eye, an open mouth or a gaze away from the lens. In practice that makes the ear clause the hard one for an infant, because a baby lying down almost always has hair or a blanket edge across one side of the head. Photographing the child on a plain white sheet from directly above, with the head turned square, is the way to satisfy both the ear rule and the background rule at once.
Glasses
Glasses are not allowed. The requirement says khong deo kinh, without glasses, and it publishes no exception for clear lenses, for a reflection-free shot or for a medical need. This is stricter than the allowed_no_glare rule used across Europe and it is the single largest difference between a Vietnamese photograph and one prepared for a Schengen application. Our tool raises the glasses warning as information rather than as a failure, but for Vietnam you should treat it as a failure: if glasses are detected, the photograph needs retaking without them. Contact lenses are not mentioned either way in the published wording.
Head covering
The published phrase is dau de tran, bare head. No religious or medical exception appears in the procedure record, which is why our spec records head coverings as not allowed rather than as conditional. That is unusual, and it matters most to applicants who wear a headscarf daily and are used to the European formula that permits it if the face stays visible. We could not find a Vietnamese page setting out an exception process, and we are not going to infer one. If a covering is worn for religious reasons, ask the provincial immigration office before the photograph is taken rather than after the application is filed.
Applying online
The domestic application can be filed through the ministry's public service portal at dichvucong.bocongan.gov.vn, which is also where the administrative procedure record for the passport lives. The legal basis it names is Law 49/2019/QH14, Law 23/2023/QH15 and Circular 31/2023/TT-BCA. The record gives eight working days for the provincial route. Note that the immigration department's own site, xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn, did not answer from our network, so we could not cross-check the upload behaviour there.
Questions about Vietnam photos
Can I wear glasses in a Vietnamese passport photo?
No. The requirement excludes glasses outright, with no exception for clear lenses or a glare-free shot. A photograph in everyday spectacles has to be retaken.
Why does Vietnam use 4 by 6 cm instead of 35 by 45 mm?
It publishes the size in centimetres and has done so across its identity documents. The shape is different too, so a European print cannot be trimmed down to fit.
Do both of my ears really have to show?
Yes. Ro hai tai, both ears clear, is a separate clause in the requirement. Hair worn forward over one ear is enough to fail it.
Is the 160,000 VND fee on the procedure page still current?
Treat it as out of date. The page marks that rate as applying until 31 December 2023, and we could not confirm the figure that replaced it, so check at the counter before paying.
How long does the domestic passport route take?
The administrative procedure record gives eight working days for an application made through a provincial immigration office of the Ministry of Public Security.
Does Vietnam allow a headscarf in the photograph?
The published wording asks for a bare head and sets out no exception. We could not confirm any exception process, so ask the provincial immigration office before the photograph is taken.
Where these numbers come from
Official sourceEvery measurement on this page comes from the issuing authority's own published requirements.
- Cap ho chieu pho thong o trong nuoc (thuc hien tai cap tinh) - administrative procedure 29497checked September 2, 2026
Reviewed by Editorial teamHow we check our numbers