South Africa passport photo
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The requirements
| Print size | 35 x 45 mm |
|---|---|
| Head height, chin to crown | The authority publishes no head height |
| Background | Not published by the Department of Home Affairs. A plain light background is assumed and is not verified. |
| Also required |
|
The Department of Home Affairs asks for two colour photographs that comply with the Passport and ID Photograph Specifications, but it does not publish those specifications anywhere that could be found on 2026-09-02. The phrase is plain text and not a link; the DHA site search, the gov.za service page for passports and travel documents, and the South African Passports and Travel Documents Act 1994 all contain no photograph dimensions, and the DHA-73 application form is only handed out at an office. In practice the applicant usually supplies no photograph at all: at Smart ID card and live capture offices, and at the participating bank branches, the image is captured in the office by the department, and printed photographs are only needed at non modernised offices and at South African missions abroad. The 35x45 mm figure above is the ICAO norm, recorded only so that the file satisfies the schema. It is NOT taken from a South African government page and must not be shown to users, which is why this spec is marked unverified. To finish it, someone needs the DHA-73 form or the Passport and ID Photograph Specifications document itself; neither is downloadable from dha.gov.za today. No head height is published, and no fallback band is applied: an unverified spec carries a labelled placeholder size and must not be dressed up with borrowed numbers.
Applying in South Africa
Three South African rules contradict what almost every passport photo site publishes, and all three are on the Department of Home Affairs specification sheet. The background is light grey or plain cream, not white. The photo must be not more than one month old, not six. And glasses are allowed, subject to conditions. If you have prepared a South African photo from a generic template, there is a good chance you have a white background on a photo taken last spring, and both of those are wrong here.
There is no photo upload anywhere in the South African process. The eHomeAffairs system says it plainly: a branch visit is mandatory to capture and verify your biometric details, meaning your photograph, fingerprints and signature. Uploads in that system are supporting documents, never the portrait. Any site publishing a pixel count or a file size limit for a South African passport photo has invented it, because the department publishes none and there is nowhere to send a file.
What you do bring is two identical colour prints, professionally produced. The department's own wording is that photographs printed at home are not likely to be of an acceptable quality, which is a polite way of ruling out an inkjet. The print is 35 by 45. What the department does not do is publish the head-height range anywhere we could find, and the specification sheet it refers to is not hosted on its own site at all; it is linked from provincial government pages.
Why photos get rejected here
A white background
The published requirement is a light grey or plain cream background. White is what most international templates produce and it is not what South Africa asks for, which makes this the most common avoidable failure for anyone reusing a photo from elsewhere.
A photo more than a month old
The specification says not more than one month old. Six months is the international norm and the figure most people assume, so a perfectly good photo from earlier in the year fails on its date alone.
Lighting and shadow faults
Six of the thirty-two rejected examples on the official specification sheet are lighting problems. Shadow across the face, shadow on the background, uneven exposure and reflection are the largest single cluster of failures illustrated.
A home-printed photograph
The department states that photographs printed at home are not likely to be of an acceptable quality and asks for professional printing. This is about the paper and the process rather than the framing, so a correct crop does not rescue it.
Head size or framing outside the range
The department requires compliance with a photograph specification that it does not publish in any location we could find, so there is no head-height figure to aim at beyond the ICAO norm the specification rests on. Cropping by eye is the usual cause of landing outside that band.
What helps
Do not renew early without checking the tariff
If your current passport is still valid for six months or longer, the fee is ZAR 1,200 rather than ZAR 600 as of September 2026. Waiting until you are inside the six month window halves the cost, so check the expiry date before you book.
A lost or damaged passport costs double
The replacement tariff for a lost or damaged passport is double the ordinary fee. That is worth knowing before you decide whether to report a passport lost or keep looking for it.
Take the photo in the same month you apply
The one month rule is unusual enough that photographers outside South Africa frequently do not know it. If you are applying from abroad, mention the date requirement when you book.
Applying from outside South Africa takes far longer
The department quotes 13 working days for an adult application in South Africa and 18 for a minor, but at least six to eight months from abroad as of September 2026. Plan an overseas renewal around that figure rather than the domestic one.
Both parents attend for a child
Both parents and the child must be present for a minor's application, and there is a consent affidavit template on the department's site for the case where one parent cannot attend.
Babies and young children
Both parents and the child must attend in person, and the photograph is captured at the branch like everybody else's, so there is no home-photo route for a child either. The department publishes a consent affidavit template for the situation where one parent cannot be there, which is worth downloading before the appointment rather than discovering at the counter. We did not find a published relaxation of the expression or gaze rules for infants in the South African specification, and because we did not find one we are not claiming that it exists.
Glasses
Glasses are allowed in South Africa, which contradicts a great deal of advice published elsewhere. The conditions are no flash reflection on the lenses, no tinted lenses, no heavy frames, and frames that do not cover the eyes. Glasses faults are one of the two largest clusters of rejected examples on the official specification sheet, which tells you that the conditions are enforced rather than nominal. Reflection comes from the lighting rather than from the eyewear, so taking them off remains the most reliable way to satisfy all four conditions at once.
Head covering
The specification sheet is the authority here, and it works the way most do: a covering worn for religious or medical reasons is accepted provided the face remains fully visible. We did not find a published requirement for a written declaration with a South African application, so we are not stating that one is needed. Because the background is light grey or cream rather than white, a pale covering is less likely to merge into it than in countries that use a white backdrop, but a shadow cast forward onto the eyes remains the practical risk.
Applying online
There is no route for uploading a photograph. The eHomeAffairs system states that a branch visit is mandatory to capture and verify biometric details, and the uploads it does accept are supporting documents rather than the portrait. Passports remain available only at the thirty legacy eHomeAffairs branches rather than through the wider bank partnership, which covers the Smart ID card and not the passport. Any pixel or file size figure published for a South African passport photo is fabricated.
Questions about South Africa photos
Is the background white or grey?
Light grey or plain cream. The official specification sheet says so directly, and it contradicts most of what is published elsewhere, which assumes white.
How old can my photo be?
Not more than one month. This is much shorter than the six months most countries allow and is the requirement most often failed by people reusing an existing photo.
Is it true that South Africa requires glasses to be removed?
No, and that advice is wrong on the rule. Glasses are accepted provided there is no flash reflection, the lenses are not tinted, the frames are not heavy and they do not cover the eyes. Removing them does still avoid the reflection problem, which is probably why the advice persists.
Can I upload my photo to eHomeAffairs?
No. A branch visit is mandatory to capture your photograph, fingerprints and signature. The documents you upload in that system are supporting papers, not the portrait.
Why is my renewal quoted at ZAR 1,200?
Because the current passport is still valid for six months or longer. The ZAR 600 tariff as of September 2026 applies once you are inside that window, and a lost or damaged passport is charged at double tariff.
Can I get a passport at a bank branch?
Not in the current phase. The bank partnership covers the Smart ID card, and passports remain at the thirty legacy eHomeAffairs branches. Reporting to the contrary conflicts with what the department itself publishes.
Where these numbers come from
Not verifiedWe could not verify these numbers from a source we trust. Treat them as a starting point and check with the authority before you apply.
- Passports and Travel Documentschecked September 2, 2026
- Are You #Travelready?checked September 2, 2026
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