Australia passport photo size & requirements
Australian passport photos are 35 x 45 mm with a plain light background and a face height of 32–36 mm.
Australia uses the standard 35 x 45 mm biometric format, but the Australian Passport Office applies one rule that surprises many applicants: the background must be plain and light-coloured, but it does not have to be white. A light grey is actually preferred because it creates better contrast with pale skin tones and lighter hair, which can blend into a pure white background and cause edge-detection failures in biometric scanning.
Australian passport applications are processed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). For adults, photos must be taken by a photographer — self-taken photos are technically not acceptable for printed applications, though a photo taken on a phone and printed or submitted digitally is fine if it meets all the requirements. Children under 18 have slightly relaxed rules for expression.
- Photo size
- 35 x 45 mm
- Resolution
- 300 DPI
- Head height
- Face from chin to crown should be 32–36 mm
- Background
- Plain light grey or white
Australia passport photo requirements
- Photo must be 35 x 45 mm.
- Face length (chin to crown) should be 32–36 mm.
- Plain, light-coloured background (white or light grey).
- Neutral expression with mouth closed and eyes open.
- Even lighting with no shadows, flash reflections, or red-eye.
- No head coverings except for religious or medical reasons.
Common reasons Australia passport photos get rejected
Even a technically correct photo can be turned away for these issues. They come up repeatedly in official rejection notices.
- Background that is patterned, coloured, or not uniformly lit — even a slight shadow from shooting close to a wall is enough to fail.
- Face height outside the 32–36 mm range. This is roughly 70–80% of the 45 mm photo height — many home printers scale images slightly, shifting the measurement outside the allowed range.
- Eyes not open or clearly visible — Australian biometric checks are strict about eye visibility, more so than many other countries.
- Red-eye from flash — this is an explicit rejection reason in DFAT guidance.
- Photo printed on the wrong paper — Australian passport photos must be printed on photographic paper, not on regular printer paper.
Make your Australia passport photo
The tool below is preset to 35 x 45 mm. Crop, fix the background, and download — free and private.
Your photo never leaves your device.
Drag to reposition · pinch with two fingers to zoom on touch devices.
Drag the lines or corners to set the crop area, then apply.
Photo settings
High-resolution export at 300 DPI. No watermark, no signup.
Other countries
United States 2 x 2 in (51 x 51 mm) 
Albania 35 x 45 mm 
Brazil 3 x 4 cm (30 x 40 mm); US visa applications use 2 x 2 in 
Canada 50 x 70 mm 
China 33 x 48 mm 
France 35 x 45 mm 
Germany 35 x 45 mm 
Iceland 35 x 45 mm 
India 35 x 45 mm (Indian visa & many applications use 51 x 51 mm / 2 x 2 in) 
Ireland 35 x 45 mm 
Italy 35 x 45 mm 
Japan 35 x 45 mm 
Luxembourg 35 x 45 mm 
Malaysia 35 x 50 mm 
Netherlands 35 x 45 mm 
New Zealand 35 x 45 mm 
Nigeria 35 x 45 mm 
Norway 35 x 45 mm 
Pakistan 35 x 45 mm 
Philippines 35 x 45 mm (Philippine visa applications often use 2 x 2 in) 
Russia 35 x 45 mm 
Saudi Arabia 2 x 2 in (51 x 51 mm) 
Schengen / EU 35 x 45 mm 
Singapore 35 x 45 mm 
South Africa 35 x 45 mm 
South Korea 35 x 45 mm 
Spain 32 x 26 mm (Spanish ID/passport); EU visas use 35 x 45 mm 
Switzerland 35 x 45 mm 
Thailand 35 x 45 mm 
Turkey 50 x 60 mm 
United Arab Emirates 43 x 55 mm 
United Kingdom 35 x 45 mm 
Vietnam 4 x 6 cm (40 x 60 mm)