Australian passport photo requirements 2026

An Australian passport photo is a printed colour photo 35–40 mm wide and 45–50 mm high, with 35×45 mm as the standard print. Your face must measure 32–36 mm from chin to crown, on a plain white or light grey background. The rules describe 2 photos less than 6 months old; printed photos must be made by dye sublimation, not inkjet, on glossy paper of at least 200 gsm. You can prepare a photo to this template from a good selfie online in SelfieDoc.

Australian passport photo requirements at a glance

The Australian Passport Office sets the rules on passports.gov.au. A separate PDF covers camera operators. Here they are in one place.

Source: passports.gov.au (Passport photos, Camera operator guidelines). Requirements can change, so confirm them on the official pages before you print.

Australian passport photo size in mm and pixels

The official size is a range: 35–40 mm wide and 45–50 mm high. 35×45 mm is the standard print size. Inside that frame, the measurement that matters most is the face. It must be 32–36 mm from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head.

The Passport Office guidance describes a printed photo and gives no pixel size or file size. If you need a digital file to print a 35×45 mm photo at 300 dpi, the maths gives about 413×531 px (mm ÷ 25.4 × 300). That is a print setting. It is not an official Australian requirement.

Where you lodge the photos and whether your own photo works

The photo rules describe 2 printed photos. Check on passports.gov.au whether your route takes prints or a digital upload, where to lodge for your application type, in Australia or overseas, and which route applies to a renewal.

The Passport Office publishes standards for the photo itself. A separate set of guidelines is written for camera operators. Check on passports.gov.au whether you may take the photo yourself or must use a photographer for your application type. Whoever takes it, the photo must meet the same size, face height, background and lighting rules.

Whether a digital photo is accepted for any online route is not stated in the rules for printed photos. Confirm this on passports.gov.au for your application type.

The guarantor and the back of the photo

Your application form may ask a guarantor to endorse one of your 2 photos. The guarantor certifies that the photo is a true photo of the applicant. Who can act as guarantor, and what they write for adults, is set out on the form and passports.gov.au.

The checklist published by the Australian mission in Geneva gives an example for child applications. There the guarantor completes section 11 of the form and writes "This is a true photo of [full name]" on the back. The same checklist gives a minimum age of 18 for the guarantor; check the current criteria for your own application.

Whether you need a guarantor at all depends on your application type; for adults and renewals, check the current form. Check the form and passports.gov.au before you ask someone to sign. Separately, you write your own full name on the back of one photo in black pen.

Printing: dye sublimation and 200 gsm paper

The print rule catches out a lot of home printers. The Passport Office asks for colour photos printed by dye sublimation, not on an inkjet printer. They must be on heavy-weight glossy paper of at least 200 gsm.

In practice:

1. Get a file or print layout that holds your photo at 35×45 mm.
2. Take it to a photo lab or kiosk and ask whether it prints by dye sublimation.
3. Choose glossy paper and confirm that it is at least 200 gsm.
4. Check the printed size with a ruler: the photo should be 35×45 mm and the face 32–36 mm.
5. Keep both photos clean and undamaged, and don't trim into the face.

Common Australian passport photo mistakes

Most problems come from breaking one of the rules in the table above. These are the ones to check before you lodge:

• The photo is too old. It must be less than 6 months old, even if you still look the same.
• The face is the wrong size. The photo is 35×45 mm, but the head is cropped too small or too large. Measure chin to crown: 32–36 mm.
• The background is wrong. It is cream, patterned or shadowed, or it has no contrast with pale hair or a white top.
• The lighting is uneven. One side of the face is darker, or a shadow falls behind the head.
• You are not looking straight at the camera. The head is tilted or turned, or the face is off-centre.
• It was printed on inkjet. Home prints on photo paper often fail the dye-sublimation rule.
• The photo has been retouched. Smoothing skin or removing marks goes beyond the brightness and contrast changes that are allowed.
• The back is missing a detail. There is no name in black pen, or an endorsement that your form asks for is missing.
• The 2 photos don't match. Bring 2 prints of the same shot.

Glasses, headwear and children

The rules for these cases are best read in full on passports.gov.au before the shoot. This covers glasses, religious or medical headwear, expression and photos of babies and young children. If you wear glasses or a head covering, check the current wording on that page first. It is easier to plan the photo around the rule than to reshoot.

For a child, check the child application rules on passports.gov.au before the shoot. The requirements for babies and young children may differ from those for adults.

Taking the photo at home, in a studio or online

Whichever option you choose, check the result against the table before you lodge.

At a studio or pharmacy photo counter. Many places that offer passport photos print on the spot. Ask whether they use dye sublimation and 200 gsm glossy paper, and check the face size on the print before you leave.

At home with a phone. Stand in front of a plain white or light grey wall and face a window for even light. The camera operator guidelines call for a 90–130 mm focal length (35 mm equivalent) and a distance of at least 1.2 metres. Phone main lenses are usually much wider than that, so a phone shot may not match the camera operator guidelines. A studio or lab is the safer choice for the print. Our guide on taking a passport photograph with your phone covers the setup step by step. If your route needs printed photos, you still need a dye-sublimation print afterwards.

Online from a selfie. SelfieDoc crops the photo, replaces the background with a plain one and fits the head position to the 35×45 mm Australian template. It does not change your facial features. You get a photo file and a print layout. If your route needs printed photos, take the layout to a lab that prints by dye sublimation on glossy paper of at least 200 gsm.

Sources

• Passport photos, Australian Passport Office (passports.gov.au)
• Camera operator guidelines, Australian Passport Office (PDF)
• Checklist for a child passport application, Permanent Mission of Australia in Geneva (PDF)