Austria photo specifications
Photo sizes and rules for 10 documents issued in Austria, taken from the issuing authorities and linked to their official pages.
At a glance
Austria's passport, identity card, residence title, visa and driving licence all use a 35 x 45 mm colour photo built on the same criteria. The e-card needs a photo only when none is on file from those documents, and then one meeting passport criteria. The weapons passport and the civil engineer ID card ask for a passport photo without stating a size, the children's bicycle passport takes a smaller photo in Vienna and Lower Austria, and the ÖBB Vorteilscard no longer carries a photo.
Overview
Several different bodies issue Austrian photo documents. Passport authorities, district authorities, city Magistrate and Vienna's district offices, issue the passport and the Personalausweis under the Interior Ministry's photo criteria, which also cover residence titles applied for at Austrian embassies or residence authorities. Visas come from the embassies and consulates of the foreign ministry, which ask for an ICAO-standard 35 x 45 mm colour photo. The driving licence authority, a state police department or district authority, wants a 35 x 45 mm portrait photo by the theory test at the latest, ideally meeting passport criteria.
Other cards work differently. The e-card, the social insurance card, reuses the photo from your passport, identity card, card driving licence or residence title; if none is available, you hand in a passport-standard photo in person at a registration office. A weapons passport needs a photo for the weapons authority, and Upper Austrian district authorities ask for a biometric photo under six months old. Children's bicycle passports (the Fahrradausweis cycling permit) need a photo sent with a form that schools hand out, no larger than 2.5 x 3 cm in Vienna and 3 x 4 cm in Lower Austria, and the civil engineer ID card from the Chamber of Civil Engineers takes a passport photo that may be sent as a JPEG. The ÖBB Vorteilscard, a discount card from Austria's federal railway company, has no photo and is valid only with photo ID.
Photo specifications by document
Passports
| Document | Print size | Digital size | Background |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passport | 35 × 45 mm | 413 × 531 px | Plain light colour, ideally grey, no pattern… |
Visas and travel authorisations
| Document | Print size | Digital size | Background |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visa | 35 × 45 mm | — | Light and plain |
Identity cards
| Document | Print size | Digital size | Background |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civil engineer ID card | 35 × 45 mm | — | Not stated by the chambers |
| ID card | 35 × 45 mm | — | One light colour, preferably grey, no pattern… |
Driving licences
| Document | Print size | Digital size | Background |
|---|---|---|---|
| Driving licence | 35 × 45 mm | — | Passport criteria where possible: plain light… |
Residence and work permits
| Document | Print size | Digital size | Background |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residence permit | 35 × 45 mm | — | Single light colour without any pattern |
Bus and transport cards
| Document | Print size | Digital size | Background |
|---|---|---|---|
| ÖBB card | — | — | Not applicable: the Vorteilscard has no photo |
Licences and permit cards
| Document | Print size | Digital size | Background |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weapons passport | 35 × 45 mm | — | Not stated for weapons documents |
Other documents
| Document | Print size | Digital size | Background |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bicycle passport | 25 × 30 mm | — | Not specified |
| E-card | 35 × 45 mm | — | Passport criteria: one plain light colour… |
Frequently asked questions
For the passport, the identity card and the residence title, yes: the Interior Ministry applies one set of criteria to all three, and the same 35 x 45 mm colour photo also fits visa and driving licence applications. Each authority still checks that the photo is no older than six months.
Passport authorities connected to eBild accept a code from a registered photographer instead of a print. The Chamber of Civil Engineers accepts a JPEG for the civil engineer ID card. The e-card takes its photo from official registers where one exists. Other applications need prints.
Only if no photo is available from an Austrian passport, identity card, ID Austria, card driving licence, residence title or certain other cards, and you have not registered one in the last seven years. Then you hand in a photo meeting passport criteria, in person, at a registration office. Children under 14 get an e-card without a photo.
No. ÖBB says there is no longer a photo on the Vorteilscard and none is needed to order it. Instead, the card is valid only together with a photo ID that shows your age, such as a driving licence, identity card or student ID.
A plain, light background with no pattern. The Interior Ministry calls grey ideal for passports, identity cards and residence titles, choosing medium grey for fair hair and light grey for dark hair. The Austrian embassy in Bangkok asks for white on visa photos.
Nearby countries
Other countries in Western Europe:
Official sources
- Bundesministerium für Inneres (BMI). Passbild-Kriterien bmi.gv.at. Checked 1 November 2026.
- Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (BMEIA). Visa bmeia.gv.at. Checked 1 November 2026.
- oesterreich.gv.at (Bundeskanzleramt). General information about getting a driving licence oesterreich.gv.at. Checked 1 November 2026.
- oesterreich.gv.at (Bundeskanzleramt). e-card oesterreich.gv.at. Checked 1 November 2026.
- Dachverband der Sozialversicherungsträger (chipkarte.at). e-card: Foto bringen chipkarte.at. Checked 1 November 2026.
- oesterreich.gv.at (Bundeskanzleramt). Waffenpass oesterreich.gv.at. Checked 1 November 2026.
- Land Oberösterreich. Waffen (Bezirkshauptmannschaft Steyr-Land) land-oberoesterreich.gv.at. Checked 1 November 2026.
- oesterreich.gv.at (Bundeskanzleramt). Freiwillige Radfahrprüfung (Fahrradausweis) oesterreich.gv.at. Checked 1 November 2026.
- Unternehmensserviceportal (USP). Ziviltechnikerausweis usp.gv.at. Checked 1 November 2026.
- Kammer der Ziviltechniker:innen für Wien, Niederösterreich und Burgenland. Neu in der Kammer: wichtige Hinweise ost.zt.at. Checked 1 November 2026.
- ÖBB-Personenverkehr AG. Vorteilscard: Allgemeine Fragen oebb.at. Checked 1 November 2026.
Cite this page
"Austria photo specifications". WorldPhotoSpecs. Last updated 4 November 2026. https://worldphotospecs.org/austria