Austria e-card photo requirements
The 35 × 45 mm photo rules set by Dachverband der Sozialversicherungsträger (chipkarte.at) for the Austria e-card, with the official wording and sources.
Quick answer
What size is the Austria e-card photo?
Most people never hand in an e-card photo: the social insurance system takes it from your Austrian passport, identity card, ID Austria, card driving licence or residence title. If none is on file and you are 14 or older, bring one photo meeting the passport criteria, 35 x 45 mm (1.38 x 1.77 in), in person to a registration office. It cannot be uploaded, and the card shows it in black and white.
The e-card is the Austrian social insurance card, and it is free of charge for the insured person. Since 1 January 2020 every newly issued or replaced e-card for someone aged 14 or over carries a photo. The federal portal describes it as a black-and-white image that shows the holder recognisably, the same size as the photo on the identity card. Children under 14 receive a card without a photo.
For most people nothing needs to be done. The law lets the social insurance system take photos the authorities already hold, in a fixed order: first the identity documents register, which holds Austrian passport, identity card, ID Austria and registered e-card photos; then the driving licence register for card licences; then the central aliens' register for residence titles and other cards issued to foreign nationals. The letter that comes with the new card names the register and the document the photo was taken from.
Only if none of these registers has a usable photo must you bring one yourself. The Social Security Act applies the photo requirements of the Passport Act implementing regulation, so the passport criteria apply in full, and you hand the photo in personally with your e-card or social insurance number. People over 70 and those receiving care allowance at level 4 or above are exempt.
Austria e-card photo size and specifications
The requirements as published by Dachverband der Sozialversicherungsträger (chipkarte.at):[1]
| Print size | Only if no photo is on file: one 35 x 45 mm (1.38 x 1.77 in) print meeting the passport criteria |
|---|---|
| Digital size | No upload: the printed photo must be handed in personally at a registration office |
| Head height | Passport criteria: about 2/3 of the photo height, at most 36 mm (roughly 30 to 36 mm) |
| Eye line | Passport criteria: frontal view, eyes open and uncovered, at least 8 mm between the eyes |
| Background | Passport criteria: one plain light colour, ideally grey, without pattern |
| Colour | Hand in a colour photo (passport criteria); the card shows it laser-engraved in black and white |
| Photo age | Passport criteria: no older than 6 months; a registered e-card photo is reused for 7 years |
| Print quality | Passport criteria: smooth, glossy paper without surface texture, undamaged |
| Pixels when printed | 413 × 531 px at 300 dpi · 827 × 1063 px at 600 dpi (calculated) |
Key requirements
- Find out first whether a photo is needed
You supply a photo only when the registers hold none: no Austrian passport or identity card that is valid or expired for at most six years, no ID Austria, no card driving licence, no residence title or other card for foreign nationals, and no e-card photo registered in the past seven years. From 13 years and 10 months you can check online with the Foto-Sofort-Check.
- Passport criteria are the law
The social insurance FAQ is blunt: you cannot hand in just any photo, because the law requires e-card photos to meet the criteria for a passport photo. That means the full BMI rules: 35 x 45 mm, head about two-thirds of the height, neutral expression, plain light background, colour, no older than six months.
- In person only
Photos cannot be uploaded. Because the photo must be matched to the person, you hand it in yourself at the competent registration office with your e-card or social insurance number. Austrian citizens also show official photo ID and their citizenship certificate in the original, or bring an identity witness; foreign nationals show their travel document in the original.
- Bring it three to four months early
The best time is three to four months before the expiry date printed on the back of your card. You will not be written to: if a new card cannot be made for lack of a photo, you are told at your next contact with the social insurance or your next visit to a doctor.
- You pay for the photo
By law the cardholder bears the cost of the passport photo, as for a passport, identity card or driving licence. The card itself stays free of charge.
- No choice of photo
The order in which register photos are used is fixed by law, and among passport, identity card and registered photos the newest one is used. If you dislike your passport or licence photo, you cannot have a different one put on the e-card instead.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Run the Foto-Sofort-Check before having a photo taken.
- Bring a photo that meets every passport criterion.
- Hand it in three to four months before your card expires.
- Take your e-card or social insurance number with you.
- Book an appointment if your registration office asks for one.
- Show your citizenship certificate in the original if you are Austrian.
Don't
- Do not try to upload a photo; there is no online channel.
- Do not hand in a holiday snapshot or a selfie.
- Do not bring a photo before the age of 13 years and 10 months.
- Do not wait for a reminder letter; none is sent.
- Do not pay for a new photo if a passport or ID card photo is already on file.
Sample photos
How a Austria e-card photo should look, and the mistakes that most often get photos rejected. Each example is drawn to this document's 35 × 45 mm, head height and background colour.
Illustrations, not real photos. The official rules above always take priority; some documents do not allow glasses at all.
Glasses
Because e-card photos follow the passport criteria, glasses are allowed only if they do not stop your eyes being seen clearly. Avoid reflections on the lenses and tinted glasses, and make sure the frame does not cross your eyes.
The card service optimises each photo before the card is personalised, for example by raising the black-and-white contrast, so that the features that matter for identification stand out.
Headwear and religious dress
The passport criteria allow a head covering worn for religious reasons. Otherwise the photo must show you frontally with a neutral expression, closed mouth and uncovered eyes, with the head neither tilted nor turned. Deviations are accepted only where a person's stage of development or physical condition makes the standard impossible.
Babies and children
Children up to 13 years and 10 months always receive an e-card without a photo, and no photo can be registered before that age. The law requires a photo on every card from the 14th birthday, so shortly before it the system tries to produce a new card using a photo from the child's Austrian passport, identity card, an e-card photo registration or the aliens' register.
If no photo is on file, the photo-less card is blocked at 14 unless an exemption applies, so the social insurance service advises bringing a passport photo before the birthday. The young person comes in person; a parent or legal representative does not normally have to attend, unless the registration office doubts the child's identity, for example because no official photo ID can be shown.
Printed and digital photos
There is no digital route for applicants. The e-card system receives digital photos only from the official registers: a photo from a newly issued passport or identity card can be used 7 to 10 working days after the document is issued, or up to 30 working days for documents in the aliens' register. Registering a newer photo does not lead to an early card swap.
When you do need to supply a photo, it has to be a print handed over at the counter. A digital photo can be cropped to 35 x 45 mm and printed at a photo counter, provided the print meets the passport criteria for paper, sharpness and background.
Where to submit the photo
Austrian citizens hand the photo in at an office of the social insurance institutions or at a municipal office whose mayor is authorised as a registration point. Foreign nationals go to the state police department (Landespolizeidirektion) or one of the authorised municipalities. The registration office search on chipkarte.at lists the locations, and many of them work by appointment.
You can also supply the photo as part of a procedure that already involves one of the authorities, such as applying for a passport, an identity card or a card driving licence. That photo enters the register and reaches the e-card automatically, so no separate visit is needed.
How to get your Austria e-card photo
- Check the official requirements. Read the official specification for the Austria e-card: 35 × 45 mm print, passport criteria: one plain light colour… background. Check the rules on pose, expression, glasses and headwear below.
- Take the photo. Follow the key requirements: find out first whether a photo is needed; passport criteria are the law; in person only; bring it three to four months early.
- Prepare a print or digital file. There is no digital route for applicants.
- Submit the photo with your application. Austrian citizens hand the photo in at an office of the social insurance institutions or at a municipal office whose mayor is authorised as a registration point.
Austria e-card photo FAQ
Usually not. If you hold an Austrian passport or identity card that is valid or expired for no more than six years, an ID Austria, a card driving licence or a residence title, the photo comes from the official register. You supply one only if none of these exists and you have not registered an e-card photo in the past seven years.
The law requires the criteria for a passport photo, so hand in a 35 x 45 mm portrait print with your head about two-thirds of the height, on a plain light background, taken within the last six months. On the card the photo appears in black and white at the size used on the identity card.
No. The social insurance system says the photo must be checked against the person, so you hand it in personally at the competent registration office, bringing your e-card or social insurance number and the identity documents it asks for.
To make it hard to falsify, the photo is laser-engraved into the card, and that process produces a black-and-white image, as on the identity card and the driving licence. Colour engraving would multiply the cost of the card without helping identification.
No. The order of the registers is set by law, and the newest of your passport, identity card and registered photos is used. A photo you like better cannot replace the one the system takes from the registers.
Children under 14, people over 70 and people receiving care allowance at level 4, 5, 6 or 7 keep e-cards without a photo. For people over 70 the federal portal says the exemption runs until the end of 2031. Exempt people may still supply a photo voluntarily.
No. The social insurance system states that the e-card with photo is not an official photo identity document. Whether a particular office or person accepts it as identification is their own decision.
Related photo specifications
Other Austria documents
- Passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- Visa photo 35 × 45 mm
- Civil engineer ID card photo 35 × 45 mm
- ID card photo 35 × 45 mm
- Driving licence photo 35 × 45 mm
- Residence permit photo 35 × 45 mm
- ÖBB card photo
- Weapons passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- Bicycle passport photo 25 × 30 mm
Other documents nearby
- Austria bicycle passport photo 25 × 30 mm
- Denmark seafarer's discharge book photo 35 × 45 mm
- Spain NIE card photo 26 × 32 mm
- Spain TIE card photo 26 × 32 mm
- United Kingdom Blue Badge (disabled parking permit) photo
- United Kingdom PASS proof-of-age card photo 45 × 35 mm
Also 35 × 45 mm
- Afghanistan visa photo 35 × 45 mm
- Algeria passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- Algeria visa photo 35 × 45 mm
- Algeria ID card photo 35 × 45 mm
- Algeria residence permit photo 35 × 45 mm
- Algeria work permit photo 35 × 45 mm
- Andorra passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- Anguilla passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- Antigua and Barbuda passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- Armenia visa photo 35 × 45 mm
- All Austria photo specifications
- Other documents: photo rules by country
- Every document that uses a 35 × 45 mm photo
- Photo specifications in Europe
Official sources
- Dachverband der Sozialversicherungsträger (chipkarte.at). e-card: Foto bringen chipkarte.at. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Dachverband der Sozialversicherungsträger (chipkarte.at). Weitere Fragen zur e-card mit Foto chipkarte.at. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Dachverband der Sozialversicherungsträger (chipkarte.at). Ausnahmen chipkarte.at. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Dachverband der Sozialversicherungsträger (chipkarte.at). Ich habe eine e-card ohne Foto mit Ablaufdatum chipkarte.at. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Dachverband der Sozialversicherungsträger (chipkarte.at). Registrierungsstellen chipkarte.at. Checked 2 November 2026.
- oesterreich.gv.at (Bundeskanzleramt). e-card oesterreich.gv.at. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS). Allgemeines Sozialversicherungsgesetz, § 31a ris.bka.gv.at. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (RIS). e-card Fotoverordnung (BGBl. II Nr. 231/2019) ris.bka.gv.at. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Bundesministerium für Inneres (BMI). Passbild-Kriterien bmi.gv.at. Checked 2 November 2026.
Requirements can change, so always confirm with Dachverband der Sozialversicherungsträger (chipkarte.at) before you apply. WorldPhotoSpecs is independent and not affiliated with any government.
Cite this page
"Austria e-card photo". WorldPhotoSpecs. Last updated 4 November 2026. https://worldphotospecs.org/austria/e-card-photo