Belarus citizenship photo requirements
The 30 × 40 mm photo rules set by National Legal Internet Portal of the Republic of Belarus for the Belarus citizenship, with the official wording and sources.
Quick answer
What size is the Belarus citizenship photo?
Applications concerning Belarusian citizenship take four colour photos of 30 x 40 mm (1.18 x 1.57 in) that match your current age, under Presidential Decree No. 209. A child acquiring citizenship by registration needs three. You file them with the questionnaire at an internal affairs department in Belarus, or at an embassy or consulate if you live abroad. No background colour, head size or digital format is published.
Questions of Belarusian citizenship, from admission and acquisition by registration to renunciation and determining whether a person is a citizen, follow the Regulation approved by Presidential Decree No. 209 of 17 November 1994, together with the Law on Citizenship of 2002. Applications for admission and for renunciation are addressed to the President. The Regulation lists the papers to attach to each kind of application, and colour photographs appear in almost every list.
Who receives your application depends on where you live. People living permanently in Belarus apply to the internal affairs department of the city or district executive committee for their place of residence. People living permanently abroad apply to a body of the diplomatic service, in practice a Belarusian embassy or consulate; where their country has none, the nearest mission in another country accepts it.
The photo rule itself is short: colour prints of 30 x 40 mm that match your age. The questionnaire forms in the Regulation have a box marked "place for photograph", and the embassy in Berlin asks for three photos glued to the three copies of the questionnaire and a fourth handed in loose. Once citizenship is granted, your Belarusian passport or ID card is a separate application with its own photo rules.
Belarus citizenship photo size and specifications
The requirements as published by National Legal Internet Portal of the Republic of Belarus:[1]
| Print size | 30 x 40 mm (1.18 x 1.57 in); four colour prints, three for a child acquiring citizenship by registration |
|---|---|
| Digital size | No digital file: the prints go with the paper questionnaire |
| Background | Not published: the Regulation asks only for colour photos that match your age |
| Colour | Colour |
| Photo age | Must match your current age; Berlin asks for four identical, current photos |
| Pixels when printed | 354 × 472 px at 300 dpi · 709 × 945 px at 600 dpi (calculated) |
Key requirements
- Four colour photos of 30 x 40 mm
Decree No. 209 asks for four colour photographs of the applicant, 30 x 40 mm and matching his or her age, with an application for admission to citizenship, for acquisition by registration, for renunciation and for determining citizenship. When renunciation is requested for a ward or a child, their own set of four photos is filed with their questionnaire.
- Three photos in some children's cases
When parents apply for a child to acquire citizenship by registration, the Regulation lists three colour photos of the child, 30 x 40 mm. A guardian filing the same kind of application for a child or ward also supplies three.
- Photos go on the questionnaire
Each questionnaire form in the Regulation has a box for the photograph. For a renunciation, the embassy in Berlin asks for four identical current photos of 30 x 40 mm: three glued into the photo box on the three copies of the questionnaire and the fourth handed over separately. Its admission list writes the same size as "3x4".
- No technical specification
Neither the Regulation nor the Foreign Ministry publishes a background colour, head size or retouching rule for citizenship photos. Size, colour and a likeness matching your age are the only conditions. The nearest published Belarusian standard, the MVD rule for passport photos, asks for an even light background and no headwear, but it is written for passports.
- Applying from abroad
People living permanently outside Belarus file at an embassy or consulate. The Foreign Ministry's list for admission from abroad includes the questionnaire, the four 30 x 40 mm colour photos, an autobiography, the travel document, birth and marriage certificates, proof of income, proof about any other citizenship, a criminal record certificate and the consular fee receipt.
- In person, as a rule
An adult applies personally and in writing; abroad, the admission application is written in the presence of a consular officer. Only in exceptional, documented circumstances may the papers be passed on through another person or sent by post, and then the signature and the copies must be certified by a notary.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Bring four colour photos of 30 x 40 mm.
- Bring three photos of a child acquiring citizenship by registration.
- Use identical photos that show you as you look now.
- Glue three photos into the questionnaire photo boxes if your embassy asks, as Berlin does.
- File in Belarus at the internal affairs department for your place of residence.
- Apply at an embassy or consulate if you live permanently abroad.
Don't
- Do not bring 40 x 50 mm passport prints for a citizenship file.
- Do not post the application unless exceptional circumstances apply.
- Do not use an old photo that no longer matches your age.
- Do not expect the citizenship photos to serve for your later passport.
Sample photos
How a Belarus citizenship photo should look, and the mistakes that most often get photos rejected. Each example is drawn to this document's 30 × 40 mm and background colour.
Illustrations, not real photos. The official rules above always take priority; some documents do not allow glasses at all.
Babies and children
Children appear in the Regulation in several ways. A child can be admitted to citizenship together with a parent, on the parent's application with the child's birth certificate; the other parent's notarised consent is needed if that parent is a foreign citizen or stateless person. For a child aged 14 to 18, any change of citizenship also needs the child's own written consent, certified by a notary.
When parents apply for a child to acquire citizenship by registration, the list includes three colour photos of the child, 30 x 40 mm. When renunciation is sought for a child, the child's questionnaire comes with four photos of the child.
Printed and digital photos
Citizenship files are paper files. The Regulation describes applications handed in on paper, in person, with the prints attached to the questionnaire alongside the autobiography and copies of your documents. It sets only the print size, 30 x 40 mm, and colour.
If you make the photo yourself, a digital image can be cropped to 30 x 40 mm and printed on a 4x6 inch sheet at a photo counter, which gives several identical prints from one picture.
Where to submit the photo
In Belarus: the internal affairs department of the city or district executive committee for your place of permanent residence. On the day it accepts the application for consideration, it enters it in the automated information system "Citizenship and Migration".
Abroad: a Belarusian embassy or consulate, for people living permanently in its country. The embassy in Berlin, for example, takes renunciation applications in person by appointment from citizens on its consular register, and signatures on the application, questionnaire and autobiography are added at the embassy during the appointment.
How to get your Belarus citizenship photo
- Check the official requirements. Read the official specification for the Belarus citizenship: 30 × 40 mm print. Check the rules on pose, expression, glasses and headwear below.
- Take the photo. Follow the key requirements: four colour photos of 30 x 40 mm; three photos in some children's cases; photos go on the questionnaire; no technical specification.
- Prepare a print or digital file. Citizenship files are paper files. The Regulation describes applications handed in on paper, in person, with the prints attached to the questionnaire alongside the autobiography and copies of your documents. It sets only the print size, 30 x 40 mm, and colour.
- Submit the photo with your application. In Belarus: the internal affairs department of the city or district executive committee for your place of permanent residence.
Belarus citizenship photo FAQ
30 x 40 mm, in colour. Decree No. 209 asks for four such photos matching your age with applications for admission, acquisition by registration, renunciation and determination of citizenship. For a child acquiring citizenship by registration, three photos are listed.
On the questionnaire. The forms in the Regulation have a box marked "place for photograph", and the embassy in Berlin asks for three photos glued to the three copies of the questionnaire, with the fourth handed in separately.
Yes, if you live permanently abroad. Embassies and consulates accept citizenship applications from permanent residents of their country; where there is no Belarusian mission, the nearest one in another country takes the application. The Foreign Ministry's list for admission from abroad includes four 30 x 40 mm colour photos.
None is published. Decree No. 209 and the Foreign Ministry pages set only the size, colour and a likeness matching your age. The MVD passport standard, with its even light background, is written for passports rather than citizenship files.
Yes. The embassy's admission list says "four photographs 3x4", while its renunciation list gives the same size as 30 x 40 mm. Both match the size in Decree No. 209.
Yes, it is a separate procedure. Decree No. 200 lists the passport application for people who have acquired citizenship, with four colour photos of 40 x 50 mm on one sheet. Alternatively you can apply for an ID card and biometric passport, for which the office takes a digital photo.
Related photo specifications
Other Belarus documents
- Passport photo 40 × 50 mm
- Visa photo 35 × 45 mm
- Driving licence photo 40 × 50 mm
- Residence permit photo 40 × 50 mm
Citizenship and naturalisation nearby
- Ireland irish citizenship (naturalisation) photo 715 × 951 px
- Portugal citizen card photo 35 × 45 mm
- United Kingdom british citizenship (naturalisation) photo 45 × 35 mm
Also 30 × 40 mm
- Armenia ID card photo 30 × 40 mm
- Azerbaijan passport photo 30 × 40 mm
- Azerbaijan visa photo 30 × 40 mm
- Azerbaijan ID card photo 30 × 40 mm
- Bolivia safe conduct photo 30 × 40 mm
- Botswana residence permit photo 30 × 40 mm
- Brazil ID card photo 30 × 40 mm
- Brazil SPTrans Bilhete Único photo 30 × 40 mm
- Brazil employment record book photo 30 × 40 mm
- China APEC Business Travel Card photo 30 × 40 mm
- All Belarus photo specifications
- Citizenship and naturalisation: photo rules by country
- Every document that uses a 30 × 40 mm photo
- Photo specifications in Europe
Official sources
- National Legal Internet Portal of the Republic of Belarus. Presidential Decree No. 209 of 17.11.1994: Regulation on citizenship matters (in Russian) pravo.by. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus. Admission to citizenship of the Republic of Belarus (in Russian) belarusfacts.by. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in Germany. Granting citizenship of the Republic of Belarus (in Russian) germany.mfa.gov.by. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in Germany. Renunciation of citizenship of the Republic of Belarus (in Russian) germany.mfa.gov.by. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus. Citizenship: consular functions abroad (in Russian) belarusfacts.by. Checked 2 November 2026.
- National Legal Internet Portal of the Republic of Belarus. Presidential Decree No. 200 of 26.04.2010: list of administrative procedures (in Russian) pravo.by. Checked 2 November 2026.
Requirements can change, so always confirm with National Legal Internet Portal of the Republic of Belarus before you apply. WorldPhotoSpecs is independent and not affiliated with any government.
Cite this page
"Belarus citizenship photo". WorldPhotoSpecs. Last updated 4 November 2026. https://worldphotospecs.org/belarus/citizenship-photo