Cocos (Keeling) Islands photo requirements
The 35 × 45 mm photo rules set by Australian Passport Office (DFAT) for the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, with the official wording and sources.
Quick answer
What size is the Cocos (Keeling) Islands photo?
Cocos (Keeling) Islands residents apply for the Australian passport, so the Australian Passport Office's photo rules apply: 2 colour prints, each 35 to 40 mm wide and 45 to 50 mm high (35 x 45 mm fits), with the face 32 to 36 mm from chin to crown. Use a plain white or light grey background and a photo under 6 months old, printed by dye sublimation on glossy paper of at least 200 gsm.
The Cocos (Keeling) Islands are an external territory of Australia with no state-level government. The Australian Government administers them through the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts, and says federal services such as customs and social security reach the islands in the same manner as on the mainland. The passport is issued by the Australian Passport Office, part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and what counts is citizenship, not a Cocos address: you can apply if you are an Australian citizen and can prove it. The Passport Office's application pages describe one process for people in Australia and set out no separate one for the external territories.
Applications are lodged in person, normally at a participating post office, with the printed form, 2 printed photos, original identity documents and the fee. The department's travel page for the islands says post offices on both West Island and Home Island provide postal and philatelic services, with limited opening hours. None of the official pages read for this page says whether either office lodges passport applications or takes passport photos, so confirm that with the office or with Australia Post before you plan around it.
The photo is the part you can prepare yourself. The Passport Office recommends a professional provider, does not recommend online passport photo services or mobile apps, and requires every photo to meet its guidelines whoever took it. The rules below come from its photo page and its camera operator guidelines, with Australia Post's lodgement page for what happens at the counter.
Cocos (Keeling) Islands photo size and specifications
The requirements as published by Australian Passport Office (DFAT):[1]
| Print size | 35 x 45 mm (1.38 x 1.77 in) fits; accepted range is 35 to 40 mm wide, 45 to 50 mm high |
|---|---|
| Digital size | No digital file: 2 printed photos are lodged with the application |
| Head height | 32 to 36 mm from chin to crown |
| Background | Plain white or light grey background that contrasts with your face |
| Colour | Good quality colour prints |
| Photo age | Less than 6 months old |
| Print quality | Dye-sublimation prints (not inkjet) on heavy-weight glossy paper, minimum 200 gsm |
| Pixels when printed | 413 × 531 px at 300 dpi · 827 × 1063 px at 600 dpi (calculated) |
In the official words
Exact wording from the official sources, quoted because the details matter:
No editing, retouching or filters. No removal or replacement of background.
Glossy, heavy paper (200 gsm+), professionally printed photos only.
Key requirements
- A size window, and a fixed face height
A print anywhere from 35 to 40 mm wide and 45 to 50 mm high is acceptable, so the usual 35 x 45 mm passport print works. Inside it, the height of the face from chin to crown must be 32 to 36 mm.
- Professional prints only
The Passport Office asks for good quality colour prints produced by dye sublimation, not from an inkjet printer, on heavy-weight glossy paper of at least 200 gsm. Its one-page guide for photographers says the same in four words: professionally printed photos only.
- Leave the image alone
No retouching, such as removing moles, wrinkles or scars. The photographers' guide adds no editing or filters and no removal or replacement of the background, and Australia Post's page lists no filters, digital enhancements or background removals.
- Plain backdrop, even light
Stand in front of a plain white or light grey background that contrasts with your face. Lighting must be uniform, with enough brightness and contrast to show your natural skin tone, and with no shadows or reflections.
- Square to the camera
Centre your face, look straight into the lens and keep your head level. Anyone over 3 years old needs open eyes and a neutral expression; the Passport Office shows smiling and even a subtle expression as rejected examples.
- Distance and sharpness
The photographers' guide specifies a focal length of 90 to 130 mm (35 mm film equivalent) and a camera at least 1.2 metres from the subject. A camera held too close distorts the face, and blurred, grainy or low-resolution images are also on the unacceptable list.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Ask the island post office whether it lodges passport applications and takes photos.
- Have 2 prints made by dye sublimation on glossy paper of at least 200 gsm.
- Check that the face measures 32 to 36 mm from chin to crown.
- Use a plain white or light grey wall and even light.
- Keep the camera at least 1.2 metres from the face.
- Write your full name on the back of one photo when you renew.
Don't
- Do not print the photos on a home inkjet printer.
- Do not use filters, beauty effects or a digital background swap.
- Do not tilt your head or let hair hide the edges of your face.
- Do not wear glasses unless a medical reason stops you taking them off.
- Do not choose an Australia Post employee as guarantor or referee.
Sample photos
How a Cocos (Keeling) Islands 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
Glasses come off. The only exception is a medical reason that stops you removing them, and poor eyesight alone does not qualify. When they must stay on, the frames cannot obscure your eyes and the lenses cannot reflect light. A photo with glasses on appears in the Passport Office's gallery of unacceptable examples.
If a medical condition stops you meeting any photo rule, either provide a medical certificate or complete form B-11, which explains why.
Headwear and religious dress
In general there should be nothing on your face or head. If you usually cover your head for religious reasons, you may wear the covering. It must be plain, without patterns even small ones, and worn so that your whole face shows from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead, with both edges of the face visible.
A hearing aid you usually wear can stay in, for adults, children and infants. AirPods and other wireless earbuds are not hearing aids and must come out. Jewellery and piercings must not hide any part of the face, especially around the eyes, mouth and nose, and rings or studs must not reflect light.
Babies and children
Each child needs 2 passport photos of their own. A child under 3 may have their mouth open, but no one else may be visible in the picture, so a parent's hand holding a baby is a reason for rejection. Every other photo rule still applies.
For a child passport, the guarantor signs the back of one photo in black pen with the words This is a true photo of, followed by the child's full name. Australia Post says a child under 16 does not need to attend lodgement, while a 16 or 17 year old must come with a parent or guardian.
Printed and digital photos
The passport application takes prints, not an upload. If you or a friend shoots the picture on a phone or camera, it must be turned into dye-sublimation prints on glossy paper of at least 200 gsm. A plain inkjet printout at home does not meet that.
A participating Australia Post office can take instant passport photos before lodgement without an appointment. Whether the island offices do is not stated in the sources read, so if they do not, plan for prints to be made elsewhere. The department notes that postal services to the Cocos Islands run twice a week, which is worth remembering if prints have to come by post.
Where to submit the photo
Lodge in person at a participating post office, with the completed form, both photos, your original identity documents and the fee. Australia Post says no appointment is needed, and its outlet finder can be set to show offices offering instant passport and ID photos. The department lists West Island and Home Island post offices for postal and philatelic services only, so check that one of them is a participating outlet. The Shire of Cocos (Keeling) Islands home page does not mention passports.
Where no participating outlet is within reach, the Passport Office will take an application at one of its offices only by appointment, in special circumstances. Its contact page gives urgent travel in exceptional circumstances, or a travel document other than a passport, as the reasons. The offices are in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. If you cannot lodge in person because you are physically unable to, contact the Passport Office on 131 232.
The Passport Office says to allow at least 6 weeks from lodging to receiving a new passport, which it sends by Registered Post, so apply well before any trip off the islands.
How to get your Cocos (Keeling) Islands photo
- Check the official requirements. Read the official specification for the Cocos (Keeling) Islands: 35 × 45 mm print, plain white or light grey background that… background. Check the rules on pose, expression, glasses and headwear below.
- Take the photo. Follow the key requirements: a size window, and a fixed face height; professional prints only; leave the image alone; plain backdrop, even light.
- Prepare a print or digital file. The passport application takes prints, not an upload. If you or a friend shoots the picture on a phone or camera, it must be turned into dye-sublimation prints on glossy paper of at least 200 gsm. A plain inkjet printout at home does not meet that.
- Submit the photo with your application. Lodge in person at a participating post office, with the completed form, both photos, your original identity documents and the fee.
Cocos (Keeling) Islands photo FAQ
The same as anywhere in Australia: two colour prints, each 35 to 40 mm wide and 45 to 50 mm high, so a 35 x 45 mm print fits. Within the picture the face must measure 32 to 36 mm from chin to crown, and the photo must be less than 6 months old.
The official sources read do not say. The Department of Infrastructure lists post offices on both islands for postal and philatelic services with limited hours, and neither its page nor the Shire's home page mentions passports. Applications are lodged at participating post offices, so ask the island office or Australia Post whether it takes passport applications and photos.
Not as a rule. The application goes to a participating post office. The Passport Office, which has an office in Perth, lodges applications only by appointment and in special circumstances, such as urgent travel for exceptional reasons. If you cannot attend a lodgement point because you are physically unable to, contact the Passport Office.
The Passport Office recommends a professional provider, but says any photo must still meet its guidelines, and it does not recommend online photo services or mobile apps. A self-taken picture must therefore be clean and unedited, then professionally printed by dye sublimation on glossy paper of at least 200 gsm. Inkjet prints are not accepted.
No. The department says passports and visas are not required when travelling from the Australian mainland, but each passenger, children included, must show photographic identification such as a driver licence or proof of age card. A valid passport meets that requirement and is the preferred document.
For a new passport, an adult Australian citizen who has known you for more than a year and who holds a current passport with at least 2 years of validity, or has been on the electoral roll at their address for 12 months. They cannot be a relative or partner, live at your address, be a passport officer or work for Australia Post. A renewal needs neither.
No. The Passport Office lists retouching and an edited background among unacceptable photos, its photographers' guide says no removal or replacement of the background, and Australia Post says no filters, digital enhancements or background removals. Shoot against a plain white or light grey wall in even light instead.
Related photo specifications
Passports nearby
- Australia passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- Christmas Island passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- New Zealand passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- Norfolk Island passport photo 35 × 45 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 Cocos (Keeling) Islands photo specifications
- Passports: photo rules by country
- Every document that uses a 35 × 45 mm photo
- Photo specifications in Oceania
Official sources
- Australian Passport Office (DFAT). Passport photos passports.gov.au. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Australian Passport Office (DFAT), via the Australian Consulate-General Noumea. Camera operator guidelines: How to take a good passport photo noumea.consulate.gov.au. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Australian Passport Office (DFAT). Adult passport: new passport and renewal passports.gov.au. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Australian Passport Office (DFAT). Child passport passports.gov.au. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Australian Passport Office (DFAT). Passport office locations passports.gov.au. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Australian Passport Office (DFAT). Contact us passports.gov.au. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Australia Post. Australian passport application tips auspost.com.au. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Australia Post. Passports and identity photos auspost.com.au. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts. Cocos (Keeling) Islands travel information infrastructure.gov.au. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts. Cocos (Keeling) Islands governance and administration infrastructure.gov.au. Checked 3 November 2026.
Requirements can change, so always confirm with Australian Passport Office (DFAT) before you apply. WorldPhotoSpecs is independent and not affiliated with any government.
Cite this page
"Cocos (Keeling) Islands photo". WorldPhotoSpecs. Last updated 4 November 2026. https://worldphotospecs.org/cocos-keeling-islands/passport-photo