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Czech Republic passport photo requirements

The 35 × 45 mm photo rules set by Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic for the Czech Republic passport, with the official wording and sources.

Based on 10 official sources · last checked Official sources Page history

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Quick answer

What size is the Czech Republic passport photo?

You do not bring a photo for a Czech passport. The municipal office, the Ministry of the Interior or the embassy photographs you digitally when you apply in person, and fingerprints are taken from everyone older than 12. A 35 x 45 mm print is needed only for the cestovní průkaz, the emergency travel document Czech embassies issue when a passport is lost or stolen abroad: two identical colour photos with a smooth surface and a uniform white to light grey background.

Czech passports (cestovní pas) are issued under the Travel Documents Act, No. 329/1999 Coll. In the Czech Republic you can apply at any municipal office with extended powers, whatever your registered address; in Prague, any district office from Prague 1 to Prague 22 does this. The Ministry of the Interior accepts applications only for express passports, ready within 24 working hours or within 5 working days. Abroad, Czech embassies and consulates take applications with a 120-day deadline, but honorary consulates do not, and an express passport cannot be requested there.

The photo is made during the application, not before it. In the Ministry's words, a citizen does not hand in a photograph because the competent office takes it when the application is filed, so you have to appear in person. After your documents are checked against the registers, the office records your facial image, takes fingerprints if you are older than 12 and captures a digital signature that is transferred to the passport. Embassies follow the same steps: the London embassy lists taking the applicant's photo among the consular officer's tasks.

A print is needed in one situation only. If your passport is lost or stolen abroad and you must travel urgently, a Czech embassy can issue a cestovní průkaz, a travel document for a single journey, mainly so that you can return to the Czech Republic. For that application you bring two identical 35 x 45 mm photos.

Czech Republic passport photo size and specifications

The requirements as published by Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic:[1]

Print sizePassport: none, taken at the office. Emergency cestovní průkaz: two identical 35 x 45 mm (1.38 x 1.77 in) prints
Digital sizeNo file to upload: you apply in person and the office captures your image digitally
BackgroundPassport: nothing to supply. Cestovní průkaz prints: uniform, white to light grey (decree); Tehran embassy asks for white
ColourCestovní průkaz prints must be in colour
Photo agePassport: captured on the day you apply
Print qualityCestovní průkaz: smooth surface, 0.13 to 0.27 mm thick, straight or rounded corners (radius 3 mm +/- 0.5 mm)
Pixels when printed413 × 531 px at 300 dpi · 827 × 1063 px at 600 dpi (calculated)
35 mm45 mm
35 × 45 mm photo drawn to scale. Background: passport: nothing to supply. Cestovní….

In the official words

Exact wording from the official sources, quoted because the details matter:

Retouching or other alterations of the recorded image are not permitted. (translated from Czech)

Vyhláška č. 281/2021 Sb. (identity cards and travel documents), § 20 and § 32[7]

ideální velikost předlohy je 5 x 5 cm

New travel passport of the Czech Republic with biometrics[2]

take a photo of applicant

New travel passport of the Czech Republic with biometrics[2]

Key requirements

  • No photo for the passport itself

    Do not prepare prints for an ordinary passport application. The Ministry of the Interior says the citizen submits no photograph and no completed form, only documents such as an identity card. The office takes the picture with its own equipment at the counter, which is the reason personal attendance is compulsory.

  • Facial image and fingerprints

    Once your data are verified in the base registers, the office captures your biometric data: the facial image for everyone, and fingerprints for citizens older than 12. Under the biometrics decree for travel documents, you face the camera with a neutral expression, mouth closed and eyes open, with no hair over them.

  • Embassies photograph applicants too

    Czech embassies and consulates capture the photo themselves. The London embassy lists the consular officer's steps as checking your documents against the central register, taking your photo and letting you check and sign the data. Applications there are by appointment and always in person. The Tel Aviv embassy's document list has no photograph either, because the consular officer captures your picture and fingerprints during the visit.

  • Express passports at home only

    Passports in 24 working hours or 5 working days can be requested at a municipal office with extended powers or at the Ministry of the Interior, never at an embassy. A 24-hour passport is collected only at the Ministry. Here too the photo is taken on the spot.

  • Emergency document: two prints

    For a cestovní průkaz you give the embassy two identical rectangular photos of 35 x 45 mm with a smooth surface, plus the original application form it hands you. The Foreign Ministry says the embassy will tell you its exact quality requirements; the embassies in Washington and Tehran say the photos must meet the conditions set by law.

  • What the decree asks of those prints

    Decree 281/2021, as amended from 1 January 2026, requires a colour print of 35 x 45 mm standing on its shorter side, with straight or rounded corners and a thickness of 0.13 to 0.27 mm. It must show the head and upper shoulders from the front, leave at least 2 mm above the head, use a uniform white to light grey background and carry no retouching.

Do's and don'ts

Do

  • Book an embassy appointment before you go.
  • Bring your identity card or current passport to the office.
  • Bring your child along, as the photo is taken at the counter.
  • Report a lost passport to the local police and ask for a confirmation.
  • Ask the embassy for its exact photo rules before a cestovní průkaz.
  • Bring two identical 35 x 45 mm colour prints for a cestovní průkaz.

Don't

  • Do not buy prints for an ordinary passport application.
  • Do not go to an honorary consulate to apply for a passport.
  • Do not ask an embassy for an express passport.
  • Do not retouch the prints for an emergency travel document.
  • Do not expect a passport by post: it is handed over in person.

Sample photos

How a Czech Republic passport photo should look, and the mistakes that most often get photos rejected. Each example is drawn to this document's 35 × 45 mm and background colour.

Correct
Open-mouth smile
Head tilted
Too close: head too big
Too far: head too small
Busy background
Shadows on face or background
Glare on glasses

Illustrations, not real photos. The official rules above always take priority; some documents do not allow glasses at all.

Babies and children

For a child under 15, the application is made by a legal representative, guardian or foster parent, and the consent of one legal representative is enough. A minor aged 15 to 17 applies in person with written consent from a legal representative, whose signature must be officially verified unless the consent is given in front of the office. Passports for children under 15 are valid for 5 years.

The child still has to be there, because the office photographs every applicant at the counter. Fingerprints are recorded only from citizens older than 12, so younger children give the facial image alone. A legal representative collects the passport of a child under 15.

For a Czech passport there is nothing to print and nothing to upload. You do not fill in an application form either: you show your documents, the office or embassy captures your photo, fingerprints and signature electronically, and the application is sent to the passport maker as data.

Prints matter only for the emergency cestovní průkaz. The decree on travel documents requires those photos to be in colour, 35 x 45 mm, with a smooth surface. A digital photo can be printed on a 4x6 inch sheet at a photo counter and cut to size, but the image must not be retouched. An older Foreign Ministry leaflet from 2006, still posted on some embassy sites, describes consulates scanning a 5 x 5 cm photo brought by the applicant; current Ministry and embassy pages say the passport photo is taken at the counter.

Where to submit the photo

In the Czech Republic: any municipal office with extended powers, or in Prague the office of any district from Prague 1 to 22. A standard passport takes 30 days and can be collected where you applied or at another such office you name in the application. The Ministry of the Interior takes express applications; a 24-hour passport is collected only there, and a 5-working-day passport at the Ministry or at the office where you applied.

Abroad: any Czech embassy or consulate except those led by honorary consular officers, with a 120-day deadline. You collect the passport at the embassy where you applied, or at the municipal office you name in the application, and an embassy may also hand it over through an honorary consul authorised to do so. The cestovní průkaz is dealt with by the consular section of the embassy, which also gives you the original application form.

How to get your Czech Republic passport photo

  1. Check the official requirements. Read the official specification for the Czech Republic passport: 35 × 45 mm print, passport: nothing to supply. Cestovní… background. Check the rules on pose, expression, glasses and headwear below.
  2. Take the photo. Follow the key requirements: no photo for the passport itself; facial image and fingerprints; embassies photograph applicants too; express passports at home only.
  3. Prepare a print or digital file. For a Czech passport there is nothing to print and nothing to upload.
  4. Submit the photo with your application. In the Czech Republic: any municipal office with extended powers, or in Prague the office of any district from Prague 1 to 22. A standard passport takes 30 days and can be collected where you applied or at another such office you name in the application.

Make this photo online

Czech Republic passport photo FAQ

No. The Ministry of the Interior states that citizens do not hand in a photograph, because the office takes it when the application is filed. This applies at municipal offices, at the Ministry for express passports and at Czech embassies abroad, so you must appear in person.

The cestovní průkaz issued by Czech embassies needs two identical photos of 35 x 45 mm (1.38 x 1.77 in) with a smooth surface. The decree adds colour, a thickness of 0.13 to 0.27 mm and a uniform white to light grey background; the embassy in Tehran asks for white.

No current rule asks for one. A 5 x 5 cm format appears in a Foreign Ministry leaflet from 2006, written when consulates scanned photos brought by applicants. Today embassies photograph passport applicants themselves; the London embassy lists it as one of the consular officer's steps.

No. Applications abroad go to a Czech embassy or consulate, and the Ministry of the Interior excludes consular offices led by honorary consular officers. An honorary consul may, however, hand over a finished passport if the embassy has authorised it.

Yes, because the child has to be photographed. The Ministry says the office takes the photo when the application is filed, which is why the citizen must attend in person. A legal representative makes the application for a child under 15, and fingerprints are taken only from children older than 12.

No. Applications for passports in 24 working hours or 5 working days cannot be made at an embassy. They are accepted only at municipal offices with extended powers and at the Ministry of the Interior, and a 24-hour passport is collected at the Ministry.

Ten years for citizens aged 15 and over, and five years for children under 15. The validity cannot be extended, so you apply for a new passport and are photographed again at the office.

Related photo specifications

Other Czech Republic documents

Passports nearby

Also 35 × 45 mm

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Official sources

  1. Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic. Základní informace k cestovním pasům mv.gov.cz. Checked 3 November 2026.
  2. Embassy of the Czech Republic in London. New travel passport of the Czech Republic with biometrics mzv.gov.cz. Checked 3 November 2026.
  3. Embassy of the Czech Republic in Tel Aviv. Passports mzv.gov.cz. Checked 3 November 2026.
  4. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. Ztráta nebo odcizení cestovních dokladů mzv.gov.cz. Checked 3 November 2026.
  5. Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington. Cestovní průkaz mzv.gov.cz. Checked 3 November 2026.
  6. Embassy of the Czech Republic in Tehran. Ztráta cestovního pasu mzv.gov.cz. Checked 3 November 2026.
  7. Collection of Laws of the Czech Republic (e-Sbírka). Vyhláška č. 281/2021 Sb. (identity cards and travel documents), § 20 and § 32 e-sbirka.gov.cz. Checked 3 November 2026.
  8. Collection of Laws of the Czech Republic (e-Sbírka). Vyhláška č. 450/2025 Sb. (new § 32, photos for travel documents without machine-readable data) e-sbirka.gov.cz. Checked 3 November 2026.
  9. Collection of Laws of the Czech Republic (e-Sbírka). Vyhláška č. 415/2006 Sb. (biometric data in travel documents) e-sbirka.gov.cz. Checked 3 November 2026.
  10. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. Příručka pro pořizování fotografií pro pasy s biometrickými prvky (2006) mzv.gov.cz. Checked 3 November 2026.

Requirements can change, so always confirm with Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic before you apply. WorldPhotoSpecs is independent and not affiliated with any government.

Cite this page

"Czech Republic passport photo". WorldPhotoSpecs. Last updated 4 November 2026. https://worldphotospecs.org/czech-republic/passport-photo

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