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Italy photo specifications

Photo sizes and rules for 3 documents issued in Italy, taken from the issuing authorities and linked to their official pages.

Based on 4 official sources · last checked Official sources

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At a glance

Italy's three main documents use a 35 x 45 mm colour photo taken in the last 6 months. The passport photo goes to a Questura, post office or consulate as a print. The CIE identity card takes a print scanned by the comune or a JPG uploaded on Agenda CIE. Visa applicants glue a print to a paper form. A few consulates ask for 35 x 40 mm passport photos.

Overview

An Italian passport photo is a 35 x 45 mm colour print on a white, evenly lit background, with the face covering 70 to 80% of the photo from chin to forehead, and it is handed in on paper because passport offices take no digital file. The Polizia di Stato issues passports in Italy through the Questure, and the Foreign Ministry's embassies and consulates issue them abroad. The electronic identity card (CIE) comes from the comune, under the Ministry of the Interior, or from a consulate for Italians registered with AIRE. Visas for foreign visitors are issued by Italian missions abroad, often through VFS Global centres.

All three follow the ICAO photo standard, so one well-made 35 x 45 mm print usually serves. The differences are in the detail. The CIE accepts light background colours other than white, sets an eye height of 23 to 31 mm and accepts head coverings for cultural and medical as well as religious reasons, while the passport and visa checklists ask for white. The CIE booking system is the only one of the three that takes an uploaded photo; passport and visa offices take prints.

Photo specifications by document

Passports

Italy Passports
DocumentPrint sizeDigital sizeBackground
Passport35 × 45 mm—White and evenly lit

Visas and travel authorisations

Italy Visas and travel authorisations
DocumentPrint sizeDigital sizeBackground
Visa35 × 45 mm—White

Identity cards

Italy Identity cards
DocumentPrint sizeDigital sizeBackground
ID card35 × 45 mm—Uniform and evenly lit

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Both use 35 x 45 mm, and the Ministry of the Interior says the CIE photo must be in the passport format. The CIE rules add an eye height of 23 to 31 mm from the bottom edge and a ban on retouching.

Only the CIE, when you book through Agenda CIE: you can upload a JPG of up to 500 KB at 300 to 400 dpi. Passport and visa offices work with printed photos, and a few consulates take the passport picture themselves.

Some do. Most follow 35 x 45 mm, but the Consulate General in Lagos asks for 35 x 40 mm passport photos, and the Montreal consulate's passport form asks for 5 x 7 cm, or 3.5 x 4 cm for applications sent to Halifax. Check your consulate's page before printing.

White for the passport and for visas at the missions checked. The CIE accepts any uniform light background, preferably light blue, beige, light brown, light grey or white, so a white background works for all three documents.

Yes. The ICAO guidelines published by the Foreign Ministry set the result rather than the photographer: 35 x 45 mm, a white background, the face at 70 to 80%, no tinted lenses, taken within six months and printed on high-quality paper. Take a CIE photo against a plain light wall, because the Ministry of the Interior forbids cropping out the background or retouching, and visa checklists ban any alteration too.

Nearby countries

Other countries in Southern Europe:

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Official sources

  1. Polizia di Stato. Il Rilascio del passaporto poliziadistato.it. Checked 3 November 2026.
  2. Ministero dell'Interno, Carta di Identità Elettronica. Modalità di acquisizione delle foto cartaidentita.interno.gov.it. Checked 3 November 2026.
  3. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Linee guida foto ICAO esteri.it. Checked 3 November 2026.
  4. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Il visto per l'Italia vistoperitalia.esteri.it. Checked 3 November 2026.
Cite this page

"Italy photo specifications". WorldPhotoSpecs. Last updated 4 November 2026. https://worldphotospecs.org/italy

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