Libya ID card photo requirements
The photo rules set by National Number Project, Libya for the Libya ID card, with the official wording and sources.
Quick answer
What are the Libya ID card photo requirements?
No current official source sets a photo size or background for a Libyan ID card, and none mentions 4 x 6 cm. Identity rests on the national number, granted at birth from Civil Registry records. Law No. 8 of 2014 says the photograph, fingerprints and iris print for the national database are collected through passport and personal ID applications. The only published card size, three 3 x 4 cm photos under a 1965 regulation, is marked repealed.
A Libyan citizen's identity documents all hang on the national number. Under Law No. 8 of 2014 the number is granted at birth from the person's entry in the Civil Registry kept by the Civil Status Authority, provided the record is complete and correct, and no state body may issue any document or service until the person has one. A 2010 decision had already listed personal cards among the documents that cannot be issued without a national number, with citizens under 16 excluded from that rule.
The National Number Project describes the number as a unique reference for every citizen and presents a smart personal card whose chip carries it, with specifications meant to make it hard to forge, unlike traditional cards. If you cannot obtain your number, it asks you to visit the civil status branch in your area to correct or complete your data.
Photo rules for the card itself are not published. The law says the national database holds each citizen's photograph, ten fingerprints, iris print and signature, collected through passport and personal ID applications, but no official page read describes how or where a card photo is taken. The 1965 regulation on personal cards, which asked for three recent front-facing photos of 3 x 4 cm, is marked repealed. The family booklet appears in current procedures as supporting evidence of your civil record rather than as a card with its own photo rules.
Libya ID card photo size and specifications
The requirements as published by National Number Project, Libya:[1]
| Print size | Not published: no current official source sets a photo size for the Libyan ID card |
|---|---|
| Digital size | No upload channel for the card is published |
| Background | Not published for the ID card |
Key requirements
- National number at birth
Law No. 8 of 2014 grants the number at birth from the Civil Registry at the Civil Status Authority, provided the data is complete and correct and the person is a Libyan citizen.
- No number, no document
No state body may issue any document or service until a person has a national number. A 2010 decision named personal cards among the documents covered, excluding citizens under 16 from that article.
- Biometrics in the national database
The national database holds the photograph, a set of ten fingerprints, an iris print and the signature, which the law says are obtained through passport and personal ID applications.
- Correct your civil record first
The National Number Project lists the usual obstacles: missing data in the civil record, a name recorded in three parts where the law requires four, and a different surname. Each is fixed at the civil registry.
- The 3 x 4 cm rule is repealed
The 1965 regulation asked for three recent front-facing photos of 3 x 4 cm with a 1.5 cm white strip below, one of them glued to the card. The legislation database marks it repealed.
- Unrecorded births need photos
To register a birth that was never recorded, the embassy in Pretoria asks for a written request with two passport-type personal photos on a white background, together with the marriage contract and other papers.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Check your national number before applying for any document
- Correct missing data at your civil status branch
- Make sure your name is recorded in four parts
- Keep your family booklet available as supporting evidence
- Bring two white-background photos to register an unrecorded birth in Pretoria
Don't
- Do not rely on the repealed 1965 rule of three 3 x 4 cm photos
- Do not assume 4 x 6 cm is an official Libyan ID photo size
- Do not expect the mission pages read to offer an ID card service
- Do not apply while your surname differs between records
Babies and children
A child receives a national number at birth, provided the birth is in the Civil Registry. Births abroad are registered through the missions: Washington asks for the original birth certificate with a legal Arabic translation, its forms 1, 2 and 32, the family book or the marriage contract and both parents' passports, with no photo. Pretoria's birth registration list likewise asks for no photo.
Photos come in when a birth was never registered. Pretoria's list for these cases starts with a written request accompanied by two passport-type personal photos on a white background, followed by the marriage contract, the baby's vaccination card, the birth certificate with the hospital discharge paper and both parents' passports. Under the 2010 decision, citizens under 16 are excluded from the rule that personal cards require a national number.
Printed and digital photos
No official page offers an online upload or names a print size for the ID card. The 1965 procedure worked with prints: one photo was glued to the original form, one to the second copy and the third to the card, which was stamped and handed over in person after the holder signed it or pressed a left index fingerprint partly across the white strip under the photo. That regulation is marked repealed, and the current national number law lists the photograph among the biometric data gathered through applications instead.
If an office asks you for prints, a digital photo can be printed on a 4x6 inch sheet at a photo counter, but no Libyan source confirms 4 x 6 cm or any other size for the card.
Where to submit the photo
Questions about your national number or civil record go to the civil status branch for your area, as the National Number Project advises. Abroad, Libyan missions register births, marriages, divorces and deaths for the Civil Registry; the Washington and Pretoria pages read offer no ID card application.
A new electronic card has been announced but not documented. In December 2023 the Libya Herald reported that the Government of National Unity's prime minister had directed the Passports and Nationality Authority to start implementing electronic ID cards with a chip and biometric data for all citizens. No official page read for this guide explains how to apply for that card or what photo it uses.
How to get your Libya ID card photo
- Check the official requirements. Read the official specification for the Libya ID card. Check the rules on pose, expression, glasses and headwear below.
- Take the photo. Follow the key requirements: national number at birth; no number, no document; biometrics in the national database; correct your civil record first.
- Prepare a print or digital file. No official page offers an online upload or names a print size for the ID card.
- Submit the photo with your application. Questions about your national number or civil record go to the civil status branch for your area, as the National Number Project advises.
Libya ID card photo FAQ
No current official source gives one. The only published size, three recent front-facing photos of 3 x 4 cm with a 1.5 cm white strip below, comes from a 1965 regulation on personal cards that is marked repealed. No Libyan source mentions 4 x 6 cm.
A unique reference number for each citizen, used to reach their basic data in the national database. Law No. 8 of 2014 grants it at birth from the Civil Registry, and no state body may issue a document or service to someone without it.
The National Number Project asks people who cannot obtain their number to visit the civil status branch in their area to correct or complete their data. The problems it names are missing data in the civil record, a name in three parts instead of four, and a different surname.
The law provides for it. Law No. 8 of 2014 lists the photograph with a set of ten fingerprints, an iris print and a signature among the basic data in the national database, obtained through passport and personal ID applications.
The official pages read use it as evidence of your civil record. Washington asks for a copy of the birth entry from the family booklet when you apply for a passport, and Moscow for copies of its first page and of the page for the applicant. No page read sets photo rules for the booklet.
None of the mission pages read lists an ID card service. Missions register births, marriages, divorces and deaths for the Civil Registry and issue passports and return travel documents. Problems with your civil record are handled by the civil status branches in Libya.
It has been announced. The National Number Project presents a smart card carrying the national number, and in December 2023 the Libya Herald reported a government instruction to the Passports and Nationality Authority to begin chip-based biometric ID cards. How to apply, and the photo needed, are not published.
Related photo specifications
Other Libya documents
- Passport photo 40 × 60 mm
- Visa photo 2 × 2 in
Identity cards nearby
- Algeria ID card photo 35 × 45 mm
- Morocco ID card photo 35 × 45 mm
- Sudan ID card photo
- Tunisia ID card photo 30 × 40 mm
- All Libya photo specifications
- Identity cards: photo rules by country
- Photo specifications in Africa
Official sources
- National Number Project, Libya. National Number Project (Arabic) nid.gov.ly. Checked 2 November 2026.
- National Number Project, Libya. Goals of the national number (Arabic) nid.gov.ly. Checked 2 November 2026.
- National Number Project, Libya. Importance of the national number (Arabic) nid.gov.ly. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Libyan Security Sector Legislation database. Law No. 8 of 2014 on the National ID Number security-legislation.ly. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Libyan Security Sector Legislation database. Decree No. 33 of 2010 on certain provisions for the national number (Arabic) security-legislation.ly. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Libyan Security Sector Legislation database. Decree of 1965 on the personal ID bylaw (Arabic, repealed) security-legislation.ly. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Embassy of Libya in the Republic of South Africa. Civil status services (Arabic) embassies.foreign.gov.ly. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Embassy of the State of Libya, Washington, D.C.. Civil Registry embassyoflibyadc.org. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Embassy of the State of Libya, Washington, D.C.. Documents required to issue a new passport, 2026 (Arabic PDF) embassyoflibyadc.org. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Embassy of Libya in Russia. Requirements for issuing a Libyan passport (Arabic) embassies.foreign.gov.ly. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Libya Herald. New machine-readable biometric e-passports and e-ID cards to be issued libyaherald.com. Checked 2 November 2026.
Requirements can change, so always confirm with National Number Project, Libya before you apply. WorldPhotoSpecs is independent and not affiliated with any government.
Cite this page
"Libya ID card photo". WorldPhotoSpecs. Last updated 4 November 2026. https://worldphotospecs.org/libya/id-card-photo