Martinique passport photo requirements
The 35 × 45 mm photo rules set by Service-Public.gouv.fr (DILA) for the Martinique passport, with the official wording and sources.
Quick answer
What size is the Martinique passport photo?
The passport photo for Martinique is the French one: 35 x 45 mm (1.38 x 1.77 in), a chin-to-skull face of 32 to 36 mm, and a plain light background, with white forbidden. It must be under six months old and come from an authorised professional or an approved booth. A Martinique town hall does not take the photo for you: service-public says you must supply it. Apply at any equipped town hall; Fort-de-France asks for an online pre-application first.
Martinique is a French overseas department, so residents hold the ordinary French passport and apply for it at a town hall with a collection device. A prefecture page last updated on 28 July 2022 said that all 34 communes would be equipped, and service-public (checked on 8 April 2026) says you can use any equipped town hall, wherever you live, though many accept files only by appointment. The same prefecture page says the first of the two expertise centres for the Antilles, based in Martinique, would handle passports and identity cards for the whole Antilles zone.
The capital shows how this works in practice. Fort-de-France published a guide in March 2024 that sets out five steps: an online pre-application, preparing the file, booking an appointment, attending it, and collecting the document. The city guide itself describes the photo as 35 x 45 mm, in colour, on a plain light background with white forbidden. The Martinique prefecture pages carry no photo specification of their own, so the national norm applies.
Martinique passport photo size and specifications
The requirements as published by Service-Public.gouv.fr (DILA):[1]
| Print size | 35 x 45 mm (1.38 x 1.77 in) |
|---|---|
| Digital size | No file upload: bring one printed photo to the appointment |
| Head height | 32 to 36 mm (3.2 to 3.6 cm), chin to top of skull, hair not counted |
| Background | Plain, light colour (light blue or light grey); white is forbidden |
| Colour | Colour photo (city guide); strongly recommended (decree annex) |
| Photo age | Under 6 months old and a true likeness when you file |
| Print quality | Sharp, no creases or marks, neither over- nor underexposed |
| 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:
The photo must be taken by an authorised professional or in a booth using a system approved by the Ministry of the Interior. (translated from French)
Key requirements
- Bring the photo yourself
On service-public's list of where the counter can take the photo, Martinique is a "no, you must supply the photo" territory (translated from French). The town hall will not make one for you.
- Authorised professional or booth
The photo must come from an authorised professional or from a booth using a system approved by the Ministry of the Interior, service-public states. A home-made picture is outside that rule.
- Face of 32 to 36 mm
With hair left out, the distance from chin to top of skull must fall between 32 and 36 mm on the 35 x 45 mm print. That is the decree annex wording; service-public puts the same range as 70 to 80% of the photo.
- Light backdrop, white excluded
The ground must be a single plain light colour. The Fort-de-France guide spells it out as light blue or light grey and adds that white is forbidden.
- Bare head, steady gaze
Look at the lens, hold a neutral expression with the mouth closed, and keep the head free of any hat, scarf or headband. Your eyes must be open and fully visible.
- ISO standard cited by the city
The Fort-de-France guide asks for a recent photo, "parfaitement ressemblante", face-on and bare-headed, to the ISO/IEC 19794-5:2005 standard. It also links to the service-public page for checking that a photo conforms.
- Pre-application before booking in Fort-de-France
The city guide says the online pre-application is compulsory there, because the pre-application number is needed to book. People who struggle with it can phone the town hall, and an agent will set a counter appointment.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Have the photo taken by an authorised professional or in an approved booth.
- Use a plain light blue or light grey background.
- Complete the ANTS pre-application and keep its number for booking.
- Check the print against the 32 to 36 mm face range.
- Bring the original documents and the copies the guide asks for.
- Collect the passport within three months of the text message.
Don't
- Do not rely on the town hall to supply the photo.
- Do not present a white background.
- Do not wear a hat, headscarf or headband.
- Do not wear tinted lenses, coloured lenses or lenses with reflections.
- Do not turn up with an incomplete file: Fort-de-France says it will be refused and a new appointment set.
Sample photos
How a Martinique passport 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
Service-public says you do not have to wear glasses for the photo. If you do, the lenses may be neither tinted nor coloured and may not reflect light. The decree annex also forbids thick frames and any frame that hides the eyes. Since you must arrive with the photo already made, leaving glasses off is the cautious way to avoid a refusal.
Headwear and religious dress
Both the service-public page and the decree annex require a bare head: hats, scarves and headbands are the examples named, and head coverings are forbidden. The two texts mention no exception. Earrings and piercings are allowed, provided the features of the face can still be clearly distinguished.
Babies and children
The photo for a minor must be less than six months old and meet the norms, and service-public asks for one photo. The child and the legal representative attend the counter together, and a minor's passport is valid for 5 years. The page's legal references mention an exemption from fingerprinting for children under 12.
Fort-de-France adds a collection rule: a holder aged 12 to 18 must come with a holder of parental authority to collect the passport, whereas for a child under 12 one parent can collect it alone. The guide asks that a legal representative accompany any minor whose presence is compulsory.
Printed and digital photos
The photo is handed in on paper with the file. In September 2026 France Titres (ANTS) described the e-photo code as a paid alternative to the paper photograph and said that extending it to passports is under study. The ANTS pre-application, which Martinique town halls have been able to take since July 2016, replaces only the paper form and does not dispense you from attending in person.
Print quality matters too: the decree annex asks for a sharp image without creases or marks, with neither over- nor underexposure. A booth or studio sheet normally holds several copies, and the passport needs one.
Where to submit the photo
Pick an equipped town hall and book through its own system. At Fort-de-France, the guide says you can choose between the main town hall on Boulevard Général de Gaulle and the ProxiMairie annex in Dillon, using the online appointment tool once you hold a pre-application number. Both sites hand over finished documents without an appointment, on set weekday mornings and one Monday afternoon slot in the March 2024 guide, so check current hours before going.
Plan for the busy season. In a March 2016 press release the prefecture said that in 2015 it had issued 33,533 passports and 23,563 identity cards, with sharp peaks between May and September, and urged people to renew early at a town hall with a biometric station. The same release warned that for many destinations a passport must still be valid six months after the return date.
If you plan to visit Saint Lucia, the French foreign ministry (page dated 15 September 2026) says French nationals coming from mainland France, Martinique or Guadeloupe may enter on a valid identity card instead of a passport, but Saint Lucian officers may refuse a card that looks expired even if it is still valid in France.
How to get your Martinique passport photo
- Check the official requirements. Read the official specification for the Martinique passport: 35 × 45 mm print, plain background. Check the rules on pose, expression, glasses and headwear below.
- Take the photo. Follow the key requirements: bring the photo yourself; authorised professional or booth; face of 32 to 36 mm; light backdrop, white excluded.
- Prepare a print or digital file. The photo is handed in on paper with the file. In September 2026 France Titres (ANTS) described the e-photo code as a paid alternative to the paper photograph and said that extending it to passports is under study.
- Submit the photo with your application. Pick an equipped town hall and book through its own system.
Martinique passport photo FAQ
It is the French passport photo: 35 mm wide and 45 mm high (1.38 x 1.77 in). The face, from the bottom of the chin to the top of the skull, hair excluded, must measure 32 to 36 mm. The background is plain and light, and white is forbidden.
No. Service-public says that in Martinique you must supply the photo. Go to an authorised professional or an approved booth first, then bring the print to your appointment.
Yes at the capital, according to the city's March 2024 guide: the pre-application number is needed to book. Nationally the pre-application is optional, as service-public notes. If you struggle with the online form, the guide says to phone the town hall and an agent will fix an appointment.
The March 2024 city guide says no: bring the receipt given at your first appointment to either the town hall or the ProxiMairie during the collection hours. You must collect it within three months or it is destroyed.
Yes. Service-public says the place of the application does not depend on your home, and any town hall with a registration station will do. A 2022 prefecture page states the same idea for the island: any equipped town hall, no longer necessarily your commune of residence.
People coming from Martinique, Guadeloupe or mainland France may be exempted from showing a passport if the card is valid, says the French foreign ministry (15 September 2026). Officers may still refuse a card that appears expired, so a valid passport is the safer document.
No. The head must be bare, and hats, scarves and headbands are the examples service-public gives. Earrings and piercings may stay in, as long as the face remains clearly readable.
Related photo specifications
Passports nearby
- Anguilla passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- Antigua and Barbuda passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- Aruba passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- Bahamas passport photo 2 × 2 in
- Barbados passport photo 50 × 50 mm
- British Virgin Islands passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- Cayman Islands passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- Cuba passport photo 45 × 45 mm
- Dominica passport photo 38 × 45 mm
- Dominican Republic passport photo 50 × 50 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 Martinique photo specifications
- Passports: photo rules by country
- Every document that uses a 35 × 45 mm photo
- Photo specifications in North America
Official sources
- Service-Public.gouv.fr (DILA). Quelle photo fournir pour un titre d'identité (passeport, carte d'identité...) ? service-public.gouv.fr. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Service-Public.gouv.fr (DILA). Carte d'identité / Passeport : la photo peut-elle être prise au guichet ? service-public.gouv.fr. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Service-Public.gouv.fr (DILA). Passeport d'un majeur : première demande service-public.gouv.fr. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Service-Public.gouv.fr (DILA). Passeport d'un mineur : première demande service-public.gouv.fr. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Prefecture of Martinique (services de l'État en Martinique). Modernisation de la délivrance des cartes d'identité martinique.gouv.fr. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Prefecture of Martinique. Communiqué de presse : Renouvellement de carte d'identité ou de passeport (29 March 2016) martinique.gouv.fr. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Prefecture of Martinique. Communiqué de presse : Pré-demande de passeport en ligne (6 July 2016) martinique.gouv.fr. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Ville de Fort-de-France, service état civil. Vos démarches en ligne CNI / passeports : mode d'emploi (March 2024) fortdefrance.fr. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Légifrance. Arrêté du 5 février 2009 relatif à la production de photographies d'identité dans le cadre de la délivrance du passeport legifrance.gouv.fr. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Services Publics+ (reply from France Titres - ANTS). Coût financier injustifié et gaspillage imposé pour les photos de passeport (reply of 23 September 2026) plus.transformation.gouv.fr. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. Sainte-Lucie : entrée et séjour diplomatie.gouv.fr. Checked 3 November 2026.
Requirements can change, so always confirm with Service-Public.gouv.fr (DILA) before you apply. WorldPhotoSpecs is independent and not affiliated with any government.
Cite this page
"Martinique passport photo". WorldPhotoSpecs. Last updated 4 November 2026. https://worldphotospecs.org/martinique/passport-photo