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Mauritania passport photo requirements

The photo rules set by Agence Nationale du Registre des Populations et des Titres Sécurisés (ANRPTS) for the Mauritania passport, with the official wording and sources.

Based on 4 official sources · last checked Official sources Page history

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Quick answer

What are the Mauritania passport photo requirements?

No official source gives a photo size or background colour for a Mauritanian passport. The ANRPTS file list asks for your national identification number (NNI), a fee receipt and, for a renewal, the old passport, and it does not mention a photo. You apply at a citizen reception centre (CAC) in Mauritania or at one of 7 Mauritanian missions abroad, where fingerprints are captured.

The Mauritanian passport is issued through the Agence Nationale du Registre des Populations et des Titres Sécurisés (ANRPTS), the agency that keeps the national population register. Its portal is headed by the Ministry of the Interior, Decentralization and Local Development. ANRPTS describes a biometric passport, available as an ordinary 32-page booklet or a 64-page version that follows the same procedure.

Neither the ANRPTS procedure nor the Paris embassy page asks the applicant for a photo: both list the items to bring, and a photo is not among them. ANRPTS also says that a child registered at a centre abroad must be present while biographical and biometric data are taken (translated from French), and that this registration leads to a national identification number. Neither source says whether the passport portrait is taken again at the counter or reused from the register, and neither publishes a size.

Requests are taken at the citizen reception centres of Nouakchott and the regional capitals and at the Mauritanian missions abroad. ANRPTS also says passports can be requested from a phone through its Houwiyeti app.

Mauritania passport photo size and specifications

The requirements as published by Agence Nationale du Registre des Populations et des Titres Sécurisés (ANRPTS):[1]

Print sizeNo photo size published; no photo is listed among the items to bring
Digital sizeNo photo upload or pixel size published
BackgroundNot published
Print qualityNone published: the file is the NNI, a fee receipt and, for a renewal, the old passport

Key requirements

  • No photo on the published list

    For a first passport ANRPTS lists the NNI, payment of the application fee, and a request presented by the legal guardian if the applicant is a minor. A renewal adds the old passport. The Paris embassy names the same items. None of these lists asks the applicant for a photo.

  • Apply at a citizen reception centre

    ANRPTS says passports are requested at the CACs of Nouakchott and the regional capitals, and at the Mauritanian missions in Paris, Madrid, Washington, Abidjan, Rabat and Abu Dhabi and the Consulate General in Jeddah.

  • Fingerprints are captured at the centre

    ANRPTS says that when a full set of fingerprints cannot be captured, the centre sends the file to the general administration for authorisation and for guidance on which prints can be taken (translated from French).

  • Register details must be right

    ANRPTS suspends validation when the data on the document are wrong, when the surname differs from the father's (unless an earlier biometric document already carries it), when the place of birth is a country instead of a town, when the birth date differs from the one behind the NNI, or when the sex is wrong. Ask for a correction first.

  • When a renewal is allowed

    ANRPTS sets the condition for a renewal as a passport that has expired or has less than 6 months of validity left. A replacement for a plausible reason, such as a correction or too little validity, is a separate case with the same NNI-based file.

  • Appointments at the Paris embassy

    In Paris the passport desk works by prior appointment, and the applicant must attend in person with the NNI. A finished passport can be collected on any working day without an appointment. The embassy page has no publication date, only a 2023 copyright line.

Do's and don'ts

Do

  • Bring your NNI to every application.
  • Bring the old passport when you renew, or the damaged or full one when you replace it.
  • Bring a loss declaration, on paper or digital, if the passport was lost.
  • Book an appointment first if you apply at the Paris embassy.
  • Check your names, birth date and sex in the register before you apply.
  • Ask the centre whether it wants a printed photo before you buy one.

Don't

  • Do not assume that 35 x 45 mm is an official Mauritanian size.
  • Do not expect a renewal while more than six months of validity remain.
  • Do not apply for a minor without the legal guardian.
  • Do not lodge a request with an uncorrected data error, because validation is suspended.

Babies and children

For a minor, ANRPTS says the request must be presented by the legal guardian. The file includes a scanned parental authorisation signed by the father; where he cannot sign, a court decision or a notarised deed of guardianship or agency stands in. ANRPTS names three types of legal representation, proved by the father's civil-status record, a court decision or a notarised deed, depending on the type.

A minor's surname that differs from the father's holds up validation unless the child already has a biometric document. No source read for this page gives a separate photo rule for babies or young children.

No printed photo and no digital upload is specified. To pay the fee, the centre issues a payment order, which goes to the district Treasury receiver for authorisation, and the fee receipt is scanned into the file. A missing or unreadable receipt is one of the listed reasons why a request is not validated.

If a centre does ask you for a portrait, ask which size it wants first. A digital photo can then be cropped to that size and printed on a 4x6 inch sheet at a photo counter.

Where to submit the photo

In Mauritania, passports are requested at the citizen reception centres of Nouakchott and of the regional capitals. Abroad the same procedure runs at the embassies in Paris, Madrid, Washington, Abidjan, Rabat and Abu Dhabi and at the Consulate General in Jeddah.

The Paris embassy asks you to attend its centre in person with your NNI, by prior appointment, and to pay by bank card. ANRPTS also describes a Houwiyeti app that can be used to request passports, pay the fees and follow each stage of issue, including for the user's minor children and spouse.

How to get your Mauritania passport photo

  1. Check the official requirements. Read the official specification for the Mauritania passport. Check the rules on pose, expression, glasses and headwear below.
  2. Take the photo. Follow the key requirements: no photo on the published list; apply at a citizen reception centre; fingerprints are captured at the centre; register details must be right.
  3. Prepare a print or digital file. No printed photo and no digital upload is specified. To pay the fee, the centre issues a payment order, which goes to the district Treasury receiver for authorisation, and the fee receipt is scanned into the file.
  4. Submit the photo with your application. In Mauritania, passports are requested at the citizen reception centres of Nouakchott and of the regional capitals.

Make this photo online

Mauritania passport photo FAQ

No official source read for this page gives one. ANRPTS and the Paris embassy list what to bring (NNI, fee receipt, the old passport for a renewal) and mention neither a photo nor any dimensions. The 35 x 45 mm format is not published for Mauritania.

The published lists do not ask for one. They name the NNI, the fee receipt and, for a renewal, the old passport. Neither source says how the portrait is captured, so ask the centre or embassy before you print anything.

Yes, at the citizen reception centres of the Mauritanian missions in Paris, Madrid, Washington, Abidjan, Rabat and Abu Dhabi, or at the Consulate General in Jeddah. In Paris you attend in person with your NNI, by appointment.

ANRPTS says its Houwiyeti app can be used to request passports, cards and extracts, to pay the fees and to follow each stage. The pages read do not describe a photo step in the app, so check the steps in the app itself.

ANRPTS sets the condition as a passport that has expired or has less than 6 months of validity left. You need your NNI, the fee receipt and the passport being replaced. A loss needs a loss declaration instead of the passport.

Errors in the register data: a wrong name, a surname that does not match the father's, a place of birth that is a country rather than a town, a birth date that differs from the NNI record, or a wrong sex. A missing fee receipt also stops it.

Related photo specifications

Other Mauritania documents

Passports nearby

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Official sources

  1. Agence Nationale du Registre des Populations et des Titres Sécurisés (ANRPTS). Procédures d'obtention d'un passeport biométrique (Titres sécurisés) anrpts.gov.mr. Checked 2 November 2026.
  2. Ambassade de la République Islamique de Mauritanie, Paris. Centre d'Accueil des Citoyens – État civil ambarimparis.fr. Checked 2 November 2026.
  3. Agence Nationale du Registre des Populations et des Titres Sécurisés (ANRPTS). Mauritaniens à l'étranger anrpts.gov.mr. Checked 2 November 2026.
  4. Agence Nationale du Registre des Populations et des Titres Sécurisés (ANRPTS). Houwiyeti anrpts.gov.mr. Checked 2 November 2026.

Requirements can change, so always confirm with Agence Nationale du Registre des Populations et des Titres Sécurisés (ANRPTS) before you apply. WorldPhotoSpecs is independent and not affiliated with any government.

Cite this page

"Mauritania passport photo". WorldPhotoSpecs. Last updated 4 November 2026. https://worldphotospecs.org/mauritania/passport-photo

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