Schengen Area photo specifications
Photo sizes and rules for 1 document issued in Schengen Area, taken from the issuing authorities and linked to their official pages.
At a glance
The Schengen document that needs a photo is the short-stay Schengen visa: one 35 x 45 mm colour photo that meets ICAO guidance, no more than 6 months old, with the face filling 70 to 80% of the frame on a plain light background. The rule is common to all Schengen states, but each consulate can add conditions, such as the three-month limit at German missions.
Overview
The one Schengen document that needs a photo is the short-stay visa: a single 35 x 45 mm colour print meeting ICAO guidance on a plain light background, which the consulate or visa centre scans or replaces with a live photo, since there is no common digital upload. No single Schengen authority issues documents. Short-stay visas are issued by the consulates of the individual Schengen states under the common EU Visa Code, and the European Commission's Visa Code Handbook tells them to accept only photos that meet the ICAO photograph specifications. You apply at the consulate of your main destination, often through a visa centre run by VFS Global, TLScontact or BLS International, where your fingerprints and photo are collected.
Passports, identity cards and residence permits remain national documents with their own photo rules, so a photo that works for a Schengen visa may still be refused for, say, a French identity document, where white backgrounds are banned. The EU visa application platform that is meant to move the visa process online has not started operating.
Photo specifications by document
Visas and travel authorisations
| Document | Print size | Digital size | Background |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visa | 35 × 45 mm | — | Plain and light-coloured |
Frequently asked questions
Every Schengen consulate must apply the ICAO photo specifications, so the core rules match: about 35 x 45 mm, recent, face 70 to 80% of the frame, plain light background. Individual consulates add their own conditions, for example a white background at Polish consulates or a three-month age limit at German missions.
Not through a common EU portal yet. The EU Visa Application Platform created by Regulation (EU) 2023/2667 starts only on a date the Commission has still to set, and eu-LISA expects it to enter operation in 2028 to 2029. Some consulates already use national online forms, but you still lodge the application and give biometrics in person.
With your application, at the consulate of the country you will visit or at the visa centre it uses, such as VFS Global, TLScontact or BLS International. The consulate or centre may also scan your print or take a live photo while it collects your fingerprints.
Yes. The EU rules judge the photo, not the photographer: the Visa Code Handbook only tells consulates to refuse pictures that miss the ICAO specifications. A home shot passes if it is sharp, evenly lit, against a plain light background and printed at 35 x 45 mm on good photo paper without retouching. Check your consulate's list too, because German missions want prints under three months old.
Nearby countries
Other countries in Supranational:
Official sources
- European Commission, Migration and Home Affairs. Applying for a Schengen visa home-affairs.ec.europa.eu. Checked 3 November 2026.
- European Commission. Handbook for the processing of visa applications (Visa Code Handbook I), C(2024) 4319 home-affairs.ec.europa.eu. Checked 3 November 2026.
- eu-LISA. Single Programming Document 2026-2028 eulisa.europa.eu. Checked 3 November 2026.
- European Commission, Migration and Home Affairs. ICAO photograph guidelines (copy linked from the Schengen visa page) home-affairs.ec.europa.eu. Checked 3 November 2026.
Cite this page
"Schengen Area photo specifications". WorldPhotoSpecs. Last updated 4 November 2026. https://worldphotospecs.org/schengen-area