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Sweden photo specifications

Photo sizes and rules for 2 documents issued in Sweden, taken from the issuing authorities and linked to their official pages.

Based on 2 official sources · last checked Official sources

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At a glance

Swedish passports and national ID cards: the police photograph you at the passport office, so you bring no photo, and embassies with a photo station do the same abroad. A 35 x 45 mm print is asked for mainly with emergency passports at posts without a station. Swedish visas and residence permits: your photo is taken when you apply, though some missions list one 35 x 45 mm print.

Overview

For a Swedish passport or national ID card you prepare no picture at all: the police photograph each applicant, children too, when you apply at the passport office, and only some embassies still take 35 x 45 mm prints, for emergency passports or on visa checklists, with no file upload anywhere. Two authorities handle Swedish ID photos. The Swedish Police Authority (Polisen) issues passports and national ID cards to Swedish citizens and photographs every applicant at the passport office. Swedish embassies abroad accept passport applications too and use a photo station where they have one. The Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket) and the Swedish missions handle visas and residence permits for foreign nationals, with VFS Global receiving most visa applications abroad.

The two routes differ in how the picture reaches the authority. For a passport the camera at the office decides what is accepted, while for a visa the mission or VFS centre takes the picture and prints are the exception. The page for each document gives the detail, including what an emergency passport print or a mission checklist photo must look like.

Photo specifications by document

Passports

Sweden Passports
DocumentPrint sizeDigital sizeBackground
Passport35 × 45 mm—Light background, face evenly lit, no shadows…

Visas and travel authorisations

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

Frequently asked questions

No size applies when the police or a visa centre take the picture. Where a print is requested, Swedish embassy pages state 35 x 45 mm (1.38 x 1.77 in), for example in Dublin for emergency passports and in the UAE and Turkey for visas.

For passports and ID cards, yes: only dark glasses are banned unless medically required, and no reflections may show in the lenses. The police regulation sets this. No glasses rule is published for visa photos.

An embassy or consulate-general if you need an entry visa to travel, otherwise the National Government Service Centre or a Migration Agency office after you arrive in Sweden.

It depends on the post. Embassies with a photo station take the picture themselves. Elsewhere Dublin asks for four colour prints of 35 x 45 mm, Cape Town two recent prints of 45 x 35 mm in colour or black and white, and the US and Cyprus pages two photos no older than six months.

Nearby countries

Other countries in Northern Europe:

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Official sources

  1. Swedish Police Authority (Polisen). Svar på vanliga frågor om pass och nationellt id-kort polisen.se. Checked 3 November 2026.
  2. Swedish Migration Agency (Migrationsverket). Apply for a Schengen visa (visiting Sweden for up to 90 days) migrationsverket.se. Checked 3 November 2026.
Cite this page

"Sweden photo specifications". WorldPhotoSpecs. Last updated 4 November 2026. https://worldphotospecs.org/sweden

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