Tokelau passport photo requirements
The 35 × 45 mm photo rules set by New Zealand Passports, Department of Internal Affairs for the Tokelau passport, with the official wording and sources.
Quick answer
What size is the Tokelau passport photo?
Tokelau's people are New Zealand citizens, so a Tokelau passport photo follows the rules of New Zealand's Department of Internal Affairs. The online application wants a colour portrait file, JPG or JPEG, 3:4 shape, 250 KB to 5 MB, 900 to 4500 pixels wide by 1200 to 6000 high, less than 6 months old. The paper form wants 2 identical 35 x 45 mm prints and is meant for people without internet access. Someone else must take the photo, and filters are not allowed.
The Government of Tokelau tells residents that everyone, young and old, must hold a valid passport to travel outside Tokelau, and that a passport due to expire in less than 6 months needs renewing. The passport in question is the New Zealand one. New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) says Tokelau is a territory within the Realm of New Zealand and its people are New Zealand citizens, and the Tokelau Government's own page points to a New Zealand passport application form.
Because the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) issues that passport, the photo has to meet DIA's standard whichever way it is lodged. The online service takes a digital file. The adult paper form is for people aged 16 or over who have no internet access, and the child form covers under-16s; both take printed photos. DIA's adult form says anyone born in Tokelau is entitled to a New Zealand passport and must send the original birth certificate with a first application, and the Tokelau Government's website explains how to order a Tokelau birth certificate.
The Tokelau Government's contact page lists an office on each of the three atolls, but it does not say that these offices handle passport applications or photos, so ask before relying on one. New Zealand's High Commission in Apia, on Beach Road, lists notarial services such as witnessing statutory declarations; its page mentions neither Tokelau nor passport applications.
Tokelau passport photo size and specifications
The requirements as published by New Zealand Passports, Department of Internal Affairs:[1]
| Print size | Online: no print size, only a 3:4 portrait ratio. Paper forms: 35 x 45 mm (1.38 x 1.77 in) |
|---|---|
| Digital size | 900 x 1200 to 4500 x 6000 pixels, 3:4 portrait (online application) |
| Background | Plain, light-coloured and in strong contrast with your face; paper forms: plain and light, but not white |
| Colour | Colour portrait |
| Photo age | Less than 6 months old |
| File size | Online: from 250 KB up to 5 MB |
| File format | Online: .jpg or .jpeg |
| Print quality | Paper forms: high-quality, high-resolution photo paper; not matt paper, heavy-backed thermal paper or ink-jet |
| 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:
Do not use filters or digitally alter your image. Your image must show your natural appearance. Do not edit, apply filters, or use AI tools to modify how you look.
Key requirements
- File specification
The online service accepts a colour portrait saved as .jpg or .jpeg. The ratio is 3:4, the file is 250 KB to 5 MB, and the pixel size runs from 900 x 1200 up to 4500 x 6000. Scans of printed photos will not be accepted.
- Someone else behind the lens
No selfies. DIA asks the photographer to stand 1.5 m away with the camera at your eye level, because close-range shots enlarge the nose and forehead and make the ears harder to see.
- Light, plain, shadow-free
The background is plain and light-coloured, strongly contrasting with your face, and free of shadows and objects. Standing at least half a metre in front of it helps. The paper forms insist on light but not white.
- Head position and framing
Clear space shows above and at both sides of the head, with the shoulders and upper chest in view. The face is fully visible and straight on, with hair out of the eyes and away from the face.
- Genuine image
What the camera caught is what you submit: no edits, filters or AI changes to how you look. A crop to the right head size is allowed, and DIA suggests it when a shot was taken too close.
- Paper-form specifics
Two matching colour prints measuring 35 x 45 mm, with the head including hair at 80% of the picture height and centred. The image must be sharp, with no red-eye, and the prints must not be stapled or paperclipped to the form.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Upload the file to DIA's online photo checker before you apply.
- Pick a plain, light wall or sheet with no objects in view.
- Let a helper take the picture from 1.5 m away.
- Crop to 3:4 only after a wider shot, keeping a gap round your head.
- Look straight into the lens with your mouth closed.
- Order a Tokelau birth certificate early if you need it for a first passport.
Don't
- Do not submit a selfie.
- Do not scan a printed photo and upload the scan.
- Do not run the image through filters or AI tools.
- Do not wear sunglasses or tinted lenses.
- Do not use matt paper for paper-form prints.
- Do not smile.
Sample photos
How a Tokelau passport photo should look, and the mistakes that most often get photos rejected. Each example is drawn to this document's 35 × 45 mm and background colour.
Illustrations, not real photos. The official rules above always take priority; some documents do not allow glasses at all.
Glasses
Prescription lenses are fine if they are clear and the frames are not thick. Sunglasses and tinted or heavy-framed glasses are not. A clear gap between the eyes and the frames is needed, and so is a picture with no glare or reflection on the lenses.
The paper-form guide gives the same limits with sample images of unacceptable cases: heavy frames, frames hiding the eyes, reflection on the lenses and tinted lenses.
Headwear and religious dress
Take off hats, hoods, headbands and head coverings, unless you wear one for religious or medical reasons. The face must be fully visible even then.
On a paper application that exception comes with paperwork: the statutory declaration at section 8 of the adult form PAS310, or section 9 of the child form PAS305. It has to be signed in front of a Justice of the Peace, a lawyer, a Legal Executive, a Member of Parliament or a government officer authorised to take statutory declarations.
Babies and children
Babies are photographed on a plain, light-coloured sheet, from above, with the entire face visible and the eyes open. Nobody else and nothing else may appear in the shot.
The child form PAS305 is for people under 16 and carries the same 35 x 45 mm size and 80% head rule as the adult form, plus a ban on anyone else being in the photo and on anything covering the child's face. A first passport for a child born in Tokelau needs the original birth certificate, and PAS305 notes that the birth record shows whether a child born from 1 January 2006 is a citizen by birth.
Printed and digital photos
A digital application involves no printing. The file goes up with the online form, after an optional trip through DIA's photo checker, and a staff member then judges it as part of the application.
A paper application needs two prints of the same picture. Acceptable media are high-quality, high-resolution photo paper, or colour film and low-gloss coated thermal paper from a high-resolution printer. DIA does not accept matt paper, heavy-backed thermal paper or ink-jet printing, and it strongly recommends getting the prints from a business with a passport photo service. A digital photo can be printed on a 4x6 inch sheet at a photo counter that meets those rules.
Where to submit the photo
Online applications run through the DIA passport website. You name an identity referee: aged 16 or over, known to you for more than a year, holding a current or expired New Zealand passport, and not a relative, your partner or someone at your address. The referee does not sign your photo, but may be asked to complete an identity check with a RealMe login.
For a paper form, DIA's instructions for people outside New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom are to post or courier it to the Passport Office nearest them, or to ask the nearest New Zealand Embassy or High Commission whether it will submit it for an additional fee, with the warning that not all offices provide that service. A first-time paper applicant also needs a witness who signs the declaration and writes your full name, their signature and the date on the back of one print.
How to get your Tokelau passport photo
- Check the official requirements. Read the official specification for the Tokelau passport: 35 × 45 mm print, 4500 × 6000 px digital file, plain background. Check the rules on pose, expression, glasses and headwear below.
- Take the photo. Follow the key requirements: file specification; someone else behind the lens; light, plain, shadow-free; head position and framing.
- Prepare a print or digital file. A digital application involves no printing. The file goes up with the online form, after an optional trip through DIA's photo checker, and a staff member then judges it as part of the application. A paper application needs two prints of the same picture.
- Submit the photo with your application. Online applications run through the DIA passport website. You name an identity referee: aged 16 or over, known to you for more than a year, holding a current or expired New Zealand passport, and not a relative, your partner or someone at your address.
Tokelau passport photo FAQ
Yes. The Government of Tokelau says all residents, young and old, must have a valid passport to travel outside Tokelau, and that a passport due to expire in less than 6 months should be renewed. The passport is the New Zealand one, applied for through DIA.
No print size applies online: the file is a colour 3:4 portrait, 900 to 4500 pixels wide and 1200 to 6000 high, between 250 KB and 5 MB. Paper forms take two identical prints, 35 mm wide and 45 mm high.
The adult form PAS310 is for people aged 16 or over without internet access who are applying for a first passport, have changed their name or are replacing a lost, stolen or damaged passport. The child form PAS305 covers under-16s applying for a first passport or without internet access. DIA says paper applications take longer.
DIA asks first-time applicants born in Tokelau to send the original birth certificate. The Government of Tokelau's website explains how to order Tokelau birth, death and marriage certificates: you give the name, date and place of birth and the parents' names.
New Zealand's High Commission in Apia lists notarial services, such as witnessing statutory declarations for use under New Zealand law. Its MFAT page mentions neither Tokelau nor passport applications, and MFAT says only the Passport Offices in London, Sydney or New Zealand can issue a passport. Check with the High Commission first.
No. DIA allows a professional photographer or your own device, as long as someone else takes the picture, because selfies are rejected. For paper-form prints DIA strongly recommends a business that offers a passport photo service.
Less than 6 months, online or on paper. DIA warns that an application may be delayed if a photo does not meet its requirements.
Related photo specifications
Passports nearby
- American Samoa passport photo 2 × 2 in
- Cook Islands passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- French Polynesia passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- Niue passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- Pitcairn Islands photo 35 × 45 mm
- Samoa passport photo 35 × 45 mm
- Tuvalu passport photo 38 × 51 mm
- Wallis and Futuna passport photo 35 × 45 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 Tokelau photo specifications
- Passports: photo rules by country
- Every document that uses a 35 × 45 mm photo
- Photo specifications in Oceania
Official sources
- New Zealand Passports, Department of Internal Affairs. Passport photos passports.govt.nz. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Department of Internal Affairs. PAS310 Application for a New Zealand passport: Adult (8 April 2026) passports.govt.nz. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Department of Internal Affairs. PAS305 Application for a New Zealand passport: Child (8 April 2026) passports.govt.nz. Checked 3 November 2026.
- New Zealand Passports, Department of Internal Affairs. Identity referee or witness passports.govt.nz. Checked 3 November 2026.
- New Zealand Passports, Department of Internal Affairs. Online Photo Checker: terms and conditions onlinephotochecker.passports.govt.nz. Checked 3 November 2026.
- New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Tokelau mfat.govt.nz. Checked 3 November 2026.
- New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. New Zealand High Commission to Samoa mfat.govt.nz. Checked 3 November 2026.
- New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Passports and visas mfat.govt.nz. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Government of Tokelau. BDM Certificates (passports and permit services) tokelau.org.nz. Checked 3 November 2026.
- Government of Tokelau. Contact tokelau.org.nz. Checked 3 November 2026.
Requirements can change, so always confirm with New Zealand Passports, Department of Internal Affairs before you apply. WorldPhotoSpecs is independent and not affiliated with any government.
Cite this page
"Tokelau passport photo". WorldPhotoSpecs. Last updated 4 November 2026. https://worldphotospecs.org/tokelau/passport-photo