Trinidad and Tobago passport photo requirements
The 31 × 41 mm photo rules set by Ministry of Homeland Security, Trinidad and Tobago for the Trinidad and Tobago passport, with the official wording and sources.
Quick answer
What size is the Trinidad and Tobago passport photo?
A Trinidad and Tobago passport photo is 31 x 41 mm (1.22 x 1.61 in), in colour, on a white background, taken within the last 6 months, with a neutral expression and no glasses. In Trinidad and Tobago you bring no photos: the Immigration Division takes your picture at the appointment. Prints are needed for adult renewals posted to a mission abroad, lost or stolen passport replacements and emergency travel documents. Missions in the US ask for 2 x 2 in instead.
Trinidad and Tobago passports are issued by the Immigration Division, part of the Ministry of Homeland Security (older documents name the Ministry of National Security). The passport issued today is the Machine Readable Passport (MRP), valid for 10 years from age 16 and for 5 years under 16. Babies need a passport of their own.
At home, every applicant books a slot through the government eAppointment service and attends a passport office in person, for a first passport and for a renewal alike. The Immigration Division says photos are captured at the passport appointment interview, so no prints are needed. The exception is replacing a lost, stolen or mutilated passport, which needs one recent passport-size photo on a white background.
Abroad, embassies, high commissions and consulates take applications and send them to Port of Spain. First passports and most children's passports still need an in-person interview with a live photo. Adults aged 16 and over who already hold an MRP can usually renew by post, and they send printed photos. Each mission publishes its own photo sheet, and the sizes differ: at least 31 x 41 mm in Brussels and London, at least 5 x 5 cm in Toronto, and 2 x 2 in at the missions in the United States.
Trinidad and Tobago passport photo size and specifications
The requirements as published by Ministry of Homeland Security, Trinidad and Tobago:[1]
| Print size | 31 x 41 mm (1.22 x 1.61 in); missions differ: Toronto at least 5 x 5 cm, US missions 2 x 2 in (51 x 51 mm) |
|---|---|
| Digital size | No upload: offices capture the photo live; postal renewals abroad send prints |
| Head height | Face 70 to 80% of the photo height (Brussels, Toronto); London says 70%; US missions 1 to 1 3/8 in |
| Background | White: a solid white background (Immigration Division); London asks for pure white |
| Colour | Colour photos only |
| Photo age | Taken within the last 6 months |
| Print quality | High-quality photographic paper at high resolution; sharp, with no crease or ink mark |
| Pixels when printed | 366 × 484 px at 300 dpi · 732 × 969 px at 600 dpi (calculated) |
Key requirements
- Live photo at the appointment
In Trinidad and Tobago every applicant attends a passport office in person, for a first passport or a renewal, and the Immigration Division captures the photo during the interview. Missions abroad do the same for first passports, so no prints are needed in either case.
- Prints for postal renewals abroad
Adults aged 16 and over who already hold a Machine Readable Passport can renew by post or drop-off through most missions. They send two identical colour photos; the embassy in Brussels asks for one.
- Size depends on the mission
The Immigration Division's emergency travel document guidelines give 31 mm wide by 41 mm high and cite ICAO. Brussels asks for at least 31 x 41 mm, London for at least that or 5 x 5 cm, Toronto for at least 5 x 5 cm, and Washington, New York and Miami for 2 x 2 in.
- White background, face 70-80%
Use a white background and even lighting with no shadows or reflections on the face. Brussels and Toronto want the face to fill 70 to 80% of the photo height, as a close-up of the head and top of the shoulders; London gives 70%.
- Neutral and square to the camera
Look straight at the camera with the head upright, eyes open, mouth closed and no smile. Both edges of the face and both ears must show, with no hair on the forehead or over the eyes.
- No glasses or facial jewellery
Spectacles are not acceptable in the portrait. Remove facial jewellery such as nose studs and eye rings, and leave out coloured contact lenses. Markings, tattoos or piercings must not obscure an even appearance of the face.
- Loose prints, no seals
Do not pin, staple or glue photos to the application form. On an emergency travel document application the recommender certifies the back of one photo, but a notarial seal must not be imprinted on it.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Book through eAppointment before going to a passport office
- Wear a top that is not white or light grey for a live photo
- Tuck your hair behind your ears so the hairline and ears show
- Check your own mission's photo sheet before printing
- Print in colour on high-quality photo paper
- Send two identical photos with a postal renewal unless your mission asks for one
Don't
- Do not wear glasses or coloured contact lenses
- Do not smile or show your teeth
- Do not keep nose studs or other facial jewellery in
- Do not pin, staple or glue the photos to the form
- Do not use a photo older than six months
- Do not wear a headband or hair accessories
Sample photos
How a Trinidad and Tobago passport photo should look, and the mistakes that most often get photos rejected. Each example is drawn to this document's 31 × 41 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
No. The Immigration Division's 2026 renewal instructions say spectacles are not acceptable in the portrait, and the embassy in Brussels and the consulate in Toronto use the same rule. Take glasses off before the live photo at your appointment and before having prints made.
The only exception is disability. The emergency travel document guidelines rule out dark glasses unless there is a physical disability, and London's 2026 instructions allow glasses only in that case. Coloured contact lenses are refused by Toronto, Washington and Miami, and New York rules out contact lenses altogether.
Headwear and religious dress
A head covering is accepted only for religious custom or for medical reasons. Even then the whole face must stay visible from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead, and Toronto also wants the brows, temples, sides of the face, chin and forehead up to the hairline clear.
Hair is treated the same way. London allows no hair on the forehead or falling at the sides of the face, and no headbands. Miami asks for hair tucked behind the ears, no hair accessories, and the complete hairline and both ears in view.
Babies and children
Children under 16 always appear in person. In Trinidad and Tobago the child attends the appointment with the parent or parents named on the birth or adoption certificate, or the guardian named in a court order; a parent who cannot attend gives permission by statutory declaration. The photo is taken there, and a child's passport is valid for 5 years.
Abroad, the consulate in Toronto and the High Commission in London capture a live image of children under 16, and the embassy in Washington treats every child renewal as a first application. Brussels cannot renew children's passports and refers families to London. The High Commission in Kingston, Jamaica, is the exception: it takes child renewals with two passport-size photos on white, but a child's passport previously renewed for a two-year period is not renewed there again and goes to a processing office for a live photo.
Printed and digital photos
Applications are made on printed paper forms, and none of the official instructions offers a photo upload. At Immigration Division offices, and for first passports at missions, the photo is captured digitally during the interview. Prints are only for applications made without that live capture: postal renewals by adults abroad, lost, stolen or mutilated passport replacements, and emergency travel documents.
Print in colour on high-quality photographic paper at high resolution, as London and Brussels ask, with no crease or ink mark. Toronto adds that a photo taken with a digital camera must be printed on photo-quality paper, and says a standard Canadian passport photo meets its rules. A digital photo can be cropped to 31 x 41 mm, or to 2 x 2 in for the US missions, and printed on a 4x6 inch sheet at a photo lab.
Where to submit the photo
In Trinidad and Tobago, book a free appointment through eAppointment, the government's online booking service, and attend one of the Immigration Division's passport offices: Port of Spain, San Fernando, Chaguanas, Sangre Grande, Point Fortin or Tobago. Bring the completed form, your original documents and copies, and the A5 or legal-size TTPost TrackPak that the instructions require.
Abroad, apply through the mission that covers where you live, such as the High Commission in London or Ottawa, the embassy in Washington or Brussels, or the consulates in New York, Miami and Toronto. Missions forward applications to the Immigration Division in Port of Spain, which issues the passport. First passports need an appointment; adult renewals are usually posted or dropped off, and New York also offers renewal appointments in person.
How to get your Trinidad and Tobago passport photo
- Check the official requirements. Read the official specification for the Trinidad and Tobago passport: 31 × 41 mm print, white: a solid white background. Check the rules on pose, expression, glasses and headwear below.
- Take the photo. Follow the key requirements: live photo at the appointment; prints for postal renewals abroad; size depends on the mission; white background, face 70-80%.
- Prepare a print or digital file. Applications are made on printed paper forms, and none of the official instructions offers a photo upload. At Immigration Division offices, and for first passports at missions, the photo is captured digitally during the interview.
- Submit the photo with your application. In Trinidad and Tobago, book a free appointment through eAppointment, the government's online booking service, and attend one of the Immigration Division's passport offices: Port of Spain, San Fernando, Chaguanas, Sangre Grande, Point Fortin or Tobago.
Trinidad and Tobago passport photo FAQ
31 mm wide by 41 mm high (1.22 x 1.61 in), the size in the Immigration Division's emergency travel document guidelines and the minimum in Brussels and London. Some missions ask for other sizes: at least 5 x 5 cm in Toronto, and 2 x 2 in (51 x 51 mm) at the embassy in Washington and the consulates in New York and Miami.
No. First Machine Readable Passport applicants attend an interview in person and are photographed there, whether at a passport office at home or at a mission abroad. The Miami and Toronto consulates both say photos are not needed for a first issue, unless you are also replacing a lost, stolen or mutilated passport.
No. Renewals at Immigration Division offices are made in person by appointment, and the photo is captured at the interview. The only applicants at home who bring a print are those replacing a lost, stolen or mutilated passport: one recent passport-size photo on a solid white background.
Two identical colour photos at most missions, including London, Toronto, New York, Miami, Washington and Kingston. The embassy in Brussels asks for one. Postal renewal is open to adults aged 16 and over who already hold a Machine Readable Passport, whose number starts with TA, TB, TC or BA.
No. Spectacles are not acceptable in the portrait, according to the Immigration Division's renewal instructions and several missions. London's 2026 instructions make an exception only for a physical disability, and coloured contact lenses are refused as well.
No. The expression must be neutral with the mouth closed. Brussels, Toronto and New York all say no smiling, and Washington and Miami add that no teeth should show.
Yes, if it is worn for religious custom or for medical reasons; other headwear is refused. The face must stay fully visible from chin to forehead, and Toronto also wants the brows, temples and sides of the face clear.
The Immigration Division's emergency travel document guidelines ask for two unmounted colour photos, 31 x 41 mm and under six months old, with one certified on the back by an eligible recommender; notarial seals must not be imprinted on them. The embassy in Washington, which issues Emergency Certificates for one-way travel home, asks for two 2 x 2 in photos on white.
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
- All Trinidad and Tobago photo specifications
- Passports: photo rules by country
- Every document that uses a 31 × 41 mm photo
- Photo specifications in North America
Official sources
- Ministry of Homeland Security, Trinidad and Tobago. Immigration Division: passport services homelandsecurity.gov.tt. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Ministry of Homeland Security, Trinidad and Tobago. Immigration Division FAQs homelandsecurity.gov.tt. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Immigration Division, Ministry of Homeland Security. Passport Renewal Instructions: Citizens 16 Years and Over (2026) homelandsecurity.gov.tt. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Immigration Division, Ministry of Homeland Security. Passport Application Instructions: First Machine Readable Passport, 16 and Over (2026) homelandsecurity.gov.tt. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Immigration Division, Ministry of Homeland Security. Passport Application Instructions: Children Under 16 (2026) homelandsecurity.gov.tt. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Government of Trinidad and Tobago eAppointment. Passport Appointment Services appointments.gov.tt. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Immigration Division (published by the Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs). Emergency Travel Document Application: Instructions and General Information foreign.gov.tt. Checked 2 November 2026.
- High Commission of Trinidad and Tobago, London. Renewal of Machine Readable Passport, 16 Years and Over (Ver160326) foreign.gov.tt. Checked 2 November 2026.
- High Commission of Trinidad and Tobago, London. Child Passport Application Form and Instructions foreign.gov.tt. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Embassy of Trinidad and Tobago, Brussels. Machine Readable Passport Renewal Instructions foreign.gov.tt. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Consulate General of Trinidad and Tobago, Toronto. Machine Readable Passport Renewal Instructions foreign.gov.tt. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Consulate General of Trinidad and Tobago, Toronto. Machine Readable Passport Instructions: First Issue foreign.gov.tt. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Embassy of Trinidad and Tobago, Washington. FAQ: Embassy in Washington, D.C. foreign.gov.tt. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Embassy of Trinidad and Tobago, Washington. Machine Readable Passport Renewal Checklist foreign.gov.tt. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Embassy of Trinidad and Tobago, Washington. Guidelines and Conditions for Issuance of an Emergency Certificate foreign.gov.tt. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Consulate General of Trinidad and Tobago, New York. MRP Renewal Instructions for 16 Years of Age and Over (updated January 2026) foreign.gov.tt. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Consulate General of Trinidad and Tobago, Miami. Applicant Checklist for Renewal of a Machine Readable Passport (2026) foreign.gov.tt. Checked 2 November 2026.
- Consulate General of Trinidad and Tobago, Miami. Applicant Checklist for First Issue of a Machine Readable Passport (2026) foreign.gov.tt. Checked 2 November 2026.
- High Commission of Trinidad and Tobago, Kingston. Renewal of Machine-Readable Passport (revised 2026) foreign.gov.tt. Checked 2 November 2026.
Requirements can change, so always confirm with Ministry of Homeland Security, Trinidad and Tobago before you apply. WorldPhotoSpecs is independent and not affiliated with any government.
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"Trinidad and Tobago passport photo". WorldPhotoSpecs. Last updated 4 November 2026. https://worldphotospecs.org/trinidad-and-tobago/passport-photo