Netherlands document photo requirements

What these formats have in common — Netherlands

1. 01Every format here uses the same photo size: 35 × 45 mm.
2. 02The background is the same in every format: Plain light.
3. 03Across these formats the head takes 58–67% of the picture height.
4. 045 documents — you supply the photo yourself.
5. 05These entries were last read between 17 May 2026 and 1 Oct 2026.
6. 06A single document can still add rules of its own on top of this — the document page is the complete list.

Photo specifications at a glance — Netherlands

How to make such a photo

For the selected document — Netherlands Passport, 35 × 45 mm. Three ways; pick the one that suits you.

1. 

   With a phone at home

   Ask someone to photograph you against a light wall in daylight, the phone at eye level. Then, for free:

   • 01Cropping to size
   • 02Background replacement
   • 03A check against your document’s rules
2. 

   

   With AI from a selfie

   Upload any selfie — the AI builds a photo to the selected document’s rules: size, background, light and head position. You see the result before you pay.

   €5.99per photo, one-off, no subscription

   If it’s rejected, we refund you

   Make it from a selfie
3. 10 × 15 sheet · 4 photos 35 × 45 mm

   In a photo studio

   If you need a printed photo today, show the photographer the requirements from the document’s page. And a ready phone photo we will lay out on a 10 × 15 or A4 sheet for free — print it at any photo studio.

   Print sheet

Recent notes — Netherlands

Short notes we wrote when a requirement, a form or a submission portal changed.

• Netherlands Schengen Visa Photo: 35 x 45 mm, Face 26–30 mm, and When the Visa Centre Takes It for YouDutch Schengen visa: a colour 3.5 x 4.5 cm photo under 6 months old on a white or light background — unless you apply via a visa centre, which takes it.
• EU ID card photo requirements: sizes and rules by countryThe size for an ID card photo in EU countries is not uniform: Spain requires 32 × 26 mm, France needs 35 × 45 mm, and in Lithuania, the initial print must be 40 × 60 mm.
• Netherlands introduces new country policy on asylum for Ukrainians without TPDFrom 1 July 2026 the Dutch government has, for the first time since the war began, adopted a separate country policy for assessing asylum applications from Ukrainians who do not fall under the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD). The IND can refuse status by pointing to relatively "safe" regions of Ukraine, but anyone who already holds TPD is unaffected: their status has been automatically extended until 4 March 2027.
• Photo for a Netherlands residence permit (verblijfsvergunning), MVV and passport in 2026: IND requirements for UkrainiansA photo for a Netherlands residence permit, MVV visa and passport must be colour, 35×45 mm, with the head (from chin to crown) measuring 26–30 mm for people aged 11 and over, a light grey/light blue/white background, no glasses, a neutral expression, and no older than 6 months.

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