Brazil's passport process works differently from most countries: Polícia Federal photographs applicants aged 5 and over in person at the appointment, so there is no photo to prepare in advance. A printed photo is only required for children under 5, and for some applications filed through a consulate abroad — and each of those routes has its own rejection causes.
Fast diagnosis
A common mistake is preparing a printed photo for an adult passport that Polícia Federal will simply re-shoot at the desk. For the cases that do need a printed photo — children under 5, or some consulate-abroad applications — the top rejection causes are the wrong size, a background that is not plain white, and a non-neutral expression.
Applicants aged 5 and over are photographed by Polícia Federal staff at the appointment itself (Polícia Federal, Instrução Normativa 173/2020) — a printed photo brought along simply is not used. Confirm with your local posto or consulate before paying for a studio photo you may not need.
Children under 5 must bring a recent photo sized 5 × 7 cm (50 × 70 mm), plain white background and with no date printed on it. A studio default of 3 × 4 cm is rejected for this route, and so is a lab print with the automatic date imprint in the corner — turn that setting off before printing. A child under 5 still has to attend in person.
Polícia Federal explicitly rejects a child's photo with closed eyes, with the sole exception of newborns. Reshoot if the child blinked.
A pacifier, hand, hat or hair across the face is a stated rejection reason for the child photo — the face must be fully visible and clearly identify the child.
For applications filed at a consulate outside Brazil, several consular photo pages specify a plain white background with the face and shoulders fully framed and no shadows — a coloured or busy background is rejected.
Consulates publish the same neutral-expression rule used across Brazilian biometric documents generally: mouth closed, no smiling or frowning, eyes open and clearly visible.
For any route that does use a printed photo, both Polícia Federal and consular guidance reject a photo that no longer resembles the applicant — for children this is explicit; for adult consulate applications, most posts ask for a photo taken within the last six months.
Only in specific cases. Applicants aged 5 and over are photographed by Polícia Federal at the appointment itself, so no printed photo is needed for most people. A photo is required if the applicant is under 5, or for some applications filed through a consulate outside Brazil.
A recent photo sized 5 × 7 cm (50 × 70 mm), plain white background and with no date printed on it, per Polícia Federal's published documentation requirements. The photo is rejected if the eyes are closed (unless the applicant is a newborn) or if the face is partly covered by an accessory or ornament. The child still attends the appointment in person.
For the in-person capture, follow the instructions given by the Polícia Federal officer at your appointment. For a consulate-abroad photo, several consular pages allow glasses only if the lenses show no reflection and the frames are not heavy or tinted — plain lenses in slim frames are the safer choice.
Verified .
Upload a fresh portrait — Anfas.Pro applies the correct crop, background and biometric framing automatically and shows the result before you pay.