Germany passport photo requirements 2026 — DIN 6765 + Bundesdruckerei checklist
Every German biometric passport-photo rule explained — 32-36 mm face height, 600 DPI, light grey background, no glasses. Pass the Bürgeramt first try.
What German authorities actually check
A German biometric passport photo follows the Bundesdruckerei's “Passbildschablone” — the same template every Bürgeramt and consulate uses to accept or reject your photo. If you've been turned away before, the cause is almost always one of seven specific measurements. This guide walks all of them, then shows the fastest way to take a compliant photo at home. For the live spec we use to generate compliant photos, see our Germany passport photo page.
The seven numbers that matter
- Print size: 35 × 45 mm. Standard EU biometric format.
- Face height: 32–36 mm for adults (chin to crown), 27–30 mm for children under 10. The most common rejection — most phone selfies fall in 26-30 mm, which is rejected.
- Resolution: 600 DPI minimum, the highest in the EU. A 300-DPI photo that passes for a Dutch ID will fail the Bundesdruckerei scanner.
- Background: light grey only. Bundesdruckerei explicitly does not accept pure white; plain grey at the reference shade is the only safe choice.
- Maximum age: 6 months.
- No glasses.Even fully transparent frames are rejected since 2020. Medical exemption requires a doctor's certificate.
- Mouth closed, neutral expression.The DIN 6765 standard explicitly calls out “keine Retusche” — no retouching. AI face-enhancement that smooths skin will fail.
Where you submit it
Appointments via your local Bürgeramt — book through your city's portal. Most cities also accept a digital upload at the counter via QR code printed on the photo, which speeds up the appointment by 5-10 minutes. The Foto2Pass output ships at 600 DPI specifically so it passes the digital-upload path on the first try.
Why German rules look stricter than Dutch
Two real differences:
- Higher DPI (600 vs 400). The Bundesdruckerei scanner reads a finer pixel grid, so a Dutch-spec photo looks pixelated when scanned in Germany.
- Larger face (32-36 vs 26-30 mm). A Dutch photo cropped at 28 mm chin-to-crown is rejected in Germany — the face needs to fill more of the frame.
Take it at home
Daylight at a window, plain light-grey or white wall behind you, hold the phone at face level (not below — that creates upward-tilted “chin-up” photos that the Schalter rejects). Take 4-6 frames. We measure face height in mm from your selfie, crop to the exact 32-36 mm German window, replace the background with the official grey, and ship at 600 DPI — start your German passport photo.