Netherlands passport photo requirements 2026 — full ICAO + Dutch checklist

What the Dutch government actually requires

A Dutch passport photo follows the Rijksoverheid's “Fotomatrix” — a one-page brochure that every municipal counter and embassy uses to accept or reject the photo you bring in. If you've been rejected before, the reason almost always sits inside that brochure. This guide walks the same checks they run, in plain English, so you can pass the counter the first time. For the live spec we use to generate compliant photos, see our Netherlands passport photo page.

The five numbers that decide acceptance

• Print size: 35 × 45 mm. Standard Schengen size. Anything wider or taller is rejected, even by 1 mm.
• Face height (chin to crown): 26-30 mm for adults, 19-30 mm for children up to age 10. The single most common rejection — a face cropped at 32 mm looks fine on screen but fails the ruler at the counter.
• Face width (ear to ear): 16-20 mm. Specific to the Netherlands and a frequent rejection reason for selfies taken close to the camera, which stretch facial proportions.
• Resolution: 400 DPI minimum. Below this and the printed face has visible pixelation, even if your phone shot looks crisp on the screen.
• Maximum age: 6 months. Photos older than half a year are refused outright, no matter how well they were taken.

Background colour: not just “white”

Rijksoverheid permits three background colours: light grey, light blue, or white — all explicitly named. Light grey is the safest in practice because subtle skin-tone shadows disappear into it; pure white can leave a visible halo on the cheek edge that causes biometric-match failures.

Whatever colour you choose, it must be uniform, with no shadows behind the head. That's why a wall behind you almost never works: natural light always casts a small shadow at shoulder height. Either move further from the wall or replace the background digitally.

Glasses, headwear, expression

• Glassesare allowed only if the lenses are fully transparent (no tint, no reflection) and the frames don't cover the eyes. In practice nine out of ten glasses photos fail because of a small reflection spot on a lens. Take them off.
• Headwear is allowed only for genuine religious or medical reasons, and even then the face must be visible from chin to forehead. No fashion hats, no caps, no hoodies.
• Expression must be neutral with mouth closed. No smiling, no raised eyebrows. Both eyes open and clearly visible — hair across an eyebrow already fails the check.

The three most common rejection reasons

1. Face too large or too small. 26-30 mm chin-to-crown is a 4 mm window. A ruler on the counter settles every dispute.
2. Shadow on background. Caused by standing too close to a wall under any directional light source.
3. Eyes not fully open or not centred. Often a 1° head tilt missed by the photographer that puts one eye visibly higher than the other.

Where you submit it

For a passport, ID card, or driving licence renewal, appointments run via rijksoverheid.nl — book at your municipality. You hand in either a printed photo (most common) or, for certain digital flows, upload a 400-DPI JPEG.

Taking the photo at home

Two minimum-equipment paths work reliably:

• Phone selfie + AI cropping. Daylight at a window, plain wall behind you, take 4-6 frames. Software measures face height in mm and crops to the exact 35 × 45 window, then replaces the background. This is what we do.
• Self-timer + tripod. Same lighting, but the camera is on a tripod and the photo is straight-on rather than tilted-up like a selfie. Slightly higher pass rate at the counter because the angle is more natural.

Quick answers

Can I smile? No, not even a little. Mouth closed, neutral expression.

Glasses on or off? Off, unless you have a medical exemption.

White or grey background? Either is accepted. Grey is more forgiving for skin-edge halos.

How many do I need? One for the application; we deliver four on a sheet so you have spares.

Need a photo right now? Take it from your phone and let our AI handle every check above — start your Dutch passport photo.