Your photo is an important part of your citizenship application and helps us to confirm your identity.
Use a professional
We recommend you have your photo taken by a professional passport photograph provider and have a digital copy of the photo emailed to you.
We recommend the
Australian Post Office. Or use a similar provider if you are applying from outside Australia.
We don’t recommend using online passport photo services and mobile apps as images produced may not meet our image quality requirements. Also, you may be in danger of identity fraud.
How to provide a suitable photo
Photo quality
The photo must:
- be no more than 6 months old
- show your full face
- be of good quality, in colour, taken against a neutral or light grey coloured background that contrasts with your face
- be unedited (do not remove background, moles, wrinkles, scars or red eyes)
- have a clear, focused image with no marks or 'red eye'
- have uniform lighting (no shadows or reflections), with appropriate brightness and contrast to show natural skin tone
- have no brighter or darker areas of the face caused by lighting or exposure.
Your full-face view
Ensure your:
- face is centred and looking at the camera straight on; not tilted in any direction
- hair is off your face, so that the edges of your face are visible
- eyes are open and mouth is closed
- expression is neutral (not smiling, laughing or frowning).
Glasses must be removed
If you cannot remove your glasses for medical reasons, they should be untinted (except for medical reasons).
The frames can’t obscure your eyes and there can’t be any reflection from the lenses.
Vision impairment alone is not an acceptable reason to wear glasses in a citizenship photo.
Head coverings
If you wear a head covering for religious reasons, you can wear it in your photo.
Religious head coverings have to be worn in a way that shows your whole face from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead (it must not cover any features of the face).
The edges of your face on either side also have to be visible (including the outer eye corner).
Coverings must be plain material without any patterns.
Jewellery must not obscure
Jewellery can’t obscure any part of your face, especially the area around your eyes, mouth and nose.
There can’t be any reflection from nose rings or studs.
Babies and infants
For infants (under 3 years of age), a photo with an open mouth is acceptable.
The photo has to comply with all the other requirements.
No other person or object can be visible in the photo.
Online applications
If applying online the photo should be in digital JPEG format between 70 Kb and 3.5 Mb.
The preferred resolution is 1200 x 1600 pixels.
A scan of a photo or a photograph of a photo is not acceptable.
Paper applications
If applying on paper the photo should be passport-sized: 35 mm to 40 mm wide and 45 mm to 50 mm high.
The size of the face from chin to crown can be up to a maximum of 36 mm, with a minimum of 32 mm.
For example:
Examples of acceptable and unacceptable photos
Acceptable | Unacceptable | Unacceptable |
|---|
 Acceptable photo - Full face is visible.
- Face is centred and looking at the camera straight on.
- Hair is off the face, so that the edges of the face are visible.
- Eyes are open and mouth is closed.
- Expression is neutral (not smiling, laughing or frowning).
|
 Unacceptable photo - Face is not centred and looking at the camera straight on.
|
 Unacceptable photo - Hair is not off the face, so the edges of the face are not visible.
|
 Acceptable photo - Full face is visible.
- Face is centred and looking at the camera straight on.
- Eyes are open and mouth is closed.
- Expression is neutral (not smiling, laughing or frowning).
|
 Unacceptable photo - Face is too light caused by incorrect lighting or exposure.
|
 Unacceptable photo - The background is not a neutral or a light grey colour that contrasts with the face.
|
 Acceptable photo - Religious head covering is worn in a way that shows the whole face from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead.
- Face is centred and looking at the camera straight on.
- Eyes are open and mouth is closed.
- Expression is neutral (not smiling, laughing or frowning).
|
 Unacceptable photo - The background is not a neutral or a light grey colour that contrasts with the face.
|
 Unacceptable photo - Religious head covering is not worn in a way that shows the whole face.
- The edges of the face on either side are not visible (including the outer eye corner).
|
 Acceptable photo - Child’s full face is visible.
- Face is centred and looking at the camera straight on.
- Eyes are open and mouth is open as child is under 3 years of age.
- Expression is neutral (not smiling, laughing or frowning).
|
 Unacceptable photo - Eyes are closed.
- Toy is visible.
- Expression is not neutral.
|
 Unacceptable photo - Face is not centred and looking at the camera straight on.
- Parent is visible.
|
 Acceptable photo - Full face is visible.
- Face is centred and looking at the camera straight on.
- Hair is off the face, so that the edges of the face are visible.
- Eyes are open and mouth is closed.
- Expression is neutral (not smiling, laughing or frowning).
|
 Unacceptable photo - There are reflections from the glasses lenses.
|
 Unacceptable photo - There are shadows on the image and background.
|
For more information, see our
Citizenship photo guidelines.
