An Austrian passport photo is a colour photo, 35 mm wide and 45 mm high and not older than six months, that meets the passport-photo criteria (Passbildkriterien) of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) and section 4 of the Passport Act Implementing Regulation (PassG-DV). IDPhotoBy prepares this photo for printing, so you can hand in the print when you apply in person. Alternatively, a professional photographer or photo retailer can send the photo to the authority electronically through eBild and give you a picture code; you can’t upload a photo yourself.
Free Austrian Passport Photo Online — 35 × 45 mm Print for Your Application in Austria or Abroad
Free preview · Download for $9
Upload a photo of yourself and IDPhotoBy sizes it to 35 × 45 mm, keeps your head within the official 36 mm limit and checks the background, giving you a print-ready photo to hand in at an Austrian passport authority or at an Austrian embassy or consulate. The preview is free — you pay only to download the finished photo.
Photo size: 35×45 mm · Background: light grey
Official source: oesterreich.gv.at, oesterreich.gv.at, ris.bka.gv.at, bmi.gv.at, bmi.gv.at, wien.gv.at, oesterreich.gv.at, oesterreich.gv.at, ris.bka.gv.at, bmf.gv.at, tirol.gv.at
Specifications verified: October 4, 2026
Our photos meet international government standards.
Where you hand in your Austrian passport photo
- In Austria: at any passport authority (a Bezirkshauptmannschaft or a Magistrat, and in Vienna the Pass-Service of the Magistratische Bezirksämter), regardless of where you live. Some municipalities in Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol and Vorarlberg also accept applications.
- Abroad: at an Austrian embassy or consulate.
At a passport authority or a participating municipality, no application form is needed: your application is recorded there. Fingerprints are taken from the age of 12. You normally bring the photo along, although the district authorities in Tyrol also offer an optional photo station. Austria doesn’t require a certified photographer, so you can take it yourself as long as it meets the criteria below.
Austrian passport photo size and head position
The Austrian passport photo size is 35 × 45 mm (3.5 × 4.5 cm), in portrait format. Measured from the tip of the chin to the crown, the head should take up about two thirds of the photo and must not be taller than 36 mm; high hairstyles may extend beyond the edge of the photo. The head should be centred, and the distance between the centres of the eyes must be at least 8 mm (10 mm is optimal).
Austrian passport photo requirements
The BMI’s other criteria for the photo are listed below. The PassG-DV also requires the photo to meet Council Regulation (EC) No 2252/2004, the EU standard for biometric data in passports.
| Criterion | What the BMI asks for |
|---|---|
| Colour | Colour only; black-and-white photos can’t be used |
| Age of the photo | Not older than six months |
| Background | Plain and light, ideally grey; no pattern or shadows; enough contrast to your face and hair |
| People | Only you, with no other people or objects |
| Pose | Facing the camera, head neither tilted nor turned; no half-profile or turned shoulders |
| Expression and eyes | Neutral, mouth closed; eyes open, clearly visible, looking into the camera and not covered by hair |
| Lighting | Face evenly lit and sharp, with no shadows or reflections; natural skin tones and no red eyes |
| Glasses | Allowed if your eyes are clearly recognisable; no reflections on the lenses, no tinted lenses or sunglasses, and the frame must not cover the eyes |
| Head covering | Only for medical or religious reasons, with the face visible from the lower edge of the chin to the forehead |
| No alteration | The head must not be distorted or otherwise altered (no mirrored photos and no changed proportions) |
| Smooth, glossy, high-quality paper without surface texture, printed at a high resolution; no scratches, stains, stamps or creases |
For the background, the BMI suggests medium grey if you have light hair and light grey if you have dark hair.
How to make an Austrian passport photo online with a free preview
- Take a sharp, front-facing photo against a plain, light wall in even light; a phone is fine. Keep a neutral expression with your mouth closed.
- Upload it — the Austrian passport is already selected as the document type.
- IDPhotoBy crops and sizes the photo to 35 × 45 mm, centres your head and keeps it within the official 36 mm limit, and checks the background.
- Check the watermarked preview, then download the finished photo and the print-ready sheet.
- Print the sheet at actual size on smooth, glossy photo paper and take the photo with you when you apply.
Printing your Austrian passport photo
The PassG-DV allows only smooth, glossy paper without surface texture, and the BMI names a honeycomb pattern as an example of a texture to avoid. Print at actual size so that the photo measures exactly 35 × 45 mm.
Formatting, not retouching: what IDPhotoBy does
IDPhotoBy crops and sizes the photo you upload and checks the background. It doesn’t retouch or reshape your face, and it doesn’t submit anything for you. Whether a photo is accepted is decided by the passport authority, embassy or consulate, not by us.
The BMI sets the criteria, and the federal portal oesterreich.gv.at summarises them in German. Check the official portal before you apply.