Greek ID Card Photo: Taken by the Police or a Certified Photographer

If you're applying for the new-type Greek identity card (δελτίο ταυτότητας), you don't bring a printed photo, and you can't upload one yourself. The card takes one photo in digital form, and it reaches the police in only two ways: the police issuing authority takes it when you apply in person, or a certified professional photographer takes it and uploads it to the government's myPhoto service on gov.gr. Neither route accepts a photo you prepare yourself, so IDPhotoBy does not prepare photos for the Greek ID card. Below: how the official process works, what the photographer's file has to meet, and where we can help instead.

The Hellenic Police (Ελληνική Αστυνομία), which handles ID-card applications, sets out both photo routes on its own ID-card documents page (astynomia.gr):

"Η φωτογραφία δύναται να λαμβάνεται είτε απευθείας στις Αρχές έκδοσης, είτε μπορείτε να απευθυνθείτε σε έναν πιστοποιημένο επαγγελματία φωτογράφο, ο οποίος θα αναρτήσει τη φωτογραφία σας στην εφαρμογή myPhoto του gov.gr."

("The photo may be taken either directly at the issuing authorities, or you can go to a certified professional photographer, who will post your photo to the gov.gr myPhoto application.")

The citizen side of myPhoto has no way to upload a photo of your own. The myPhoto file specification published by GSIS, the operator of myPhoto, states:

"Η μεταφόρτωση των ψηφιακών αρχείων, φωτογραφίας προσώπου και ιδιόχειρης υπογραφής, στην ψηφιακή υπηρεσία myPhoto πραγματοποιείται αποκλειστικά από επαγγελματία φωτογράφο."

("The upload of the digital files — face photo and handwritten signature — to the myPhoto digital service is carried out exclusively by a professional photographer.")

The legal basis is the Ministry of Citizen Protection's decision 3021/19/84-μγ΄ (Government Gazette ΦΕΚ Β΄ 5701/29.09.2023): one photo in digital form that meets ICAO Doc 9303, which may be taken directly by the issuing authorities or uploaded to myPhoto by certified professional photographers, from where the issuing authority's employee retrieves it. The official procedure record on mitos.gov.gr, the Greek government's registry of administrative procedures, lists the application as in person only, and its biometric step at the office reads:

"Λήψη φωτογραφίας, δύο (2) δακτυλικών αποτυπωμάτων, ψηφιακής υπογραφής."

("Capture of a photograph, two (2) fingerprints, a digital signature.")

So there's no step, online or at the counter, where a photo file or print you made yourself is accepted.

If you choose the certified-photographer route, the photographer's file has to meet the official specifications below, from the ID-card procedure and the myPhoto file specification (GSIS, March 2026). They're listed so you know what to expect from the studio, not as a do-it-yourself spec: only the photographer can upload this file.

What about 3.6 × 3.6 cm? You may still see "two black-and-white 3.6 × 3.6 cm photos" listed for the Greek ID card. That was the Hellenic Police's rule for the old blue card (the 2022 version of its document list). The current official document list names only the single digital photo, so printed photos in that size no longer apply.

Based on the Hellenic Police guidance and the official procedure:

• Apply in person in Greece. You file the application in person at a police issuing authority (Αρχή έκδοσης) of your choice, regardless of where you live. Appointments are booked through gov.gr (id.gov.gr); the booking is for your visit, not a way to send a photo.
• Pick your photo route. Either have the photo taken by the issuing authority at your appointment, or visit a certified professional photographer beforehand.
• If you use a photographer: after your visit you receive a code by SMS or email. In myPhoto, link that code to your ΑΦΜ and authorise the "Έκδοση/Αντικατάσταση Δελτίων Ταυτότητας Ελλήνων Πολιτών" (Issuance/Replacement of Greek Citizens' Identity Cards) application to retrieve the photo.
• Only certified photographers can upload. myPhoto uploads are open only to certified professional photographers and their authorised employees; the photographer (a person or a business) must work professionally as a photographer, with the matching activity code (ΚΑΔ) declared in the tax authority's (ΑΑΔΕ) registry. A general tip: ask the studio whether they upload to myPhoto before you go.
• Living abroad? The Hellenic Police states that it's currently not technically possible to apply for a new ID card at Greek consular authorities, so the application can only be made at issuing authorities in Greece.

We can't help with the Greek ID card. IDPhotoBy prepares document photos online for other countries' passports, visas and ID cards where the authority accepts a photo you supply yourself: you upload your own photo, and we crop and resize it to that document's official specification. Browse the countries and documents we support.

ID-card procedures can change. Check the official application portal and the Hellenic Police's ID-card page (astynomia.gr) before submitting.