Vietnam ID Card Photo: Taken at the Police Office, Not Uploaded

If you're applying for a Vietnamese Citizen ID Card (Căn cước công dân — CCCD, now officially called Thẻ Căn cước), the photo isn't something you upload, print, or bring with you. It's captured in person — together with your fingerprints and an iris scan — at a provincial police office, as one step of the official process. Because of that, IDPhotoBy does not prepare photos for the Vietnam ID card: there's no applicant-supplied photo in this process for us to format. We do prepare Vietnam visa photos online — see below.

The Ministry of Public Security's own Public Service Portal (Bộ Công an — dichvucong.bocongan.gov.vn) publishes the step-by-step procedure for issuing the Citizen ID card. Its Step 4 states:

"Bước 4: Tiến hành thu nhận vân tay, chụp ảnh khuôn mặt và thu nhận ảnh mống mắt của công dân."

("Step 4: Collect the citizen's fingerprints, take a facial photo, and collect an iris scan.")

This isn't limited to first-time applications — the Ministry's separate procedure page for replacing or renewing the card states the same in-person step, for citizens aged 6 and up:

"Bước 4: Tiến hành thu nhận vân tay, chụp ảnh khuôn mặt, thu nhận ảnh mống mắt của công dân từ đủ 06 tuổi trở lên."

The portal's "online" (Trực tuyến) entry option — including the national identification app (ứng dụng định danh quốc gia) — doesn't change this. According to the same procedure pages, going online only lets you check your existing data against the National Population Database and, once it's confirmed, book a time and place to complete the procedure in person at your provincial police identity-management office:

"Công dân thông qua Cổng dịch vụ công quốc gia, Cổng dịch vụ công Bộ Công an, ứng dụng định danh quốc gia lựa chọn thủ tục cấp thẻ căn cước, kiểm tra thông tin của mình được khai thác trong Cơ sở dữ liệu quốc gia về dân cư. Trường hợp thông tin chính xác thì đăng ký thời gian, địa điểm thực hiện thủ tục tại cơ quan quản lý căn cước của Công an cấp tỉnh."

In other words: there's no step, online or in person, where you supply your own photo file. Whatever image an online photo tool generates for you, there's nowhere in this process to submit it.

Based on the Ministry of Public Security's own published procedure:

• Start through the National Public Service Portal, the Ministry of Public Security's own portal, or the national identification app — or start in person, if you prefer.
• If you start online, check that your existing data in the National Population Database is correct, then book a time and place at your provincial police (Công an cấp tỉnh) identity-management office.
• At your appointment, an officer collects your fingerprints, takes your facial photo, and scans your iris — no printed or digital photo needed from you.
• This in-person step is the same whether you're applying for a new card or replacing/renewing an existing one — the Ministry's own renewal procedure states it applies to citizens aged 6 and up.

There's no photo size, background color, or file format to prepare in advance — no applicant-supplied photo is described anywhere on the portal for this document, so there's nothing for an online tool to produce ahead of your appointment.

We can't help with the Vietnam ID card, but IDPhotoBy does prepare Vietnam visa photos online: upload your own photo, and we crop and resize it to the official specification. We support both the standard Vietnam visa photo (40×60 mm) and the 2×2 inch Vietnam visa photo size.

ID card application processes can change — always check the Ministry of Public Security's Public Service Portal (dichvucong.bocongan.gov.vn) before you apply.