Passport photo at home in France
France regulates the photographer, not just the photo: for a passport or carte d'identité, the photo must be taken by an approved professional or in a booth running a system agreed by the Ministry of the Interior. A home photo therefore cannot be used for French identity documents, and we tell you so before any payment. What a home photo can do in France is narrower but real — visa applications and the postal driving-licence form — and the geometry is worth knowing either way.
Passport and ID card: approved professionals only
Service-Public's rule for the French passport photo reads: 'la photo doit être prise par un professionnel habilité ou dans une cabine utilisant un système agréé par le ministère de l'intérieur'. The photographer or booth usually issues an e-photo code — a reference the online pre-application retrieves the photo with — printed on the photo sheet. Only one photo is needed per application, it must be less than six months old and look like you, and the carte d'identité follows the identical rule. Because the capture channel itself is regulated, only a professional or a system approved by the ministry can produce a usable photo for these documents, normally delivered as an e-photo code. We are not approved and cannot issue a code, so our tool shows a warning instead of a checkout, in line with the position set out in where online photos are not accepted.
The French geometry: white backgrounds are banned
The format is 35 x 45 mm with the face measuring 3.2 to 3.6 cm from the bottom of the chin to the top of the skull, excluding hair — 70 to 80 percent of the photo. The background must be plain and light, light blue or light grey for example, and 'le fond blanc est interdit': a white background, the default in the US and much of Asia, is explicitly forbidden. The head must be bare — no hat, scarf or headband — hair must not cover the face, a fringe is tolerated only if the eyes stay visible, and ears should be clear. If the photo misses these characteristics, the page warns, it is rejected and the document is not issued.
Driving licence: the one domestic route with a postal fallback
The driving licence téléprocédure also prefers the e-photo code, but if you have no access to a digital photo-and-signature service, ANTS offers the formulaire photo-signature: you print the FPS form during the online process, glue a conventional printed photo on it, sign, and post it. That printed photo follows the same 35 x 45 mm, 3.2 to 3.6 cm face, light-background rules — a route where a correctly produced home print is legitimately usable, with the delay that the file is only complete once the form arrives in the post.
Visas: ICAO rules, photographer unregulated
A France-Visas application asks for two 35 x 45 mm photos 'aux normes OACI' and says nothing about who takes them, so a home photo printed at a lab is fine. ICAO's standard puts the crown-to-chin height at 70 to 80 percent of the frame, the same band as the domestic rule. Our checker measures that band, the background tone and the lighting before you pay, and for the passport and ID card it tells you to use an approved photographer instead.
Frequently asked questions
What is an e-photo code?
A reference printed on the photo sheet by an approved photographer or booth. Entered in an online application (ANTS driving licence, passport pre-application, titre de séjour), it lets the administration fetch the certified photo and signature digitally. Only approved French providers can issue one; no online service or foreign booth can.
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We are an independent service, not a government website. Applying for a passport or visa is done with your government; we only prepare the photo.