Afghan Passport Photo (online portal upload, rule not readable; ICAO 35 x 45 mm reference): size and requirements
The Afghan Passport Photo size is 35 x 45 mm (1.38 x 1.77 inches), or 413 x 531 pixels for online upload. Not read; white is our rendering choice for the reference frame; head 70 to 80 percent of the photo height. Photo taken within the last 6 months. Last verified 2026-10-10 against ICAO Doc 9303 Part 3 (Eighth Edition, 2021), Section 3.9 displayed portrait, standing in for the Afghan General Directorate of Passports rule we could not read.
For an Afghan passport (پاسپورت) issued by the General Directorate of Passports of the Ministry of Interior Affairs to Afghan citizens, as a reference only: the ministry's pages and its online portal passport.moi.gov.af show that a photo is uploaded and cropped during registration, but publish no size, background or framing we could read, so every value here is the ICAO Doc 9303 default. Not for the tazkira identity card, an Afghan visa or a driving licence.
Upload a plain, front-facing photo on a white background and expect the portal's crop tool to set the frame; confirm with the passport directorate whether a print is also needed, because we could not read Afghanistan's rule. See all Afghanistan documents.
Requirements at a glance
- Size
- 35 x 45 mm (1.38 x 1.77 inches), or 413 x 531 pixels for online upload
- Head height
- Head 70 to 80 percent of the photo height (no national rule read; ICAO Doc 9303 crown-to-chin 70 to 80 per cent of the 45 mm height applied)
- Background
- not read; white is our rendering choice for the reference frame
- Expression
- Neutral, mouth closed, eyes open, looking at the camera
- Glasses
- Allowed without glare or tint
- Head covering
- Only for religious or medical reasons; full face visible
- Photo age
- Taken within the last 6 months
- We deliver
- 413 x 531 px (300 DPI), plus a 4 x 6 inch print sheet
What trips people up
- CheckNo Afghan rule was read: moi.gov.af's 'Passport' pages (English and Dari) hold only menus and a link to the online portal, and the portal's registration guide renders as unresolved labels ('Step1Text1 UploadPhoto', 'SelectPhotoBtn', 'CropAndSave') next to screenshots. Everything on this page is the ICAO Doc 9303 reference, flagged as such.
- CheckA photo is uploaded online: the first step of the portal's guide is a photo upload with a crop-and-save tool, so a digital file is what the process wants; the 413 x 531 px JPEG here is our ICAO-shaped rendering, not the portal's stated size.
- CheckBiometric capture is likely to follow at the passport office or mission; whether the uploaded photo is the one printed, or only a reference, is exactly what we could not confirm.
- CheckICAO reference frame: 'Submitted portraits should be 45.0 mm x 35.0 mm (1.77 in x 1.38 in) in dimension.' with the head 70 to 80 per cent of the height and a plain light background.
- CheckICAO recency: 'A submitted portrait shall have been captured within the last six months before application', and portraits older than three months 'should not be accepted' where the issuer is strict.
Source and verification
No national rule published; ICAO 9303 standard applies. Last checked 2026-10-10 (archived copy dated 2024-09-12) at ICAO Doc 9303 Part 3 (Eighth Edition, 2021), Section 3.9 displayed portrait, standing in for the Afghan General Directorate of Passports rule we could not read.
Submitted portraits should be 45.0 mm x 35.0 mm (1.77 in x 1.38 in) in dimension.
The crown-to-chin portion of the facial image shall be 70 to 80 per cent of the longest dimension defined for Zone V, maintaining the aspect ratio between the crown-to-chin and ear-to-ear details of the face of the holder.
A submitted portrait shall have been captured within the last six months before application, as outlined in [ISO/IEC 39794-5]. Portraits with a capture time dating back more than three months should not be accepted.
Where the portrait is supplied to the issuing authority in digital form, the requirements specified by the issuing authority must be adhered to.
Step1Text1 UploadPhoto
Step1Text3 CropAndSave
Quotes 1-4 are ICAO Doc 9303 Part 3 (sources/icao/icao-9303-part3-portrait-excerpt.txt, Wayback capture 2024-09-12 of source.url). Quotes 5-6 are the unresolved labels of the portal's registration guide (sources/af/passport-moi-registration-guide.txt, https://passport.moi.gov.af/Home/RegistrationGuide, read live via r.jina.ai on 2026-10-10, double space as rendered) and show only that a photo is uploaded and cropped. The ministry pages (sources/af/moi-passport-en.txt, moi-passport-dr.txt) and the portal's other pages (passport-moi-portal.txt, passport-moi-home-index.txt, passport-moi-guideline.txt) contain no photo wording. physical 35 x 45 mm, head 0.7-0.8, maxPhotoAgeMonths 6 from quotes 1-3; digital 413 x 531 px JPEG is our 300 dpi rendering of that frame; background 'white', dpi 300, glasses and headCovering are ICAO-style defaults. Re-fetch the portal with a JavaScript renderer in a later pass.
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.
Frequently asked questions
