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Finnish Passport Photo (passi, 500 x 653 px upload or 36 x 47 mm print): size and requirements

The Finnish Passport Photo size is 36 x 47 mm (1.42 x 1.85 inches), or 500 x 653 pixels for online upload (minimum 500 x 653, maximum 500 x 653), file under 250 KB. Light grey is best; the background must be monochromatic, flat, light and neutral, with no shadows; head 68 to 77 percent of the photo height. Photo taken within the last 6 months. Last verified 2026-10-07 against Poliisi (Finnish Police), 'Passport photographs' page and 'Passport photograph instructions by the police' (2020).

For the single photo attached to a Finnish passport application, either as a 500 x 653 px JPEG on the police photograph server or as a paper print handed in at a police service point. Not for a Finnish identity card (same rules, separate page), a driving licence or a Migri residence permit.

Make this photo for $6.99Read the full rules
Senate Square and the yellow government buildings in Helsinki
VerifiedRead from the official pageLast checked 2026-10-07Poliisi (Finnish Police), 'Passport photographs' page and 'Passport photograph instructions by the police' (2020)

Requirements at a glance

Size
36 x 47 mm (1.42 x 1.85 inches), or 500 x 653 pixels for online upload (minimum 500 x 653, maximum 500 x 653), file under 250 KB
Head height
Head 68 to 77 percent of the photo height (The distance between the crown of the head and the chin must be at least 445-500 px (32-36 mm). There must be at least 56 px (4 mm) and no more than 84 px (6 mm) above the crown of the head. There must be at least 96 px (7 mm) and no more than 124 px (9 mm) below the chin.)
Background
light grey is best; the background must be monochromatic, flat, light and neutral, with no shadows
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
Prints needed
1
We deliver
500 x 653 px (600 DPI), under 250 KB, plus a 4 x 6 inch print sheet

What trips people up

  • Check
    The electronic frame is unforgiving: 'The dimensions of photographs submitted electronically must be exactly 500 x 653 pixels. Deviations as small as one pixel are not accepted.' JPEG only (not JPEG2000), .jpg or .jpeg, at most 250 kilobytes.
  • Check
    The police let you upload your own photo but say plainly that they do not recommend it: 'many of the photographs uploaded have to be rejected', most often for 'incorrect lighting and optical distortion caused by too short a shooting distance'. Shoot from a distance with a longer lens; smartphone wide-angle close-ups make the nose too large.
  • Check
    Nobody pre-checks the photo. The licence officer looks at it only when the passport application is processed; if it fails you are asked to add a compliant photo, without paying the fee again, but the application waits.
  • Check
    The head is measured without hair and beard, 32 to 36 mm (445 to 500 px) from crown to chin, with 4 to 6 mm above the crown and 7 to 9 mm below the chin; the face centre line may be at most 1.5 mm (21 px) off the photo centre. Hair and beard need not be fully in frame.
  • Check
    A photo studio cannot upload a photo you took yourself: 'a photo studio can only upload photos they have taken themselves'. Your own photo goes to the server through your own upload, or on paper at a police station (where it is scanned, which 'decreases image quality').
  • Check
    The photo must be at most six months old and the server counts from the upload date; black-and-white is accepted; the document image is laser-engraved in greyscale, so your face, hair and clothes must contrast with the light background.
  • Check
    Tinted glasses or an eyepatch only for medical reasons; a scarf or other head covering only for religious reasons, an established tradition, or health reasons, and it must not shadow or cover the face. Glasses frames should stay well clear of the eyes; 'You can always take your glasses off'.

Known portal issues

  • Note

    Photograph retrieval code (kuvatunnus) required

    Have a photographer upload the photo and give you the kuvatunnus code, then enter it in the online application. Read the fix

Good to know before you pay

If a Finnish photo studio sends your photo to the police server, you only enter the retrieval code; if your passport or ID card photo on file is under six months old it can be reused automatically.

Source and verification

VerifiedLast checked 2026-10-07Poliisi (Finnish Police), 'Passport photographs' page and 'Passport photograph instructions by the police' (2020)

Read from the official page. Last checked 2026-10-07 at Poliisi (Finnish Police), 'Passport photographs' page and 'Passport photograph instructions by the police' (2020).

  • You can upload your photograph onto the police's photograph server, but we do not recommend this as many of the photographs uploaded have to be rejected.
  • Photos taken by non-professionals are often rejected due to poor quality. The most common problems are incorrect lighting and optical distortion caused by too short a shooting distance.
  • For a passport application, you will need one passport photograph which has been taken no longer than 6 months before submitting your application.
  • No it can't. For security reasons, a photo studio can only upload photos they have taken themselves, as they must be able to guarantee photo authenticity and origin.
  • The staff at a police station will need to scan your paper photograph so that it is available in an electronic format, and this takes some time and decreases image quality.
  • The dimensions of photographs submitted electronically must be exactly 500 x 653 pixels. Deviations as small as one pixel are not accepted.
  • Electronically submitted photographs must be saved in the JPEG format (not JPEG2000).
  • The maximum size of an electronically submitted photograph is 250 kilobytes.
  • The photograph can be a black-and-white or a colour photograph.
  • The photograph must be no more than six months old.
  • The hair and beard are not included in the size of the head, and if necessary, the location of the crown of the head and the chin is estimated.
  • The same requirements also apply to subjects of all ages.
  • The best background colour is light grey.
  • The background must be monochromatic and flat.
  • The background colour must be light and neutral.
  • There must not be any shadows in the background.
  • Your facial expression must be neutral. Your mouth must be closed. These rules are flexible when it comes to very young babies, but even their mouth can only be slightly open.
  • Tinted glasses or an eyepatch can only be worn for medical reasons.
  • You can always take your glasses off when you have your passport photograph taken.
  • You may only wear a scarf or other head covering if it is required by religious reasons or due to an established tradition, or if it is necessary for health or medical reasons.
  • Use of digital make-up is not allowed.
  • Oman valokuvan lataaminen poliisin valokuvapalvelimelle on mahdollista mutta emme suosittele sitä korkean hylkäämisprosentin vuoksi.

Quotes 1-5 are from the police 'Passport photographs' page at source.url (updated 29 Dec 2025, read directly, sources/fi/poliisi-submitting-passport-photographs-en.txt). Quotes 6-21 are from the PDF 'Passport photograph instructions by the police' (2020, EN) linked from that page, https://poliisi.fi/documents/25235045/31329600/Passport-photograph-instructions-by-the-police-2020-EN-fixed.pdf (sources/fi/poliisi-passport-photograph-instructions-2020-en-pdf.txt); Quote 22 is Finnish, from the FI page https://poliisi.fi/passikuvan-toimittaminen (sources/fi/poliisi-passikuvan-toimittaminen.txt); the FI PDF (sources/fi/poliisi-passikuvaohje-2020-fi-pdf.txt) states the same numbers. Quotes 1 and 4 and eligibility.officialWording use straight apostrophes where the page prints typographic ones ('police’s', 'can’t'); nothing else is normalised. findPhotographerUrl is the href behind 'valokuvaamoluettelosta' on the FI page (the saved text dump keeps only the link text; the href was verified live on 2026-10-07 and the target is a police e-service that redirects to a login/JS shell for curl). Head fractions 445-500 px / 653 px. The 36 x 47 mm paper frame is derived (head 32-36 + 4-6 above + 7-9 below = 43-51 mm; 500:653 at 36 mm width gives 47 mm) and is not named by the police; dpi 600 is our rendering choice. The head-height band is given as 'at least 445-500 px (32-36 mm)' in the PDF, read as a min-max band. headCovering 'religious-medical-only' also admits 'an established tradition'. glasses 'allowed-no-glare' follows the frames/reflection rules. child.underAge 1 is a type placeholder (see child.note). Eligibility 'yes': the police accept self-uploaded photos but discourage them. editing 'background-replacement-ok' is our reading of 'must not be manipulated in any way that would change' the face; the police allow the photographer to 'change the background to a lighter or darker colour'. poliisi.fi is not matched by the validator host rule; see the file header.

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

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