Norway Visa Photo (visitor visa, photographed at the mission): size and requirements
The Norway Visa Photo size is 35 x 45 mm (1.38 x 1.77 inches). Bakgrunnen skal vere jamt belyst (evenly lit); no colour named, light grey is our rendering choice; head 70 to 80 percent of the photo height. Photo taken within the last 6 months. Last verified 2026-10-07 against Utlendingsdirektoratet (UDI, Norwegian Directorate of Immigration), with ICAO Doc 9303.
For a Schengen visitor visa to Norway applied for through a Norwegian foreign service mission or its visa application centre, where UDI says the mission photographs you. Not for a Schengen visa issued by another state (see that state's rules), and not for the oppholdskort once you live in Norway.
Only bring a photo if the office handling your visa application explicitly asks for one; UDI says the mission takes it. See all Norway documents.
Requirements at a glance
- Size
- 35 x 45 mm (1.38 x 1.77 inches)
- Head height
- Head 70 to 80 percent of the photo height (No millimetres are published (the mission takes the photo under Politiet's quality sheet, 'Hodet dekker ca 70% av bildet'); ICAO Doc 9303: 70 to 80 per cent)
- Background
- Bakgrunnen skal vere jamt belyst (evenly lit); no colour named, light grey is our rendering choice
- Expression
- Neutral, mouth closed, eyes open, looking at the camera
- Glasses
- Not allowed
- Head covering
- Only for religious or medical reasons; full face visible
- Photo age
- Taken within the last 6 months
- We deliver
- 827 x 1063 px (600 DPI), plus a 4 x 6 inch print sheet
What trips people up
- CheckWhere our eu/schengen-visa spec assumes you bring a photo, Norway's immigration directorate tells visa applicants not to: 'Du skal ikkje ha med eige bilde når du søker om visum, opphaldsløyve eller reisedokument. Politiet eller utanriksstasjonen tar bilde av deg når du møter opp til timen din.'
- CheckThe rule covers children too ('Dette gjeld alle, også barn'), and the picture is judged by the same quality list as a Norwegian passport photo: no glasses, no head covering without a religious or medical reason, ears and eyebrows visible, neutral expression.
- CheckIf your country has no Norwegian mission and another Schengen state's embassy or an external centre handles Norway's visas, check that office's own instructions; UDI's wording describes the Norwegian mission's procedure.
Source and verification
No national rule published; ICAO 9303 standard applies. Last checked 2026-10-07 (archived copy dated 2026-03-14) at Utlendingsdirektoratet (UDI, Norwegian Directorate of Immigration), with ICAO Doc 9303.
Du skal ikkje ha med eige bilde når du søker om visum, opphaldsløyve eller reisedokument. Politiet eller utanriksstasjonen tar bilde av deg når du møter opp til timen din. Dette gjeld alle, også barn.
Krava til bilde for visum, opphaldsløyve og reisedokument er dei same som krava til ansiktsfoto i pass og nasjonale ID-kort.
Begge auge, augebryn og øra skal vere heilt synlege.
Briller og hodeplagg* skal ikkje nyttast.
Ansiktsuttrykket skal vere nøytralt og munnen skal vere lukka.
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.
Quotes 1-5 are Norwegian (Nynorsk) from the UDI page 'Bilde/passfoto' at source.url, read from the Wayback snapshot of 2026-03-14 because udi.no answers an Azure WAF captcha to curl and to the text proxy (sources/no/udi-bilde-passfoto.txt). Quotes 6-7 are ICAO Doc 9303 Part 3 (sources/icao/, Wayback 2024-09-12). UDI publishes no millimetres; size, dpi, background and photo age are ICAO-style defaults and our rendering choices, glasses and head covering follow the UDI list. printsRequired is left undefined. The live eu/schengen-visa spec describes the general Schengen rule; this page exists because Norway's own instruction contradicts the 'bring a photo' assumption. udi.no is not matched by the validator host rule; the icao-default confidence exempts it.
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
