Zimbabwe Passport Photo (Registrar General: two colour 3.5 x 4.5 cm prints; e-passport enrolment captures the image): size and requirements
The Zimbabwe Passport Photo size is 35 x 45 mm (1.38 x 1.77 inches). Not published; white is our rendering choice; head 70 to 80 percent of the photo height. Last verified 2026-10-10 against Department of the Registrar General (Civil Registry Department), Zimbabwe - 'Passports and Temporary Documents' requirements (archived page), with the live Zimbabwe Passports Office portal civilregistry.gov.zw.
For the 'Two colour photographs (size 3.5 x 4.5cm)' the Department of the Registrar General listed for a Zimbabwean passport or Temporary Travel Document, filed at home or through a Zimbabwean embassy - the only written photo rule published, read from the department's archived site. The current e-passport portal (civilregistry.gov.zw) books you into an enrolment centre and names no photograph, so bring prints only where your office or embassy still asks. The head band is the ICAO reference. Not for a Zimbabwean e-Visa, which takes an uploaded 'Recent face picture' (separate page here).
Make the two 35 x 45 mm colour prints yourself only if your passport office or embassy still asks for them; the e-passport portal books an enrolment appointment where your image is captured and lists no photograph. See the Zimbabwe documents we can prepare.
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 ('Two colour photographs (size 3.5 x 4.5cm)' with no face measurement; ICAO Doc 9303 crown-to-chin 70 to 80 per cent of the 45 mm height applied and flagged)
- Background
- not published; white is our rendering choice
- 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
- Prints needed
- 2
- We deliver
- 413 x 531 px (300 DPI), plus a 4 x 6 inch print sheet
What trips people up
- CheckThe written rule is short: 'Two colour photographs (size 3.5 x 4.5cm)' sits in the requirements list beside the 'Original long birth certificate and photocopy', the original national identity document, marriage certificate or divorce order where applicable, citizenship certificate, previous passport and a police report for a lost or stolen passport. No background, face size, expression or age limit is published; the 70-80 per cent head band and white background here are ours.
- CheckCheck before you print: the Registrar General's old site that carried this list now answers 404 (by 2024 it was an 'UNDER CONSTRUCTION' page) and we read it from a December 2021 archive. The live 'Zimbabwe Passports Office' portal says 'Apply online for a passport. Zimbabwe Passports Office processes and tracks every request in real time, from submission to delivery.' and lists four steps - '01 Select an Enrolment center', fill the application, 'Choose an available date and time for your enrolment appointment…' and 'Proceed for enrolment' - with no photograph anywhere, so expect the centre to capture your image and bring the prints only if asked.
- CheckAbroad: 'Applicants are required to submit passport applications to the Zimbabwe Embassy in that country or the nearest Embassy in neighbouring countries.' The embassy list repeats the two 3.5 x 4.5 cm colour photographs; if there is no embassy nearby, the department advised coming home before the passport expires.
- CheckChildren under 18: a parent or legal guardian signs section 5 of the application form and shows an original ID or valid Zimbabwe passport; a guardian's proof is a High Court order; both parents deceased means death certificates.
- CheckFees on the archived page: ordinary passport $53.00, 'Urgent passport (3 working days)' $253.00, 'Express urgent passport (24 hours)' $318.00, Temporary Travel Document $38.00 - 2021 figures that the live portal does not repeat; confirm the current tariff at the centre.
Source and verification
Read from the official page. Last checked 2026-10-10 (archived copy dated 2021-12-05) at Department of the Registrar General (Civil Registry Department), Zimbabwe - 'Passports and Temporary Documents' requirements (archived page), with the live Zimbabwe Passports Office portal civilregistry.gov.zw.
Two colour photographs (size 3.5 x 4.5cm)
Original long birth certificate and photocopy
Applicants are required to submit passport applications to the Zimbabwe Embassy in that country or the nearest Embassy in neighbouring countries.
Urgent passport (3 working days)
Apply online for a passport. Zimbabwe Passports Office processes and tracks every request in real time, from submission to delivery.
01 Select an Enrolment center
Choose an available date and time for your enrolment appointment…
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 1-4 are from source.url as captured by the Wayback Machine on 2021-12-05, the last capture that carries the list (sources/zw/rg-passports-and-temporary-documents-wayback-2021.txt, tag-stripped; the 2019-04-02 and 2021-11-23 captures hold the same text, the 2024-2025 captures are an 'UNDER CONSTRUCTION' page - sources/zw/rg-passports-and-temporary-documents-wayback-2025.txt - and the live host answers 404). Quotes 5-7 are from https://www.civilregistry.gov.zw/ (sources/zw/civilregistry-home.txt, read live via r.jina.ai on 2026-10-10). Quote 8 is ICAO Doc 9303 Part 3 (sources/icao/icao-9303-part3-portrait-excerpt.txt, Wayback capture 2024-09-12) and supplies only the head band. physical 35 x 45 mm and printsRequired 2 from quote 1; eligibility 'restricted' because the live portal (quotes 5-7) names no photograph and ends in enrolment; head 0.7-0.8, background 'white', dpi 300, glasses, headCovering, neutralExpression and mouthClosed are ICAO-style defaults, not Zimbabwean figures; no maxPhotoAgeMonths is set because none is published. The 2021 fees are quoted as history, not as the current tariff.
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
