Your citizenship photo must be no more than six months old, in colour, against a neutral or light grey background, with a neutral expression, eyes open, mouth closed and hair off your face. Online, it must be a digital JPEG between 70 Kb and 3.5 Mb — a scan or a photograph of a printed photo is not accepted. On paper it must be 35–40 mm wide and 45–50 mm high. Home Affairs recommends having it taken professionally and specifically advises against phone apps and online photo services.
The photo is easy to treat as an afterthought and it is not one. Home Affairs describes it as an important part of your application that helps confirm your identity, which puts it in the same category as your birth certificate rather than the same category as a form field.
It is also rejected on specifics rather than on general impressions. A smile, a shadow, a reflection off a lens, a photo that was fine six months ago — each is enough on its own.
Have it taken professionally
The photo requirements make an unusually direct recommendation: use a professional passport photograph provider and have a digital copy emailed to you. The Australian Post Office is named specifically, or a similar provider if you are applying from outside Australia.
The Department also advises against online passport photo services and mobile apps, for two stated reasons: the images they produce may not meet its quality requirements, and you may be placing yourself at risk of identity fraud.
Asking for the digital copy by email is the part people skip, and it matters — see the file requirements below.
The specifications depend on how you lodge
Applying online
- digital JPEG format
- file size between 70 Kb and 3.5 Mb
- preferred resolution 1200 × 1600 pixels
- a scan of a photo, or a photograph of a photo, is not acceptable
That last rule catches a lot of people. Photographing your printed passport photo with a phone produces a file that looks correct and is not. This is exactly why you want the photographer to email you the original digital image.
Applying on paper
- passport-sized: 35 mm to 40 mm wide and 45 mm to 50 mm high
- the size of your face from chin to crown must be between 32 mm and 36 mm
The application form also asks for one passport-sized photograph with your full name clearly written on the back, so do not omit that step when you attach it.
What the photo must show
Quality
The photo must:
- be no more than 6 months old
- show your full face
- be good quality and in colour, taken against a neutral or light grey background that contrasts with your face
- be unedited — do not remove the background, moles, wrinkles, scars or red eyes
- be clear and focused, with no marks or red eye
- have uniform lighting with no shadows or reflections, and brightness and contrast that show natural skin tone
- have no brighter or darker areas of the face caused by lighting or exposure
The instruction not to edit is worth reading twice. Retouching that would be flattering elsewhere makes the photo non-compliant here, and removing the background is a specific prohibition rather than a stylistic preference.
Your face
- centred and looking straight at the camera, not tilted in any direction
- hair off your face, so the edges of your face are visible
- eyes open, mouth closed
- neutral expression — not smiling, laughing or frowning
Glasses
Glasses must be removed.
If you cannot remove them for medical reasons, they must be untinted (except where tinting itself is for medical reasons), the frames must not obscure your eyes, and there must be no reflection from the lenses.
One point is stated explicitly and surprises people: vision impairment alone is not an acceptable reason to wear glasses in a citizenship photo. Needing glasses to see is not a medical reason for keeping them on for the photograph.
Head coverings
If you wear a head covering for religious reasons, you can wear it in your photo. Three conditions apply:
- it must be worn so your whole face is visible from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead, without covering any facial features
- the edges of your face on either side must be visible, including the outer corner of each eye
- the covering must be plain material without any patterns
Jewellery
Jewellery must not obscure any part of your face, particularly around the eyes, mouth and nose. There must be no reflection from nose rings or studs.
Babies and young children
For infants under three years of age, a photo with an open mouth is acceptable. Every other requirement still applies, and no other person or object can be visible in the photo — no parent's hands, no toy, no supporting cushion in frame.
That combination is genuinely hard to achieve at home, which is another argument for a professional provider used to photographing infants.
The problems that cause most rejections
A photo older than six months. The rule is absolute, and a photo taken for a passport application two years ago does not qualify no matter how little you have changed.
A scan or phone photo of a print. Non-compliant for online lodgement, and easy to do accidentally.
A slight smile. Neutral means neutral. This is the most common single fault.
Reflections on glasses, in the cases where glasses are worn at all.
A background that does not contrast. A light grey background against light hair or pale clothing can fail even though the background colour itself is correct.
Hair across the edge of the face. The requirement is that the edges of your face are visible, which a fringe or loose hair can defeat.
Shadows. Usually from overhead lighting or from standing too close to a wall.
Where this fits in the application
Your photograph is one part of the identity evidence, which also requires documents establishing your birth name, date of birth and gender, your signature and your current residential address. A photo that is rejected holds up the identity assessment, and Home Affairs cannot approve an application if it is not satisfied of your identity — so this is not a small administrative detail.
If you are including dependent children, a photograph is required for each of them as well.
Before you lodge
Get the photo taken professionally, ask for the digital file by email, and check it against the list above before you upload it — particularly the expression, the glasses and whether you are uploading the original file rather than a scan.
Our guides to applying for citizenship after permanent residence and to application costs and fees cover the rest of the lodgement process, and the conferral requirements and application form set out the full document list.
Home Affairs publishes these specifications and can change them, so check the current official photo requirements before having the photograph taken.