Angola Driving Licence Photo: Official Requirements and Size Guide

Getting your Angolan driving licence (carta de condução) means meeting the biometric photo standard set by INET (Instituto Nacional de Estradas e Transportes), the authority that oversees driving licence issuance in Angola. Arriving at your appointment with a precise understanding of the required framing, expression and background means the session runs smoothly — and you leave with a compliant file ready for any visa or permit application that does accept a submitted photo.

Unlike many countries where applicants hand over a printed photograph at the counter, Angola's carta de condução uses a fully digital enrolment process. Your photograph is captured live at the INET enrolment centre with a calibrated digital camera and embedded directly into the chip of the plastic driving licence card. This mirrors Angola's national white-background biometric convention — the same standard applied to the Bilhete de Identidade (national identity card). Because the photo is taken on-site by an operator, knowing the exact specification before you arrive helps you present yourself correctly on the first attempt and avoids a return visit.

• Size: 35 × 45 mm (digital equivalent: 413 × 531 px at 300 dpi)
• Background: plain white (#FFFFFF) — no patterns, shadows, gradients or off-white tones
• Face coverage: head and face must fill 70–80% of the total frame height
• Expression: neutral, mouth closed, eyes open and clearly visible, looking directly at the camera
• Glasses: not permitted — remove all spectacles and sunglasses without exception
• Head coverings: permitted only for documented religious reasons; must not cast shadows on the face or obscure any facial features
• Recency: photo must be taken within the last 6 months
• Lighting: even and diffuse — no harsh shadows across the face or behind the head

Common reasons photos are retaken at INET enrolment centres in Angola:

• Background shadow — even a faint grey halo behind the head violates the strict white-background biometric rule; INET operators check this at capture
• Glasses worn — any eyewear, including thin-framed prescription glasses, is rejected under Angola's biometric standard
• Incorrect face scale — a head height outside the 70–80% range does not meet the card-embedding specification and must be reshot
• Head tilt or rotation — the face must face the camera straight on; even a slight angle is flagged during digital capture and results in a retake

Our tool automatically crops and adjusts your uploaded photo to the exact 35 × 45 mm / 413 × 531 px specification, applies a clean white background and verifies face coverage — producing a pixel-perfect reference image that matches what INET operators see on their screens. Since the actual licence photo is taken at the enrolment centre, this reference image is your preparation guide: see exactly how you should present yourself, share it with a photographer for a rehearsal shot, and keep the compliant file ready for any visa or permit that accepts a submitted photo. Start with a free watermarked preview — no payment needed until you are ready to download.