Central African Republic Work Permit Photo — Exact 40×40 mm Official Standard

The Central African Republic work permit — formally the autorisation de travail, issued by the Ministry of Labour — requires a colour photograph that meets the country's official national photo standard. Submitting the correct photo from the outset is the single most reliable way to avoid delays in your work authorisation process.

The CAR applies a unified square 4×4 cm format across its key official documents, and the work permit is no exception. Unlike the rectangular formats common in European and North American documents, this square crop demands precise vertical centring: the face must fill 70–80% of the frame height, with balanced space above the crown and below the chin. Ministry of Labour clerks review these dimensions closely and will reject any photograph where the proportions fall outside this range — even marginally. Equally important is the background: the standard requires a strict, pure white (#FFFFFF). Off-white, cream, or any warm-toned background is treated as non-compliant, regardless of how close it appears to the eye.

• Size: 40×40 mm (945×945 px for digital submission)
• Background: plain white (#FFFFFF) — no shadows, gradients, or patterns
• Face coverage: 70–80% of the frame height, face centred
• Expression: neutral, mouth closed, eyes fully open and looking directly at the camera
• Glasses: not permitted under any circumstances
• Headwear: permitted only for documented religious reasons; must not obscure any facial feature
• Recency: taken within the last 6 months
• Colour photograph — black-and-white prints are not accepted

Common reasons photos are rejected in the Central African Republic

• Background is not pure white — a cream, grey, or off-white shade is flagged as non-compliant even when it looks nearly white on screen
• Face proportion outside the 70–80% range — too much empty space above the head is the most frequent applicant error with the square format
• Glasses present in the photo — the Ministry of Labour does not grant exceptions to the no-glasses rule
• Shadow cast on the background or across the face — a common result of direct flash at close range that causes instant rejection on printed submissions

Upload your own photo and it is automatically prepared to the exact Ministry of Labour specification — cropped to 40×40 mm, background corrected to pure white, and face proportion verified. You receive a free watermarked preview before any payment, so you can confirm the result before you commit. Every photo comes with an acceptance guarantee: if the autorisation de travail office rejects the photo, we redo it at no cost — or issue a full refund. You pay only for the final file you are confident will be accepted.