Costa Rica Driving Licence Photo: The Exact Official Standard
Learn the precise COSEVI/MOPT photo standard for a Costa Rican licencia de conducir, and understand why the picture is now captured live at the office.
This photo must be taken by an accredited service
For this document, Costa Rica does not accept a self-prepared photo. By law it must be captured on site by an authorised service and submitted electronically, so we cannot produce a submittable file for it. The official specification is shown below so you know exactly what to expect at your appointment.
This photo is captured on site — but we can make your Costa Rica photos online:
A document photo is a headache of its own
A Costa Rica Driving licence photo has strict requirements, and a mistake costs time and money. We’ll show you how to pass on the first try.
It gets rejected
Wrong size, background or cropping — and the system returns the application.
Expensive and slow
A trip to a photo studio means a queue, time and €7–12 for a reshoot.
Confusing requirements
Exact size, head height, light background, facial expression — easy to get wrong.
Redo it all over
Rejected — take another photo, pay and submit again. Round and round.
«Below are the exact requirements from the official source, so you arrive at your appointment prepared.»
Ordinary photo → ready for submission
We remove the background and clutter, set the framing and lighting — keeping your face without «beautifying».
Your face stays yours — we do not change features, only the background, lighting and framing.
Your Driving licence photo: what matters
Getting the photo right for a Costa Rican licencia de conducir means matching the exact standard used by COSEVI/MOPT, the authorities responsible for issuing driving licences in Costa Rica. The official portrait must be a sharp, front-facing headshot on a clean white background, with the face filling most of the frame so that biometric features read clearly on the printed card.
There is one peculiarity that sets Costa Rica apart from most countries: you do not bring a printed photo to your appointment. Since licence processing moved to the BCR (Banco de Costa Rica) service windows, the portrait is captured digitally on the spot, on the day of your cita, by the operator at the counter. This live capture is now mandatory, and it is why a downloaded or self-made image is generally not accepted for submission. You will also need a valid cedula or DIMEX and a current medical certificate (dictamen medico) before the photo step.
The official specification COSEVI applies to the portrait:
- Size: 40x45 mm (472x531 px)
- Background: plain white (#FFFFFF)
- Face height: fills 70-80% of the frame
- Expression: neutral, mouth closed, eyes open
- Glasses: not allowed
- Headwear: forbidden (no hats, caps or hoods)
- Recency: must reflect your current appearance (taken within the last 6 months)
- Common reasons photos are rejected in Costa Rica:
- Wearing glasses or tinted lenses, which obscure the eyes and cause glare
- A coloured, grey or shadowed background instead of pure white
- A smile or open mouth instead of a neutral expression
- The face too small or off-centre, falling outside the 70-80% height range
Because the official portrait for this licence is captured live at the BCR window, a photo you prepare yourself cannot be uploaded in your place. What you can do is generate a perfectly standard-compliant reference image: our tool automatically crops your own picture to the exact 40x45 mm COSEVI format on a white background, so you can see precisely how a compliant portrait should look, fix your appearance before the cita, or use the image for other purposes. Arrive groomed, without glasses, calm and neutral, and the live capture at the counter will go smoothly.
What an accepted Driving licence photo looks like
Costa Rica · 40 × 45 mm. Tap any requirement to see what it means on a real photo.
- Size
- 40 × 45 mm · 472 × 531 px
- Background
- White plain
- Head in frame
- 70–80%
- Glasses
- Not allowed
- Facial expression
- Neutral, mouth closed
- Headwear
- Not allowed
- File
- JPG · ≤ 2 MB
Print size is 40 × 45 mm and the digital file is 472 × 531 px.
Official requirements source: bcrcita.bancobcr.com, superprof.cr
Requirements verified: 08.2026
How to take a good photo
The most common reasons a Costa Rica Driving licence photo gets rejected — and how to avoid them. Compare good and bad shots.
1Format and freshness
A color photo taken no more than 6 months ago.
2Lighting and background
Even light with no shadows on the face; a plain light background, without glare.
3Head position
Face head-on, head centered, no tilt or turn.
4Facial expression
Neutral, mouth closed, eyes open and looking at the camera.
5Glasses and accessories
No glasses (especially sunglasses); eyes fully visible, without glare.
6Headwear
Only for religious reasons and not covering the face — the face fully visible.
7Clothing
Ordinary everyday clothes; no uniforms or face-covering clothing.
Common questions about Costa Rica Driving licence photos
Can I bring my own photo to the driving licence appointment?
What size and background does the COSEVI photo require?
Are glasses allowed in a Costa Rica driving licence photo?
What documents do I need besides the photo?
What expression should I have?
Then why use this tool at all?
Your photo is protected
A photo is personal data, so we handle it carefully and in line with GDPR. We process it only to prepare the document and delete it within clear deadlines.
- Only with consentWe process the photo only after your explicit consent before upload.
- Auto-deletionWe delete the source photo within a day, the ready file after 7 days.
- No sharing with third partiesYour photos are not sold or used to train any third-party systems.
- Deletion on requestYou can ask to delete your data at any time — with a single request.