Costa Rica Residence Card (DIMEX) Photo: The Exact Standard, Made Simple
Learn precisely how a compliant Costa Rica DIMEX residence card photo must look — exact size, white background and face framing — and why this document is captured live at your appointment.
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 Residence card 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 Residence card photo: what matters
Getting your Costa Rica residence card (DIMEX) photo right means matching the national identity-photo standard used by the Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (DGME). The DIMEX card is issued by DGME and physically produced through RACSA's VES system, the same secure infrastructure behind Costa Rica's national ID. Because of this, the photo follows strict, ID-grade rules: a clean white background, precise dimensions and tightly controlled head framing.
Here is the most important peculiarity you must know before your appointment. For the DIMEX, the photo and biometrics are captured live, on-site, at the moment of your appointment — not supplied by you. DGME and RACSA's VES capture your image digitally so it can be bound securely to the card and your biometric record. This is why a photo you take or download at home is generally not accepted for submission: the system itself records the official image. The size and format below are inferred from Costa Rica's national ID photo standard, so they represent exactly how your captured image will be composed.
The compliant DIMEX photo specification:
- Size: 40x45 mm (472x531 px)
- Background: pure white (#FFFFFF), even and shadow-free
- Face height: the face fills 70-80% of the frame height
- Expression: neutral, mouth closed, eyes open and visible
- Glasses: not allowed
- Headwear: forbidden (no hats, caps or non-religious coverings)
- Recency: a current likeness taken within the last 6 months
Common reasons Costa Rica DIMEX photos fail the standard:
- Wearing glasses — even clear lenses cause reflections or obscure the eyes and are rejected outright
- Off-white or tinted background — cream, grey or shadowed walls break the #FFFFFF requirement
- Incorrect head size — a face below 70% or above 80% of the frame fails the framing rule
- Non-neutral expression — smiling, an open mouth or tilted head invalidates the biometric capture
Because the DIMEX image is recorded on-site, our tool does not replace that official capture — and we make no acceptance promise for this document. Instead, it instantly prepares a perfectly standard-compliant reference photo from your own picture, automatically cropped to the exact 40x45 mm framing. Use it to see precisely how a compliant image must look, to arrive at your DGME appointment prepared and confident, or for any other personal use where you need an ID-grade portrait.
What an accepted Residence card 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: migracion.go.cr, racsa.go.cr
Requirements verified: 08.2026
How to take a good photo
The most common reasons a Costa Rica Residence card 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 Residence card photos
What size must a Costa Rica DIMEX residence card photo be?
Can I submit my own photo for the DIMEX residence card?
Are glasses allowed in a Costa Rica residence card photo?
How much of the frame should my face fill?
Who issues and produces the Costa Rica DIMEX card?
Is headwear allowed in the photo?
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.