Iceland Passport Photo: Exact ICAO Standard, Done Right
Get a perfectly compliant 35x45 mm Iceland passport photo reference that matches the syslumaður standard, with the correct head size, white background and neutral pose.
This photo must be taken by an accredited service
For this document, Iceland 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 Iceland photos online:
A document photo is a headache of its own
A Iceland Passport 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 Passport photo: what matters
An Iceland passport photo must meet the strict ICAO/Schengen biometric standard enforced by the syslumaður (district commissioner), the authority that issues Icelandic passports. Our tool prepares your picture to the exact official specification, so you can see precisely how a compliant photo should look before your appointment.
The key peculiarity in Iceland: the passport photo cannot simply be uploaded by you. The image must be sent digitally and directly to the syslumaður by the photographer through a secure channel, which is why a downloaded or home-made photo is generally not accepted for the actual application. Iceland is also unusually strict on geometry: the head should measure roughly 34.5 mm from chin to crown, leaving only about a 3 mm margin above the top of the head. This tight tolerance is the single most common reason ordinary snapshots fail.
- Size: 35x45 mm (827x1063 px at print resolution)
- Background: plain pure white (#FFFFFF) or light grey, evenly lit
- Face height: the face must fill 70-80% of the frame
- Expression: frontal, neutral, mouth closed, no smile, both eyes open
- Glasses: not allowed
- Headwear: none, except worn daily for religious reasons
- Recency: taken within the last 6 months and resembling your current appearance
- Common reasons photos are rejected in Iceland:
- Head too large or too small in the frame, breaking the ~34.5 mm chin-to-crown rule or the ~3 mm top margin
- Glasses worn, or reflections and glare on the lenses
- Background that is off-white, shadowed or coloured instead of clean white/light grey
- A faint smile, open mouth or tilted head instead of a fully neutral frontal pose
To get your image, upload any clear front-facing photo and it will be automatically cropped and formatted to the exact Icelandic standard. Please note honestly: because the syslumaður now requires the photo to be captured and transmitted digitally on-site by a registered photographer, a self-supplied file is normally not accepted for the final submission. Use this tool to prepare a flawless reference image, to check your framing and pose before the appointment, or for other uses where a standard-format photo is helpful, then have the official picture taken by an approved photographer.
What an accepted Passport photo looks like
Iceland · 35 × 45 mm. Tap any requirement to see what it means on a real photo.
- Size
- 35 × 45 mm · 827 × 1063 px
- Background
- White plain
- Head in frame
- 70–80%
- Glasses
- Not allowed
- Facial expression
- Neutral, mouth closed
- Headwear
- Only for religious reasons
- File
- JPG · ≤ 2 MB
Print size is 35 × 45 mm and the digital file is 827 × 1063 px.
Official requirements source: syslumenn.is, island.is
Requirements verified: 08.2026
How to take a good photo
The most common reasons a Iceland Passport 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 Iceland Passport photos
What size is an Iceland passport photo?
Can I submit a self-made or downloaded photo for an Iceland passport?
Are glasses allowed in an Iceland passport photo?
What background colour is required?
How big should my head appear in the photo?
Can I smile 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.