Ivory Coast National ID Card (CNI) Photo: The Exact ONECI Standard
Get a perfectly compliant 35x45 mm reference image for the Ivorian CNI, built to the exact ONECI standard so you arrive at your enrollment appointment fully prepared.
This photo must be taken by an accredited service
For this document, Ivory Coast 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 Ivory Coast photos online:
A document photo is a headache of its own
A Ivory Coast National ID 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 National ID card photo: what matters
Preparing for an Ivorian National ID card (Carte Nationale d'Identité, CNI) starts with knowing exactly how a compliant photo must look. The governing authority is ONECI (Office National de l'État Civil et de l'Identification), and the national reference standard is a 35x45 mm portrait on a pure white background with a neutral face. Our tool prepares an image cropped to that precise specification so you can see, down to the millimetre, what the standard actually requires.
There is one crucial peculiarity that sets the Ivorian CNI apart from most passport-photo services. ONECI does not accept self-supplied photographs. When you apply, you enroll in person at an ONECI agency, where your photo, fingerprints and signature are all captured biometrically and digitally on-site by the operator. The portrait that ends up on your card is taken live at the counter, linked directly to your biometric record. This is a deliberate anti-fraud measure: a photo you bring from home or download simply cannot be loaded into the secure enrollment system.
The national standard your live capture must satisfy:
- Size: 35x45 mm (827x1063 px at print resolution)
- Background: plain pure white (#FFFFFF), evenly lit, no shadows
- Face size: head fills roughly 70-80% of the frame height
- Expression: neutral, mouth closed, eyes open and looking at the camera
- Glasses: not allowed
- Headwear: forbidden (no hats, caps or non-religious head coverings)
- Recency: the capture reflects your current appearance (within the last 6 months)
- Common reasons photos are rejected in Ivory Coast:
- Bringing your own photo — ONECI enrollment is live and on-site, so a home-made or studio print cannot be submitted at all
- Wearing glasses at the counter, which causes glare and obscures the eyes
- Non-neutral expression — smiling or an open mouth fails the biometric template
- Headwear or hair covering the face or eyebrows, which breaks facial recognition matching
Because the official photo is captured at the ONECI agency, the honest position is this: a downloaded or self-made image is generally not accepted for the CNI itself. What our tool gives you is a perfectly standard-compliant reference image — so you can check exactly how a compliant portrait should look, prepare your appearance before the appointment (hair, clothing, neutral expression, no glasses), or use the photo for other personal needs. Treat it as your preparation guide, not a submission file, and you'll walk into your enrollment knowing precisely what the operator's camera needs to see.
What an accepted National ID card photo looks like
Ivory Coast · 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
- Not allowed
- File
- JPG · ≤ 2 MB
Print size is 35 × 45 mm and the digital file is 827 × 1063 px.
Official requirements source: oneci.ci
Requirements verified: 08.2026
How to take a good photo
The most common reasons a Ivory Coast National ID 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 Ivory Coast National ID card photos
Can I use a self-made or downloaded photo for the Ivorian CNI?
What are the exact photo dimensions for the Ivory Coast ID card?
Who issues the National ID card in Ivory Coast?
Can I wear glasses in my Ivorian CNI photo?
What does the enrollment process involve?
What background colour is required?
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.