Mauritania National ID Card Photo — Official ANRPTS Requirements

A correctly prepared photo is the single most controllable part of your Mauritania national ID card application. The card is issued by the Agence Nationale du Registre des Populations et des Titres Sécurisés (ANRPTS), which applies an ICAO-conformant biometric facial-image standard — the same specification used for the Mauritanian biometric passport. Submit a photo built to that standard and your file proceeds without delay.

One important feature of the Mauritanian ID process: ANRPTS conducts biometric enrolment in person at its offices, capturing a live facial scan during the appointment. However, applicants must still present a printed photograph. Because both the printed photo and the on-site capture are cross-referenced against identical ICAO facial-geometry rules — head proportion, background luminance, shadow absence — any deviation in the submitted print is detected immediately and the application is returned. Since the ID card and the biometric passport share the same standard, a photo prepared correctly for one is also valid for the other. Getting it right the first time means avoiding a return trip to the ANRPTS office.

• Dimensions: 35 × 45 mm (digital file: 827 × 1063 px at 600 dpi)
• Background: plain white (#FFFFFF) — no patterns, gradients, texture, or shadow
• Face coverage: crown to chin must fill 70–80% of the frame height
• Expression: neutral, mouth closed, both eyes open and clearly visible
• Glasses: not permitted under any circumstances
• Headwear: religious headwear only, provided it does not obscure the face or cast shadows on facial features
• Recency: taken within the last six months
• Print quality: sharp focus, even lighting, no pixelation, no ink marks or creases

Common reasons photos are rejected at ANRPTS:

• Non-white background — cream, light grey, or textured backgrounds fail the biometric scan; the background must be pure white (#FFFFFF), not merely pale
• Head proportion outside the 70–80% range — because ANRPTS cross-checks printed photos against ICAO facial geometry, a head filling less than 70% or more than 80% of frame height is flagged automatically at the counter
• Glasses present — even clear, non-tinted frames are disqualifying; the rule carries no exceptions under the ANRPTS standard
• Shadows on the face or background — home and studio lighting that produces a gradient across the background, or shadow under the chin and around the nose, is a leading cause of rejection and a direct consequence of non-ICAO lighting geometry

Upload your own photo and it is automatically cropped and sized to the exact 35 × 45 mm ANRPTS specification — no manual measuring required. You receive a free watermarked preview before paying anything, so you can check the framing yourself. If the printed photo is ever rejected at an ANRPTS office, we will redo it at no charge or issue a full refund. You pay only when you are satisfied with the result.