Niger Residence Card Photo — Exact DST Standard

Getting your Niger residence permit — the carte de séjour — approved starts with a photograph that meets the precise standard set by the Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire (DST), the national authority responsible for border control and foreign residency in Niger. A non-compliant photo means your full application package is handed back at the counter, forcing a return visit and delaying your permit.

Niger's DST processes carte de séjour applications at in-person counters where trained officers compare each submitted photo against biometric parameters by hand — not by automated digital scanner. This makes physical precision especially important. The required format is a 35×45 mm white-background biometric photo aligned with international identity document norms. A detail that catches many applicants off guard: the white background must be absolutely pure (#FFFFFF) — any grey shadow cast behind the head, even from natural lighting during the photo session, is a standard grounds for rejection on the spot. The background must show no gradients, tints, or objects of any kind.

• Size: 35×45 mm (digital equivalent: 827×1063 px at 600 dpi)
• Background: pure white (#FFFFFF) — no shadows, gradients, or colour variation
• Face coverage: 70–80% of the total frame height
• Expression: neutral, mouth firmly closed, no smile
• Eyes: fully open, looking directly into the camera
• Glasses: not permitted under any circumstances, including clear or lightly tinted frames
• Headwear: permitted only for documented religious reasons; the full face from chin to top of forehead must remain completely visible
• Recency: taken within the last 6 months
• Print quality: sharp focus, even lighting, no red-eye, no pixelation

Common reasons photos are rejected at Niger's DST office:

• Background is not pure white — even a faint grey shadow behind the head is enough for rejection at the intake desk
• Glasses present in the photo — any frames, including thin metal or transparent ones, are not accepted regardless of lens type
• Face coverage outside the 70–80% range — a head that appears too small in the frame and one that is cropped too tightly are both refused on the same grounds
• Non-neutral expression — a partial smile, raised eyebrows, or a slightly open mouth causes the photo to fail the intake check immediately

Upload your photo to our service and it is automatically cropped, resized, and colour-corrected to the exact 35×45 mm DST-required standard — no measuring, no guesswork. You receive a free watermarked preview before any payment is taken. If the DST office rejects your photo despite meeting the standard, we redo it free of charge or issue a full refund. You pay only for the finished file, and only when you are satisfied it is correct.