Slovakia Passport Photo: Official Size, Requirements and How to Prepare
Everything you need to know about the Slovak biometric passport photo standard — exact dimensions, background, and what to expect at the police document office.
This photo must be taken by an accredited service
For this document, Slovakia 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 Slovakia photos online:
A document photo is a headache of its own
A Slovakia 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
Getting a compliant photo ready for your Slovak passport means walking into the police document office — oddelenie dokladov of the Slovak Police (PZ) — knowing exactly what a correct photo looks like. The Slovak biometric passport is governed by the standards of the Slovak Ministry of Interior, and the reference dimensions are 30×35 mm (709×827 px) with the face occupying 70–80% of the frame height from chin to crown.
One important fact that distinguishes Slovakia from many other countries: applicants do not bring a physical or digital photo to the passport appointment. The biometric photograph is captured digitally on-site by the officer at the police document department. This means the image is taken under controlled lighting and against a standardised background right at the counter. What you can do — and what makes a real difference — is arrive knowing precisely what a compliant photo must look like, so the session goes smoothly and the image is accepted without a retake.
- Size: 30×35 mm (digital equivalent 709×827 px at 600 dpi)
- Background: plain white or very light — hex #FFFFFF; no shadows, no gradients
- Face coverage: chin to crown must fill 70–80% of the total frame height
- Expression: neutral, relaxed; mouth closed, no smile
- Eyes: both eyes open, clearly visible, looking directly at the camera
- Glasses: not permitted — must be removed for the photo
- Head covering: only permitted for documented religious reasons; face must remain fully visible
- Recency: the on-site capture is by definition current, but any reference image you prepare should be taken within the last 6 months
- Lighting: even, no harsh shadows across the face or background
- Common reasons the on-site capture may need to be retaken in Slovakia:
- Glasses worn during capture — Slovak regulations explicitly prohibit eyewear, including lightly tinted frames; officers will ask you to remove them
- Non-neutral expression — even a slight smile or raised eyebrows causes the biometric check to fail; a relaxed, mouth-closed look is required
- Head tilt or rotation — the face must be centred and level; any tilt causes the chin-to-crown measurement to fall outside the 70–80% threshold
- Improper head covering — fashion hats, caps or scarves are not permitted; only head coverings worn for verified religious observance are accepted
Our tool prepares a perfectly standard-compliant 30×35 mm reference image from your own photo — automatically cropped to the exact Slovak official standard, with the correct white background and face proportion. You can use this reference image to see precisely how a compliant photo must look before your appointment, and it is fully ready to submit for other Slovak and Schengen documents or visas that do accept photographs from the applicant. Try a free watermarked preview before downloading — so you can verify the result with complete confidence.
What an accepted Passport photo looks like
Slovakia · 30 × 35 mm. Tap any requirement to see what it means on a real photo.
- Size
- 30 × 35 mm · 709 × 827 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 30 × 35 mm and the digital file is 709 × 827 px.
Official requirements source: minv.sk
Requirements verified: 08.2026
How to take a good photo
The most common reasons a Slovakia 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 Slovakia Passport photos
Do I need to bring a passport photo to the Slovak passport office?
What is the official photo size for a Slovak passport?
What background colour is required for a Slovak passport photo?
Are glasses allowed in a Slovak passport photo?
If the photo is taken at the office, what is the reference image useful for?
Can I wear a head covering in a Slovak passport 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.