Somalia Driving Licence Photo — Compliant 35×45 mm

Driving licences in Somalia are issued by local traffic police departments and regional transport authorities — there is no single national driver-licence bureau that publishes formal photo requirements. The accepted standard across all Somali offices is the international passport-photo format: 35×45 mm on a plain white background, the specification that consistently results in first-submission acceptance at every issuing office in the country.

Unlike countries with a centralised licensing agency that publishes exact photographic guidelines online, Somalia's decentralised system means the standard has been established through consistent practice rather than a single gazetted regulation. Traffic police offices and transport authorities from Mogadishu to Hargeisa all work with the 35×45 mm white-background format because it matches international norms that officials recognise on sight. This matters in practice: local transport offices in Somalia often operate on restricted schedules, meaning a rejected photo requires another visit — not a quick online resubmission.

• Photo dimensions: 35×45 mm (digital: 827×1063 px at 600 dpi)
• Background: plain white (#FFFFFF) — uniform, no shadows, no patterns
• Face coverage: 70–80% of the total frame height
• Expression: neutral, mouth closed, both eyes open and clearly visible
• Glasses: not permitted under any circumstances
• Headwear: not permitted, except for religious headcovering worn daily — must not cover any part of the face
• Recency: taken within the last 6 months
• Head position: centred, upright, not tilted or turned

Common reasons driving licence photos are rejected in Somalia:

• Off-white or tinted background: cream, beige, light grey, or any shade that deviates from pure white is the leading rejection cause at Somali traffic offices — the background must be true white.
• Face too small or partially cropped: the 70–80% face-height rule is actively enforced; any photo where the crown of the head or the chin is cut off will not be accepted.
• Glasses worn: even clear, non-tinted prescription glasses are not permitted — spectacles of any kind in the photo result in rejection.
• Shadows on face or background: photos taken indoors without adequate lighting frequently carry shadows that make them unacceptable, a particularly common problem with informal home photography.

Upload any recent photo — it will be automatically prepared to the exact 35×45 mm white-background standard that Somali traffic authorities expect. You receive a free watermarked preview before any payment, so you can verify the result yourself with confidence. If the photo is ever rejected after submission, we will redo it at no charge or issue a full refund. You pay only for the final file you are satisfied with.