South Sudan Residence Card Photo — Official Requirements and How to Get It Right

Getting your residence permit in South Sudan means submitting your application directly to the Directorate of Nationality, Passports and Immigration under the Ministry of Interior in Juba. A non-compliant photograph is one of the most common reasons an application stalls at the counter. The required standard is a 35×45 mm portrait on a plain white background — the same passport-size convention used internationally — and officials check it before your paperwork is processed.

South Sudan's immigration authority follows the international passport-size photo standard, and applicants typically submit two identical photographs alongside their residence permit documents. Because the process is centralised and handled in person at the Directorate in Juba, any photo returned for correction creates real delays — you lose your place in the queue and must reappear. The 35×45 mm white-background standard leaves no room for approximation: a cream or off-white background, a face that sits too low in the frame, or a shadow across the chin are all sufficient grounds for the photo to be refused on the spot.

• Photo size: 35×45 mm (digital equivalent: 827×1063 px)
• Background: plain white (#FFFFFF) — no shadows, gradients, or patterns
• Face coverage: your face must fill 70–80% of the total photo height
• Expression: neutral and relaxed, mouth firmly closed
• Glasses: not permitted in any form, including clear prescription lenses
• Headwear: only allowed for verified religious reasons; must not obscure any facial feature
• Recency: the photo must have been taken within the last six months
• Eyes: fully open, looking directly into the camera
• Editing: no filters, retouching, or digital colour alterations permitted

Common reasons photos are rejected in South Sudan:

• Background not pure white — any shade of cream, ivory, or grey fails the strict #FFFFFF requirement. Natural window light often produces a grey cast on the background; a controlled, evenly lit neutral backdrop is essential.
• Face too small or too large in the frame — the 70–80% face-height rule is a hard boundary. A photo taken from arm's length or, conversely, cropped too tightly around the head will be returned.
• Glasses worn in the photo — even thin-framed or clear-lens spectacles are grounds for refusal. All eyewear must be removed before the photo is taken.
• Shadows across the face or background — a frequent issue with phone photography or home setups; the background must appear uniformly white with no directional shadow cast by the subject.

Upload a clear, forward-facing photo and it is automatically prepared to the exact 35×45 mm standard required by South Sudan's Directorate of Nationality, Passports and Immigration — correct dimensions, white background, and proper face positioning, with no trip to a photo studio needed. You receive a free watermarked preview before any payment, so you can check the result yourself. If the authority ever rejects the submitted photo, we redo it at no cost or issue a full refund. Pay only once you are satisfied with the final file.