Timor-Leste National ID Card Photo — Exact Requirements & Compliant Photo in Minutes

Getting your photo right the first time is the fastest route through Timor-Leste's civil registration process. The Bilhete de Identidade — Timor-Leste's national identity card issued through the Ministry of Justice's civil registration directorate (Conservatória do Registo Civil) — requires a photo that conforms to the same biometric standard applied to East Timorese passports: 35×45 mm, pure white background, face covering 70–80 % of the frame height. Submitting a non-compliant photo means an extra trip to the registration office, added delays, and potentially rescheduled appointments in a country where civil registration offices may be concentrated in larger urban centres like Dili.

One detail worth knowing before you prepare your photo: Timor-Leste's national ID spec mirrors the ICAO-aligned passport standard — white background only (#FFFFFF), with no off-white, cream, or light-grey substitutes accepted. This matters because smartphone cameras often introduce a warm cast on plain walls, making what looks white on-screen appear faintly ivory in the printed submission. The photo must also have been taken within the last six months, reflecting your current appearance. Glasses of any kind — including prescription lenses — are not permitted, a requirement that catches many applicants off guard if they wear glasses daily.

• Size: 35 × 45 mm (digital equivalent: 827 × 1063 px at 600 dpi)
• Background: Plain white (#FFFFFF) — no shadows, no gradients
• Face coverage: Head height (crown to chin) must fill 70–80 % of the total frame height
• Expression: Neutral, relaxed — mouth closed, no smile
• Eyes: Fully open, looking directly at the camera, no red-eye
• Glasses: Not allowed under any circumstances
• Headwear: Permitted only for verified religious observance; must not cover the face or cast shadows
• Recency: Photo must be taken within the past six months
• Print quality: High-resolution, sharp focus, even lighting — no pixelation or blurring

• Warm or off-white background: Indoor shots against painted walls frequently pick up a warm tone that registers as non-white under office scrutiny — the most common reason for rejection in practice.
• Glasses left on: Any eyewear, including thin-frame prescription glasses, will cause an automatic rejection since Timor-Leste follows the no-glasses rule strictly.
• Head too small or too large: The 70–80 % face-to-frame ratio is checked on-site; a photo taken too far from the subject (face below 70 %) or cropped too tight (face above 80 %) will not be accepted.
• Shadows on face or background: Uneven home lighting creates shadows behind the head or across the face — both are grounds for rejection even if the background colour is technically white.

To get your compliant photo: upload any clear, recent picture of yourself, and it will be automatically cropped, resized, and colour-corrected to the exact 35×45 mm Bilhete de Identidade standard — white background, correct head coverage, print-ready resolution. You receive a free watermarked preview before paying a single cent, so you can verify the result yourself. And if for any reason the photo is rejected at the civil registration office, it will be redone at no charge or fully refunded. You only pay for the final file — confident, risk-free, and ready for your first submission.