Germany Schengen Visa Photo Requirements (Type C)

Photo size and shooting rules

This page covers the photograph for a Germany short-stay Schengen visa (Type C) — the visa for short stays. National visas (Type D) for longer stays, residence, work, or study follow a different document list on the Federal Foreign Office portal and are not covered here.

The German missions biometric photo requirements PDF fixes the format at 35×45 mm with the face at 70–80% of the image (32–36 mm chin-to-crown; photos are rejected only if the face is under 27 mm or over 40 mm). Prints should be at least 600 dpi, in colour with natural skin tones, on photo-quality paper with no creases or ink marks. The common shooting rules below are drawn from the same PDF and Schengen/ICAO guidance.

The number of prints and the exact submission steps are set by the office that accepts applications where you live. Confirm the live checklist on the official German mission page for your country of residence before you book or print.

• Recency: no more than 6 months old; must look like you today.
• Quality: colour, sharp focus, high quality, no creases or ink marks. Digital captures printed on photo-quality paper at high resolution.
• Background: plain light-coloured (a plain light grey can work if even). Avoid busy scenes and strong shadows on the face or behind the head.
• Lighting: even light, natural skin tones, appropriate brightness and contrast; no flash reflection on skin, no red-eye.
• Pose and expression: look straight at the camera; face square-on, not tilted; eyes open and not covered by hair; neutral expression, mouth closed; alone in the frame.
• Glasses: eyes fully visible; no tinted lenses; no flash reflection on the lenses; frames must not cover the eyes. Remove glasses if those conditions are hard to meet.
• Head covering: only for religious reasons, and the full face from chin to forehead and both edges of the face must still be clear.
• Editing: keep brightness and crop adjustments that do not change how you look. Avoid contour reshaping, eye or nose changes, and heavy beauty filters. The photo must remain realistic with natural skin tones.

Photos for children

Children need a photograph that meets the same quality rules: recency, a plain bright background, and the child alone in the frame. The child-specific face ranges below come from the German missions biometric photo requirements PDF (the ID-document biometric photo standard), which is the reference the German missions apply to Schengen visa photos as well. It is a national ID-document standard rather than a visa-only rule, so treat the numbers as the German missions' current requirement and re-check the PDF if it is updated.

Children aged 9 and under have a wider face range: the face takes up 50–80% of the photo, measuring 22–36 mm chin-to-crown (rejected only if under 17 mm or over 40 mm). Children aged 5 and under do not need a neutral expression, do not have to look directly at the camera, and do not have to be centred; babies under one year do not need to have their eyes open.

Fingerprint and live-photo capture rules for children (for example, that under-12s are exempt from fingerprints) are part of the application process rather than the photo specification. The office that accepts your application can confirm the current biometric procedure for children.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

These points combine the German missions photo PDF wording with general ICAO-style preparation checks.

Germany-specific risks: wrong print size (not 35×45 mm); face under 32 mm or over 36 mm; patterned or dark background; shadows on the face or behind the head; tinted or reflective glasses; head covering other than religious; tilted head or portrait-style framing; photo older than 6 months; low-resolution print under 600 dpi.

Watch for the wider child range too: a child's photo cropped to the adult 70–80% face ratio can be rejected when the 50–80% range (22–36 mm) was acceptable. Re-check the age band before you print.

• Head cut off or tilted: retake with more distance, face square-on to the camera, both edges of the face visible.
• Uneven colour, shadows, or blow-out on the background: use a plain light background and even light so the face and the back of the head stay free of hard shadows.
• Glasses glare: remove glasses if practical, or use clear lenses and lighting that shows the pupils fully.
• Old photo: replace any portrait older than six months or that no longer matches your appearance.
• Heavy beauty filters: start again from a natural image; do not change face shape or skin texture.
• Pixelated print: export a high-resolution colour file and print on photo-quality paper.