New Zealand passport photo — 35 × 45 mm prints for paper forms, and the 3:4 rule for online applications

A New Zealand passport photo depends on how you apply. Online, you upload a colour JPEG with a 3:4 aspect ratio, 900–4,500 pixels wide and 1,200–6,000 pixels high, 250 KB to 5 MB, taken less than six months ago by someone other than you. On paper, you send two identical colour prints, 35 mm × 45 mm, with your head and hair filling 80% of the photo’s height, on a plain light background that is not white. This tool makes the paper prints. For the online upload you crop your own original photo to 3:4 instead, for the reason explained further down.

Which photo your application needs

The details of printed photos are not on the website. They are in the guide notes of the paper forms (PAS310, PAS300 and PAS305, all last updated 13 August 2026).

The official requirements

Taking the picture

DIA’s own videos give practical advice that suits both routes. Ask a friend or whānau member to take it. Stand about half a metre from a pale wall; pale blues, greys and creams work better than white. Have the photographer stand about 1.5 metres away with the camera at eye level, and keep the light behind and above them rather than directly over your head, to avoid shadows. Taking it from too close distorts the face, making the nose and forehead look bigger and hiding the ears, so step back and crop later. Your expression should be neutral, mouth closed, eyes open and hair away from your face.

Making paper prints with this page

1. Choose the photo. Photo type is already set to New Zealand passport — 35 × 45 mm (paper application).
2. Keep Show face-position guides ticked. The yellow line marks the top of your hair, about 3.8 mm from the top edge. Your chin goes in the blue band, about 39.3–40.3 mm down, so your head measures 35.5–36.5 mm, the 80% rule with a millimetre of tolerance for hand placement.
3. Adjust Zoom, Horizontal position and Vertical position until the face is centred on the vertical line with a clear gap at both sides.
4. Leave Background on Keep the original. The paper rules ask for a true image, not altered in any way, so fix the wall rather than the file.
5. Choose a Print sheet option and press Make passport photos.

The download holds a 413 × 531 pixel photo at 300 DPI and a 4 × 6 inch sheet of eight photos, four across and two down, 2 mm apart. Because DIA rules out inkjet printers and matte paper, have the sheet printed at a photo lab on glossy photo paper, at actual size. Check that one photo measures 35 × 45 mm, then cut out two.

For an online application

This tool’s 35 × 45 mm crop does not suit the online service. That shape is 7:9 rather than 3:4, and at 300 DPI it is only 413 × 531 pixels, well under the 900 × 1,200 minimum. Stretching or enlarging it would only soften the picture. DIA’s phone guides show the simpler route:

1. Open the original photo in your phone’s editor, choose crop, and set the aspect ratio to 3:4.
2. Keep your face in the middle with space around your head and under your chin, without cutting off hair or ears.
3. When emailing the photo to yourself, choose Actual Size so the phone does not shrink it.
4. Upload it to DIA’s online photo checker before you apply. The checker keeps the photo for 14 days, and an accepted photo may fail to upload if you change it afterwards. A passport officer still assesses it with your application.

On a computer, Image Cropper can do the same crop with Custom rectangle (pixels), for example 2,400 × 3,200 pixels from a 12-megapixel photo.

What this tool cannot check

• It cannot find your face. The guides are fixed lines; you place your head yourself.
• It cannot judge the photo, so focus, shadows, contrast, glare on glasses, red-eye and expression are left to you.
• It cannot make the decision. DIA says an application may be delayed if the photo does not meet the rules, and only a passport officer can approve it.

Why photos are refused

The examples in the guide notes and the advice on DIA’s website point to the same problems again and again: not facing the camera straight on, a smile or frown, shadows on the face or behind the head, a background that is too dark, uneven light, reflections in lenses, frames hiding the eyes, tinted lenses, and part of the face covered. For children, the child form adds closed eyes with the head too big in the frame, hands over the face, a parent’s hand or a person in the background, a blanket over the face, a hat, sunglasses resting on the head, and hair across the eyes.

For other countries, the Passport Photo Maker has every preset, the Australia passport photo page explains the neighbouring rules, and HEIC to JPG converts iPhone photos before you upload them.