Schengen area · Visa
Schengen visa photo
There is no single Schengen photo page: every consulate publishes its own checklist, and they differ on recency (3 or 6 months) and background shade. We hold the strictest common values — 35 x 45 mm, face 70 to 80 percent of the height — and your consulate's checklist always wins.
The check is free and runs on your device. You pay only if you download the finished file — $4.99, or $6.99 with a 4 × 6 in print sheet.
The exact specification
The same numbers the checker applies — drawn from our Schengen area guide, which lists the official sources it was verified against.
- Printed size
- 1 × 35 × 45 mm
- Print rules
- Printed on photo-quality paper. Photocopies, scans and photos copied from other documents are not accepted.
- Digital file
- No online upload spec published
- Head size
- 32–36 mm chin to crown
- Background
- Plain white, off-white or light grey (France forbids pure white)
- Glasses
- Consulates differ. Germany (London) allows frames that cover no part of the eyes; Spain (Los Angeles) rules out dark or reflective lenses. Removing them is the safe choice.
- Taken within
- the last 3 months
About background editing. Consulate checklists expect an unedited photo apart from cropping.
What the free check covers
We measure
- Head size against the published window
- Eye position, where the authority sets one
- Head tilt and rotation
- Background brightness and evenness
- Sharpness and exposure
Only you can confirm
- Glasses — we can't reliably detect them, so we flag rather than pass
- Expression and mouth position
- Red eye
- Filters, retouching or AI edits made before upload
We are an independent service, not affiliated with any government. The issuing authority always makes the final decision — a pass here means your photo meets the published measurements we can check.
Common questions
Schengen visa photos follow ICAO standards and are almost always 35 x 45 mm (3.5 x 4.5 cm). German missions, for example, ask for the face to take up 70 to 80% of the photo, which is 32 to 36 mm. Check your consulate's checklist, since details can vary.