Germany: photo and document formats

35 × 45 mm printed photo size for missions abroad, why there is no upload preset, and the consular portal upload limit.

Passport and ID photo requirements

Passport: Printed photo, 35 × 45 mm (paper route, for example at missions abroad)

PrintedAdult

Size: 35 × 45 mm413 × 531 px at 300 DPI
Head: The face (chin to top of head) fills 70–80 % of the photo height; the optimal face height is 32–36 mm.
Background: Monochrome, shadow-free, clear contrast to face and hair; light grey preferred.

Frontal, neutral expression, mouth closed, eyes open and clearly visible; head straight.
Printed photos still apply at German missions abroad: the embassy in Bern FAQ says the cloud-based photo route is not offered outside Germany. That page shows no date, so check your own mission.
For applications inside Germany, a consumer body (Verbraucherzentrale) reports that photos have been digital-only since 1 May 2025, taken by a certified photographer or booth, or uploaded to a cloud service. We have not confirmed this on a federal government page.
GetFormatted does not create the digital-route codes and does not submit photos to any authority. This rule only sizes a print.

Official source, checked 2026-09-30 Prepare this photo

Printed 35 × 45 mm photos still apply at German missions abroad, according to the embassy in Bern FAQ (undated). For applications inside Germany, a consumer body reports digital-only photos since 1 May 2025, through a certified photographer or booth; we have not confirmed that on a federal page. The applicant does not upload their own file in the digital route, so there is no upload preset and no QR or code generation here.

Paper size and PDFs

A4: 210 × 297 mm (ISO 216). Germany uses A4 (210 × 297 mm).

Paper-size defaults come from Unicode CLDR locale data as republished by Wikipedia and Microsoft, not from a government source.

Turn images into a A4 PDF

Upload portal limits

Consular Services Portal (digital.diplo.de)

From an excerpt of the official page

Online visa applications, including supporting documents

File types: PDF, JPG/JPEG
Size limit: 10 MB and 50 pages per file (from an excerpt of the FAQ)

Multi-page documents should be one PDF.
We could not open the portal FAQ directly; these details come from a search excerpt. Check the portal itself.

Official source, checked 2026-09-30

Portals change limits without notice. Confirm the figure shown in your own application before you upload.

Tips

The German biometric photo fills 70–80 % of the height with the face; the optimal face height is 32–36 mm.
Ask your authority or mission which route applies to you. Inside Germany that is usually a certified photographer or booth, not a print you make yourself.

What GetFormatted offers for Germany

Everything runs in your browser, so your photos and documents are not uploaded. We cannot promise any authority will accept a file. Check the result against the official page before you submit.

Frequently asked questions

What size is a German passport photo?: 35 × 45 mm, with the face (chin to top of head) filling 70–80 % of the photo height.