The Kosmos Visa Application Centre provides an ICAO-compliant biometric photography service. For further information, please visit 'additional service'
The photograph must:
- • Be in colour and taken against a light background (white, cream or light grey);
- • Be without a border;
- • Be a close-up of your head and the top of your shoulders so that your face takes up 70–80% of the photograph;
- • Be in sharp focus and clear;
- • Be undamaged (not torn, creased or marked);
- • Show the subject facing forward, looking straight at the camera;
- • Be 4.5 cm high × 3.5 cm wide;
- • Show your natural skin tone;
- • Have appropriate brightness and contrast;
- • Be a recent true likeness of the subject, taken within the last 6 months;
- • If a headscarf is worn, show the main features of the face: the chin, nose, eyes and eyebrows must not be covered, and the forehead must be uncovered so that the shape of the face is visible;
- • Be taken without a hat or cap;
- • Show the eyes without being covered by hair;
- • Show the subject facing squarely at the camera, not looking over the shoulder or tilting the head, and showing both edges of the face clearly;
- • Be free from effects such as shadows, ‘red-eye’ or airbrushing;
- • If glasses are worn, the eyes must be clearly visible with no flash reflection, and tinted glasses must not be worn (if possible, avoid heavy frames – wear light-framed glasses). The frame must not cover any part of the eyes;
- • Show each person on their own (and without objects such as dummies or toys, or other people visible);
- • Show a neutral expression with the mouth closed (no grinning, frowning or raised eyebrows);
- • Be free from airbrushing or similar enhancement (for example, photographs must not be ‘photoshopped’, ‘touched up’ or otherwise digitally altered).
- • Have no staple marks;
- • Scanned photographs and colour photocopies will not be accepted.