Philippines Passport Photo Requirements

For a Philippine passport, you do not bring or upload a photo — the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) captures your photo, fingerprints and signature on-site at your appointment. The DFA Office of Consular Affairs and Philippine embassies and consulates state that applicants are no longer required to bring photos for a passport application. So the size everyone searches for matters less than the appointment itself.

The standard, when a photo is asked for, is 35 x 45 mm (4.5 x 3.5 cm) on a plain white background. This guide covers where that still applies and, more usefully, how to pass the capture. For the rules every country shares, see passport photo requirements explained.

The DFA takes the photo — so what do you prepare?

Because the camera is at the counter, there is no print to cut and no file to format for a standard passport application in the Philippines or at a Philippine post abroad. You appear in person, and a clerk photographs you against the office backdrop. What you control is how you turn up: your clothing, your face, and what you take off before the shutter.

How to pass the on-site capture

The DFA's Guidelines on Capturing your Photo, together with the instructions embassies give applicants, set out what the capture needs:

• Attire. Wear proper attire with a collar and sleeves. Sleeveless and collarless clothing is not allowed.
• Take off accessories. Remove eyeglasses, contact lenses, and facial piercings before the photo. Earrings and necklaces are not allowed during capture. Eyeglasses are only tolerated where there is no glare, so the safe move is to take them off.
• Head and face. No caps or headgear. Keep both ears visible where possible, and give a neutral expression with your mouth closed.
• Keep it plain. No heavy make-up, eyeliner, or false eyelashes — the photo has to match how you actually look.

These are the same reasons passport photos get rejected elsewhere, and whether you can keep your glasses on or smile comes down to the same points: eyes clearly visible, expression neutral.

White or royal blue background?

The current DFA standard is a plain white background. The royal blue background you may have read about belongs to the older Machine Readable Passport (MRP): the DFA required a royal blue backdrop there because the security feature printed into the photo showed more strongly against blue than white. Some Philippine posts abroad have echoed that blue requirement for photos submitted to them.

The practical rule: for a normal on-site capture, the office backdrop handles this for you. If you are preparing a photo to submit or bring — for a specific overseas post, or an older MRP context — confirm which colour that office wants before you print, because the size is identical either way. Our guide to passport photo background colours covers why authorities are fussy about the backdrop at all.

Preparing a 35 x 45 mm photo when you do need one

When a service genuinely asks for a printed or uploaded Philippine passport photo, babapic's Philippines passport photo maker crops your image to the 35:45 ratio and resizes it to 413 x 531 pixels, which is 35 x 45 mm at 300 DPI. You position your face with a ratio-locked crop box, and everything runs in your browser — the photo is never uploaded.

One honest limit: the tool sets the size, not the background. It outputs your photo on whatever backdrop it already has, so shoot against a plain white wall (or the blue a specific post asks for) rather than expecting the tool to add one. If you would rather not set this up at all, weigh it against having it done for you — see a photo shop versus doing it at home. For other countries' rules, the passport photo maker hub lists each dedicated page.

Common questions

What size is a Philippine passport photo?
35 x 45 mm (4.5 x 3.5 cm) on a plain white background is the DFA standard. For a standard passport application, though, you do not supply one — the DFA photographs you on-site.

Do I need to bring a photo to my DFA appointment?
No. The DFA and Philippine embassies capture your photo, fingerprints and signature during the appointment, and state that applicants are no longer required to bring photos. Focus on appearing in person in the right attire.

Should the background be white or blue?
White is the current standard. Royal blue was required for the older Machine Readable Passport and is still asked for by some overseas posts, so confirm with the office you are applying to before printing anything.

Can I wear glasses or earrings for the photo?
Take them off. The DFA asks applicants to remove eyeglasses, contact lenses, and facial piercings, and does not allow earrings or necklaces during capture. Glasses are only accepted when there is no glare at all.

Can I smile?
No — the capture calls for a neutral expression with your mouth closed, the same standard behind passport photo requirements generally.