New Zealand Passport Photo: requirements and cropper
A new zealand passport photo is 35 × 45 mm. The head, including hair, must fill 80% of the image height. The background must be plain light-coloured — explicitly not white. Digital uploads must land between 250 KB and 5 MB. The photo must have been taken within the last 6 months.
Crop a photo to the New Zealand spec
Drag the two markers. Put the blue one on the very top of the head — including hair — and the red one on the bottom of the chin. Every measurement below is calculated from that, because New Zealand measures head height as 80% crown to chin, not the face.
Your photo
Result
The official requirements
| Printed photo size | 35 × 45 mm |
|---|---|
| Head height | 80% of image height |
| Background | Plain light-coloured — explicitly not white |
| Digital dimensions | 900–4500 px wide × 1200–6000 px high |
| File size | 250 KB – 5 MB |
| File format | JPEG |
| How recent | Taken within the last 6 months |
| Copies required | 2 |
| Glasses | Prescription glasses are permitted if not tinted or thick-framed, with a clear gap between the eyes and the frames and no glare. Sunglasses are prohibited. |
| Head coverings | Permitted only for religious or medical reasons. The face must be fully visible. |
| Expression & pose | Neutral expression, no smiling, mouth closed, eyes open, facing forward, hair away from the face and out of the eyes. |
| Children & infants | Lay a baby on a plain light-coloured sheet and photograph from above. The entire face with eyes open must be shown, and no other people or objects may be visible. |
| Not published | minimum resolution — the official source does not state these, so nothing is shown rather than a number we made up. |
Source: New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs — Passport photos — read 2026-07-26.
Worth knowing
New Zealand is the clearest example of why a generic white-background cropper fails: the digital spec explicitly requires a light-coloured background that is not white. The digital route uses a 3:4 aspect ratio at 900–4500 px wide by 1200–6000 px high. Head including hair must occupy 80% of image height. Selfies are automatically rejected, and no filters, edits or AI tools are permitted.
How to make one
- Take or choose a photo shot straight on, from about arm's length or further, in even light with no shadow falling on the face or the wall behind it. Phone selfies taken close up distort the face and are a common rejection reason.
- Stand far enough from the wall that you cast no shadow on it. The background needs to be plain light-coloured — explicitly not white — the tool fills only the area outside your photo's edges, it does not replace the wall behind you.
- Drop the photo into the tool above. Nothing is uploaded; the file is read directly by your browser.
- Drag the blue marker to the very top of the head, including hair, and the red marker to the bottom of the chin. This is the measurement every official spec is written against.
- Check the head-height readout against the official 80% figure.
- Download the photo. If the result would exceed the 5 MB upload limit, it is compressed to fit before saving.
- New Zealand asks for 2 identical prints. Use the print sheet option and cut along the guide lines — print at 100% scale so the millimetre sizes stay correct.
Why New Zealand photos get rejected
Drawn from the official guidance rather than guesswork. Most rejections are not about dimensions at all:
- Pure white background
- Selfie — automatically rejected
- Digital filters, edits or AI alterations
- Head and hair not filling 80% of the image height
- File outside 250 KB – 5 MB
- Tinted or thick-framed glasses
The file size trap
A correctly framed photo still gets rejected if the file is too large. New Zealand caps uploads at 5 MB , with a floor of 250 KB. The cropper above compresses to fit automatically when you download. If you already have a correctly framed photo and only need it resized, the compress tool will hit an exact target without touching the framing.
New Zealand photo questions
Is my photo uploaded anywhere?
No. The cropping, resizing and compressing all happen inside this page, using your browser's own image APIs. There is no server to upload to — the site is static files. Open your browser's network tab, use the tool, and you can watch nothing leave.
It also keeps working with your Wi-Fi switched off once the page has loaded.
What size is a new zealand passport photo?
35 × 45 mm, according to New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs — Passport photos.
What is the maximum file size?
5 MB, with a floor of 250 KB. This is where a lot of otherwise-valid photos fail — the framing is right but the file is too big. The compress tool will hit an exact target if you already have a correctly framed photo.
Can this tool change my background?
No, and that is deliberate. Background replacement means guessing where your hair ends, and the guess is visible — a halo or a chewed-up fringe is exactly the kind of artefact that gets a photo rejected as digitally altered. New Zealand requires plain light-coloured — explicitly not white, so photograph yourself against a matching wall.
The fill colour setting only paints the area outside your photo's edges when the required crop is larger than the image you supplied.
How recent does the photo have to be?
Taken within the last 6 months. Reusing the photo from your previous passport is a standard rejection reason.
Can I wear glasses?
Prescription glasses are permitted if not tinted or thick-framed, with a clear gap between the eyes and the frames and no glare. Sunglasses are prohibited.
Are head coverings allowed?
Permitted only for religious or medical reasons. The face must be fully visible.
Do the rules differ for babies and children?
Lay a baby on a plain light-coloured sheet and photograph from above. The entire face with eyes open must be shown, and no other people or objects may be visible.
Will a photo from this tool definitely be accepted?
Nobody can promise that, and any site that does is selling you certainty it does not have. A photo is judged on framing, background, lighting, expression, sharpness and how recent it is. This tool handles the geometry and the file size precisely; the rest is down to how the photo was taken. The requirements here were read from New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs — Passport photos on 2026-07-26 — check the source before you submit, because rules change.
Other specs
- Brazilian Passport Photo 50 × 70 mm · not published for applicant-supplied photos
- Canadian Passport Photo 50 × 70 mm · head 31–36 mm · plain white or light-coloured · max 5 MB
- Chinese Passport Photo 33 × 48 mm · head 28–33 mm · white
- French Passport & CNI Photo 35 × 45 mm · head 32–36 mm · plain light-coloured — light blue or light grey. white is explicitly not allowed.
- German Passport & ID Photo 35 × 45 mm · head 32–36 mm · solid
- Indian Passport Photo 35 × 45 mm · plain white
This is not official advice. img-fix is not affiliated with any government or immigration authority. The figures on this page were read from New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs — Passport photos on 2026-07-26, and requirements change without notice. Check the official source before you submit.