NZ passport photo rejected — DIA fix in 60 seconds

AI-detection — the DIA's biggest filter

Since 2024, the DIA uses an AI-photo-detection filter that is one of the strictest among passport authorities globally. It flags photos with: heavy skin smoothing, eye enlargement, jaw narrowing, AI-generated background replacement (when the seam is visible), and synthetically-generated faces.

complypic's pipeline is calibrated to preserve identity features (skin texture, eye shape, jaw line) precisely because authorities like the DIA reject smoothed photos. The generation is deterministic about size and background, but conservative about facial features.

Background and head height

Plain light background — white, light grey, off-white. Any colour is rejected. Patterned walls are rejected.

Head 32-36 mm chin to crown. The DIA's auto-validator is precise to 0.5 mm; photos at 31.4 mm or 36.6 mm are rejected.

Glasses, head covering, expression

Glasses banned since 2016. Religious head covering is accepted if the face from chin to forehead is fully visible, with no shadow on the face.

Neutral expression preferred; mouth closed; eyes open and visible. Children under 6 can have natural smiles.

Recency: 6 months

Photo must have been taken within the past 6 months. Renewal applicants commonly try to reuse the prior application's photo — this is rejected automatically.

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