New Zealand passport photo size — 35×45 mm DIA dimensions

Exact dimensions and pixel size

New Zealand uses the ICAO 9303 portrait standard at 35×45 mm — identical in dimensions to Australia, the UK, Ireland, and most Schengen states. At 600 DPI this is approximately 827×1063 pixels. The DIA online passport renewal portal accepts JPEG only, file size between 250 KB and 10 MB, sRGB colour.

The DIA portal will programmatically reject files outside the supported pixel range, and the manual photo-checker step will reject anything visibly off-spec on background, head position, or expression.

Head height and framing

Head height chin to crown must be 32-36 mm. The DIA online photo guidance specifies the head should occupy 70-80% of the photo height. Eyes facing the camera, no tilt; shoulders visible at the bottom; face centered horizontally.

The DIA online photo checker is unusually strict on the head-too-small rejection — selfies taken at arm's length consistently fall below the 32 mm floor. Use a tripod or get someone else to take the photo to keep the head in range.

Background — pure white is rejected

This is the DIA's most distinctive requirement: pure white backgrounds are explicitly rejected. The DIA online photo checker classifies #FFFFFF as 'overexposed' and returns rejection regardless of the subject. The required background is light grey, off-white, or cream — anything in the #E8E8E8 to #F4F4F4 range passes consistently.

This is the single biggest cause of rejected New Zealand passport photos. Applicants who use generic 'passport photo' booths or apps targeting the US white-background spec routinely fail at the DIA portal upload step. complypic applies light grey #EEEEEE by default for New Zealand passport photos.

Recency, glasses and expression

Photo must be taken within the last 6 months. The DIA compares against your previous passport on file. Significant appearance changes are flagged for verification but not auto-rejected.

Glasses are not permitted under the DIA's ICAO 9303 alignment. Religious head coverings (Tā moko visibility considered) are accepted only when the face is fully visible from chin to forehead. Expression must be neutral with mouth closed; eyes open and looking directly at the camera.

DIA online portal upload requirements

The DIA's online passport renewal at passports.govt.nz includes a built-in photo checker that validates head position, background colour, lighting, and expression in a single pass. Failures return a numeric error code so you know exactly which rule was triggered.

Backgrounds at #EEEEEE light grey, head height 32-36 mm, and uniform lighting are the three critical factors. complypic targets all three deterministically — the digital JPG is also suitable for the kiosk-based passport renewal experience at NZ Post outlets.

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