Belgium Passport Photo Requirements — ICAO Rules and the Municipality Check
A Belgian passport photo is a colour identity photo that must meet ICAO standards and pass a visual check at your municipality’s passport service before it is accepted. Four rules carry most of the weight: a neutral expression, head and shoulders straight, the face fully uncovered, and the eyes clearly visible. Note that Belgium’s official pages do not publish a millimetre size or a background colour — this page says so rather than guess. Verified against the Belgian FPS Foreign Affairs guidance, September 2026 (official page retrieved via a 2022 snapshot).
The 15-second answer
- Colour identity photo — no monochrome.
- Neutral expression: mouth shut, no smiling.
- Head and shoulders straight, right in front of the camera.
- Face totally uncovered: forehead, chin and the part towards the ears visible.
- Eyes perfectly visible: no reflecting or tinted glasses; frames not too big or too low.
- Checked at the municipality — non-compliant photos are refused on the spot.
ICAO standards, and a check you cannot skip
Belgium anchors its requirement to an international standard. The official guidance says the photo “must comply with ICAO Standards (International Civil Aviation Organization)”, and adds that “these standards are stricter than in the past”. The practical consequence is a gate at submission: you apply “at your municipality’s passport service”, and after verifying your identity the municipality records your photo “only if an initial visual check confirms that the basic criteria are met”. If it does not, “your municipality will have to refuse it” and ask you to produce a new one. There is no appeal against a visual check — the photo simply has to be right the first time.
The four criteria that matter most
The official page distils the standard into four rules. Take them literally:
- Expression: “a neutral facial expression: mouth shut, no smiling”. Even a slight smile distorts the features other authorities reject on, so keep the face relaxed and the mouth closed.
- Pose: “head and shoulders straight, right in front of the camera” — square to the lens, not turned or tilted.
- Face uncovered: “face totally uncovered: forehead, chin and the part towards the ears must be visible”. Hair, scarves or anything else across those zones is out.
- Eyes: “the eyes are perfectly visible: no reflecting or tinted glasses”, and the frames “should not be too big but not too close to the eyeline either”.
Glasses: the easy fix
Belgium gives a practical way out of the glasses problem: “to avoid any difficulties, if you wear glasses, you can remove them for your photo, even if you wear them daily”. Since glare and frames over the eyes are among the most common reasons a photo is questioned, removing them for the shot is the lowest-risk option. If you do wear them, the eyes must be unobstructed and free of reflections — see the glasses guide for the general techniques.
What is not published
Two things people expect to find are not given on the official page, and this page deliberately does not invent them:
- The millimetre size — no mm figure is published; the binding requirement is ICAO compliance, checked at the counter.
- The background colour — the page does not state one. Aim for a plain, even background and confirm with your municipality.
Because the check is visual and local, a technically perfect file can still be refused by an officer’s judgement, and vice versa. Bring the photo to the standard, then let the municipality confirm it.
Minors
For a child’s passport, the child “regardless of age, must always be present” at the application, and the form for a minor must be signed by the minor (from age 6) and by one of their parents.
60-second Belgium check
- ☐ Colour photo, not black and white
- ☐ Neutral expression — mouth shut, no smile
- ☐ Head and shoulders straight, square to the camera
- ☐ Forehead, chin and the part towards the ears visible — nothing covering the face
- ☐ Eyes clearly visible, no glare or tinted lenses (consider removing glasses)
- ☐ Photo meets ICAO standards — it will be visually checked at the municipality
Frequently asked questions
What size is a Belgian passport photo?
Belgium's official pages do not publish a millimetre size for the passport photo. The requirement is that the photo complies with ICAO standards, and the municipality checks it against those criteria when you apply. Because no official mm figure is published, this page does not state one.
What background does a Belgian passport photo need?
The official Belgian page does not state a background colour. Rather than rely on second-hand sites, treat the background as needing to be plain and even, and confirm with your municipality — whose staff visually check the photo before accepting it.
Can I smile in a Belgian passport photo?
No. Belgium requires a neutral facial expression: mouth shut, no smiling.
Can I wear glasses in a Belgian passport photo?
Your eyes must be perfectly visible, with no reflecting or tinted glasses, and the frames must be neither too big nor too close to the eyeline. Belgium advises that if you wear glasses you can simply remove them for the photo, even if you wear them daily, to avoid difficulty.
Where do I get a Belgian passport photo taken?
You can have it taken wherever you like — Belgium does not force you to use a studio. The binding constraint is that when you apply at your municipality's passport service, staff perform an initial visual check, and if the photo does not meet the basic criteria they will refuse it and ask for a new one.
What happens if my Belgian passport photo does not comply?
Your municipality will refuse it and ask you to produce a new one. The official page states plainly that if the photo does not comply with the criteria, the municipality will have to refuse it.
Official source: diplomatie.belgium.be (Belgian FPS Foreign Affairs), “Belgian citizen in Belgium — applying for a passport”, retrieved 2026-09-27 via a Wayback Machine snapshot dated 2022-06-25 (page last updated 2022-04-19; the live path returned HTTP 404). Confidence B (official page text; the official ICAO photo matrix PDF could not be retrieved, so no mm or background colour is stated here).
Related: a neutral expression is covered in the expression guide, glasses in the glasses guide, and what gets a photo refused in the rejection reasons guide. Browse every format on the size chart, and validate a finished photo with the passport photo checker.