Turkey Passport Photo Requirements — 50 × 60 mm, White Background
For a Turkish passport or national ID (Kimlik Kartı) application. Turkey's biometric photo is 50 × 60 mm on a plain white, pattern-free background — a noticeably larger format than the 35 × 45 mm rectangle used across most of Europe. Verified against the official biometric photo specification Biyometrik Fotoğraf Özellikleri published on the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs consular domain, September 2026.
Official Turkey biometric photo specification
| Photo size | 50 mm (width) × 60 mm (height) |
| Background | Plain white, no pattern |
| Head position | Head not tilted forward or turned to either side; neck not tilted |
| Expression | Neutral, mouth closed, facing the camera |
| Eyes | Open and fully focused on the camera |
| Face and hair | Face fully visible; hair must not cover the face |
| Technical quality | Correct sharpness and contrast, in focus on the face, not hazy; moderate lighting, neither too bright nor too dark |
| Capture and print | Shot with a high-quality camera and printed on quality paper |
| Glasses | Prescription glasses only; sunglasses and similar accessories are not allowed; glasses must not obstruct the eyes |
| Head coverings | No hats or other items covering the hair or face |
| Recency | Not older than 6 months |
| Children and babies | The same rules apply |
| Head height | Not published in the official specification — no chin-to-crown millimetre figure is given |
The specification applies to both passport and national ID applications:
Biyometrik vesikalık fotoğraf ebatı 50 mm x 60 mm olmalıdır. — The biometric photo must be 50 mm x 60 mm.
The 50 × 60 mm frame and the unpublished head height
The frame is a portrait rectangle 50 mm wide and 60 mm tall — a 5:6 ratio, taller than the 35 × 45 mm format. Note what the official text does not say: it gives a photo size but no head height in millimetres. Unlike passports that publish a chin-to-crown band, Turkey's specification fixes the framing through pose rules instead — head straight, neck not tilted, face fully visible, hair clear of the face. Do not invent a head band: measure against the pose and framing rules, and treat any millimetre figure for head height you see elsewhere as unverified.
The upside of a big frame is that the face can be large and clearly resolved; the downside is that faults are magnified too. If you want the neighbouring formats for comparison, the site supports the Hong Kong passport photo (40 × 50 mm) and the Taiwan passport photo (35 × 45 mm); the whole set is in the full size chart.
Background: plain white, pattern-free
The background must be white and free of any pattern. In practice that means a plain wall or a backdrop sheet, no textured wallpaper, no curtain folds, no visible door frame, and no gradient from a lamp close to one side. See how white compares with the light backgrounds other countries allow in the background guide.
Pose and expression
- Head straight. It must not be tilted forward or turned to either side.
- Neck straight. A tilted neck pushes the head off the centre line even when the face looks forward.
- Face the camera. The face must be turned straight towards the lens.
- Neutral expression, mouth closed. No smiling with the teeth apart, no raised brows.
- Eyes open and focused on the camera. Both eyes must be looking into the lens, not off to the side.
- Face fully visible. Hair must not cover the face.
Neutral expression is the shared standard across biometric photos — the technique is covered in the expression guide.
Glasses, hats and accessories
Only prescription glasses are allowed. Sunglasses and similar accessories are not, and your glasses must not obstruct the eyes. No hat or other item may cover your hair or face. If you can take the photo without glasses, that is the simplest safe route; if you keep them on, tilt the lenses very slightly down so no reflection lands over the pupils. The glasses guide has the reflection-free technique, and religious headwear is dealt with separately in the head coverings guide.
Sharpness, lighting and print quality
Four clauses in the specification are about the picture itself rather than the person:
- Sharpness and contrast must be set correctly — the face must not look hazy.
- Focus must be on the face.
- Lighting must be moderate — neither too bright nor too dark, so the whole face is visible.
- The photo must be taken with a high-quality camera and printed on quality paper.
A soft phone lens or a home inkjet on thin paper is where most of these fail. If you print at home, work from the printing guide and lay the copies out on the photo print sheet.
Recency: not older than 6 months
The photo must not be older than 6 months. That is the same window most passports use — the reasoning and the edge cases are in the six month rule guide.
Children and babies
The specification states that the same rules apply to children and babies — there is no relaxed infant variant for the size, the background, the pose or the expression. That makes the pose clauses the hard part: a baby cannot hold its head straight on command, so the practical approach is to shoot on a plain white surface from directly above, take many frames, and pick one where the head is upright and both eyes are open on the lens. Nothing may hold the child in the frame. The baby and toddler photo guide covers the setup.
What gets a Turkish biometric photo refused
- A damaged photo — a photo that is damaged, crumpled or creased is not accepted.
- The background is not plain white, or it carries a pattern.
- The photo is older than 6 months.
- The head is tilted or turned, or the neck is tilted.
- The expression is not neutral, or the mouth is open.
- The eyes are closed, or not focused on the camera.
- Hair covers the face, or a hat or similar item covers the hair or face.
- Sunglasses or other accessories are worn, or glasses obstruct the eyes.
- The photo is hazy, wrongly exposed (too bright or too dark), or out of focus on the face.
Items 2 to 9 are the specification's own clauses read as failures; item 1 is stated as an explicit refusal. If a photo has already been turned down, work through the rejection reasons guide, and confirm the next attempt with the passport photo checker.
Frequently asked questions
What size is a Turkey passport photo?
50 mm wide by 60 mm high (50 x 60 mm). The same biometric photo format is used for Turkish passport and national ID (Kimlik Kartı) applications.
What background does a Turkey passport photo need?
A plain white background with no pattern.
What head height does Turkey require?
No head height in millimetres is published in the official biometric photo specification, so no chin-to-crown figure can be quoted. The official rules cover pose and framing instead: the head must not be tilted or turned, the neck must not be tilted, and the face must be fully visible with hair clear of it.
Can I wear glasses or a hat in a Turkish passport photo?
Only prescription glasses are allowed - sunglasses and similar accessories are not, and your glasses must not stop your eyes from being seen. No hat or other item may cover your hair or face.
How old can a Turkish passport photo be?
The photo must not be older than 6 months.
Do the same rules apply to children and babies?
Yes. The official specification states that the same rules apply to children and babies.
Turkey's 50 × 60 mm biometric photo is one of the larger national formats, and the same size-and-pose rules serve both the passport and the national ID card. Compare it with the Hong Kong passport photo (40 × 50 mm), browse every format in the full size chart, and check a finished file with the passport photo checker.