Australian Baby Passport Photo

Baby passport photo - Australia

Every Australian citizen who wants to travel abroad needs to hold a passport. This even applies to newborns from the day they are born. Of course, this is the responsibility of the parent or legal guardian who must apply for the passport in their child’s name. He/she must provide the passport office with all the necessary documents, a completed and signed application form and two identical copies of the same baby passport photo. Australia, like most countries, has official standards that every Australian passport picture needs to meet, for example, the image needs to be less than six months old and in colour. Here the questions begin: must a baby’s photo meet the same requirements as an adult's picture? What can you do if an infant is not able to keep their head straight or constantly closes their eyes? Could there be any exceptions to the rules for very small children?

We have got all the answers! Read our short and informative guide to Australian baby passport photos and you will know how to produce the correct photo of your baby on your own. It is possible, and it’s really easy too!

Australian baby passport photo requirements

All passport photos must be biometric, so photographing your child you must remember some rules such as:

• size and crop
• colours
• background-colour and requirements
• posing
• facial expression
• which items, such as toys or dummies, are allowed or forbidden

We gathered every important rule throughout the entire process of taking your passport photos and present them below.

We also will give you some advice and tips on how to deal with sleepy or disinterested babies and what to do if an infant is not yet able to keep their head up on their own.

With our smart tool for editing Australia passport photos, you will be able to correctly resize and crop your image and adjust its background. Your kid’s passport photos will be the same quality as a professionally taken one, but you will spare your little daughter or son the drive to a photography studio which can cause stress and tiredness.

How can I take a baby photo for an Australian passport at home? 

Children are demanding - every parent knows it. They are not always in a good mood and it is often hard to encourage them to cooperate. It is far easier to capture a good picture of an infant in the environment they know and feel safe in than in a strange place. That is why so many people worldwide every day decide to take their baby or toddler passport photos at home. What do you need if you want to do this? Prepare:

• a place to sit the child, for example, in a baby carrier
• good lighting - preferably daylight
• your smartphone, tablet or a digital camera
• the specification for Australian baby and toddler passport photos
• a photo app helping to properly resize, crop and adjust your picture
• toys that will help you to attract the baby’s attention

Australian baby passport photo - size

Your baby’s Australia passport photos must be between 35 x 45mm and 45 x 50mm in size.

The head must not be too big (the maximum size of your face from your chin to the top of your head is 36 mm) and neither too small (the minimum is 32 mm). If you are not sure what the correct size for Australian passport photos is, use a resizing passport photo App that does it automatically.

Children passport photos - correct crop

In the crop, all of the head and neck of the baby must be visible, but the upper part of the shoulders is optional. So, how can you obtain such an image of your baby or child? Maintain the distance between the camera and the child (1.20 - 2 metres). There is also another solution: you may capture an image and upload it to the cropping baby passport tool. The app will crop your picture in mere seconds!

Lighting and colour in Australian passport photos for babies

Your infant’s face needs to be evenly lit on both sides, with no shadows cast. We advise you to use natural light, with the baby facing the window. You should avoid using your flash, because it may scare your baby, and cause the ‘red eye effect” or glare on the skin. Both of these disqualify the picture.

The child’s passport picture must be printed in colour. Black and white photos will not be allowed, as the photograph has to show the natural skin tones of the child.

Background in the Australian infant passport photo

When it comes to colours, your baby’s Australian passport photos need to have an off-white or white background. The important thing: you must also avoid having shadows, patterns and other visible objects or persons in the shot. 

Passport Photo Online is here to help you - the background removing photo app, which erases every kind of unsuitable background, exchanging it with the required one. Try the app for yourself and you’ll see how easy it is to get a perfect baby’s photo for their Australian passport!

Posing in a baby and child photo for an Australian passport

The photograph needs to show a face-on view of the infant’s head, as he/she normally appears. No side shots are accepted, it must be a face on view. The child’s head must be in the centre of the cropped photo, with the camera lens positioned level with the baby’s eyes. The baby must keep their head still, without titling it in any direction and they must make sure they look straight at the camera. 

It may not be so easy because very small children cannot support their own heads yet. You may sit your baby in their carrier or put your child on your lap. It doesn’t matter if you are visible behind the child to begin with, just focus on ensuring your child’s head is in the correct position. Then you can erase all the unwanted background from the passport picture with the help of the Passport Photo Online website and app, available online. 

Face expression in Australian baby passport photos

The Australian passport photo specification states that an applicant needs to have “a neutral facial expression” that means that you should avoid grimacing, crying, frowning or smiling in your passport photo. This applies to children too.

Your baby must have their eyes open in the photo and as neutral a facial expression as possible. Passport photos of children under 3 years old with open mouths are acceptable and your child must look straight at the camera, and keep their head still. 

Our tip: attract the baby’s attention by waving his/her favourite toy or showing them an object they like. You could even make funny sounds behind the camera and, as soon as your child looks at you, take the photo. It may require a couple of goes, but using our Passport Photo Online, you can try as many times as you need and, at the end, just pick the best shot. 

Clothing in baby passport photos 

You can dress your child however you wish, just remember not to cover their head unless it is necessary for medical reasons. In such cases, you must keep in mind that headgear must not obscure the baby’s face which must be visible. Another tip is to use clothes contrasting with the background. Remove headbands and hair accessories. If your baby wears earrings, you won’t need to remove them before capturing a baby passport photo.

Forbidden items in your Australian baby passport picture 

Every year, loads of babies’ pictures are rejected by passport offices because forbidden items can be seen in them. Remember, you must make sure there aren’t any toys, dummies, bottles or other accessories visible with your child in the image. If they are visible in the background though, this won’t be a problem, as you can use a background removing passport photo tool, which will cut out all of these items and replace them with a one-colour, plain background.

Baby photo for Australian passport - technical requirements

You can take the picture of your child with a digital camera, smartphone, tablet or with the traditional camera if you wish. If you use a digital camera, a focal length of 90‐130 mm should be used or 35 mm film equivalent. 

Of course, nowadays, the most common option for taking passport pictures is by using smartphones. These devices have extremely good lenses and can produce high-quality pictures, just the same or even better quality than those taken in professional studios. You can also get a little help when taking your photos now: a passport photo app! This app utilises artificial intelligence and helps millions of users worldwide to crop, resize and adjust their passport photos.

If you take your baby’s passport photos on your own and you want to print them in a nearby store, remember the following requirements about printed photos:

• a high quality picture
• heavy‐weight, glossy prints (200 gsm minimum)
• no heavy back‐printing
• use dye-sublimation (no photos from an inkjet printer)

The submitted passport photos must be free of scratches and marks, and must not be damaged or wrinkled.

7 most common mistakes to avoid in your baby passport photos

Taking passport photos for your AU baby passport at home is easier, cheaper and lets people save time and energy. Children are calmer and more “cooperative”, so many parents decide on this option.

At the same time, many people are worried whether it is possible to photograph a baby properly and submit a correct picture for Australian official documents. 

Below we present the list of the most frequent errors in baby and toddler AU passport photos:

1. wrong size
2. bad crop
3. eyes closed
4. incorrect background
5. people or items visible in the photo with the baby
6. wrong photo angle or head twisted
7. a poor quality (blurred, not focused, underexposed or overexposed)

Where could I take an Australian baby passport photo?

As you already know, you have to submit your documents and an application form two colour, printed photos of your child. Where can you take a good shot, in the correct size and crop? The answer is: wherever you want!

If you download our clever Passport Photo Online tool, it doesn’t matter if you decide to take your kid’s AU passport photo at home, in the garden, or on the beach.

Passport Photo Online can change any background into the required one, and the app will also easily crop, resize and verify infant passport photo at the end.

If Passport Photo Online marks the image as compliant with rules, you can be confident that the child’s photo will be approved by the passport office. Passport Photo Online enables you to create the perfect passport picture of your child without stress, allows you to take as many photos as necessary to achieve a satisfactory result and saves your time and money

Last updated: 24.09.2021

Last update: 6/6/23