Belgium Driving Licence Photo

Belgian driving licence - documentary and photo requirements

Well, you have finished a driving school and passed a two-stage test and now you are ready to jump in the driver’s seat? There is only one thing left to do: get your highly anticipated driving licence! In order to do it, you need to provide authorities with:

• your ID card or residence card
• two color passport-style photos
• a request form delivered by the examination centre
• the certificate issued by a driving school 

If you have proof of completing 20 hours of driving lessons and you passed the theory test and road test, you probably will get your driver’s licence automatically. “Probably” - because it depends if your application is correct. The main reason for delay in this matter are incorrect photos provided by applicants. So make sure that the photograph you submit complies with standards for this document.

Belgian driving licence photo specification

In order to get your driving licence, you must go to your town hall with mentioned above documents and two identical printed photos. You are not obliged to professionally take the picture, you are allowed to take it at home by your own camera or smartphone as long as it is not a selfie.

However, even taken on your own, the picture must meet certain requirements about posing in the photo, its size, crop and composition. You need to know which items (ex. eyeglasses, headgears etc.) are allowed or prohibited in the photo and some other details. But you can stay optimistic! We have gathered all the necessary information and present them in a nutshell. After reading our article you will know everything about: 

• taking a perfect photo DIY
• the demanded dimensions of the photo
• demanded facial expression
• composition and background requirements
• a smart online driving licence photo tool 

We will also advise you how not overpay for your passport photos and save your time. Ready for this dose of knowledge? Read the next paragraphs and be sure to produce an ideal photo for your Belgian driving licence!

Driver’s licence in Belgium - how to take a photo by yourself?

Maybe you take a look at a Belgian driving licence photo requirements list and think that it must be so hard to produce a good photograph to this document without professional help. But you can believe us: if you have a good assistant, it is more than easy! And we don’t mean only the person who you ask for help (remember that selfies are not allowed). The best assistant is the intelligent photo generator available to download from the AppStore and Google Play Store.

If you have it on your smartphone or tablet, all you need to do is to find a convenient moment and do it with no rush. Before the first shot prepare:

• your smartphone, tablet or a digital camera
• photo requirements list which you will in our article
• photo app helping properly resize, crop and adjust your picture

Ask a friend or a family member for help or use a tripod and the self-timer function in your camera or phone.

BE driver’s licence photo size and crop

There is only one correct size of this type of photograph and that is 35 x 45 mm or 3.5 x 4.5 cm or 1.38 x 1.77 inches. 

The head’s height from the top to the chin must not be not less than 31 mm and not more than 36 mm. It must be 3-5 mm space left between the top of the head and the upper edge of the photo.

All your head with the hair, neck and the upper part of shoulders must be seen in the picture, nothing more. If you use the special resizing and cropping passport photo App you will get this crop and dimensions in just one moment.

Belgian driving licence photo background

The background in this kind of photo must be light and clear. Not necessarily white, colors such as cream, light-grey, light-blue are accepted too. The background must be unique (no gradation of color), plain and free of shadows or patterns. No other people or items must be visible in the photo of a future driver.

If you already have downloaded our App, you know that it is able to remove an unsuitable background and exchange it into a light, plain and unified one.

If not, check the background removing photo app and have your perfect photo done in a moment!

Face expression in a driving licence photo issued by Belgium

Do you know that you must not smile while capturing the photo for a Belgian driving licence? Your face muscles must be relaxed and you have to look straight at the camera lens with open eyes and closed mouths. The neutral face expression is a requirement, that is why smiling, frowning and making grimaces in photos dedicated to documents such as driving licences is prohibited and causes a rejection of the application.

Head coverings in Belgian driving permit photos

If you wear a head covering every day because it is a part of your religious attire (like a yarmulke, hijab etc.) you may wear it in your driving licence photo in Belgium. But there is a rule here: the headgear cannot obscure your face under the eyebrows line or drop shadows on the skin.

However, you cannot pose with fashion headgears, for example, headbands, hats or caps. They are not allowed in the photo. Avoid massive hair decorations and big earrings as they can obscure your face too.

Eyeglasses and sunglasses in a Belgian passport photo

If you wear your prescription glasses every day - they are allowed in the Belgian driving license photo but under certain conditions:

1. glasses’ frames cannot obscure your eyes
2. glasses must not give any glare 
3. glasses must be transparent (sunglasses and tinted glasses are forbidden)

Our advice is to take your glasses off if they have massive frames to avoid obscuring the face and eyes. Bear in mind that your photo will not be approved if glasses drop a shadow, glare or cover your face.

Jewellery and piercing in BE driving licence photos

Jewellery and facial piercing are allowed in photos for a Belgian driving licence. Just make sure that any part of your face is obscured by those decorative items. If you have a permanent facial piercing, you do not need to remove it for the photo. Remember only, that piercing must not give glares or shadows on your skin.

Hairstyle and beard in a Belgian driving licence photo

There is no special rule about hairstyle for the Belgian driving licence photo. If your hair is very voluminous, consider wearing it up in order to leave a demanded space between the top of your head and the edge of the upper part of the picture.

If you have a beard, you are not obliged to shave before capturing a photo to a Belgian driving licence. If your face is still recognizable, the beard is not a problem.

What to wear for a driver’s licence photo in Belgium?

Generally speaking, you can wear whatever you like besides military uniforms. We advise you wearing something in colors different from the background in order to not blend into the background. We do not recommend wearing a tank top - in the driving licence, you would look like naked.

Lights in a photo for a Belgian driving permit 

The best advice from professional photographers is to capture the picture with daylight. You can do it facing the window controlling if the light evenly illuminates both sides of your face. Shadows on the skin are unacceptable and are the reason to reject your photo. Do not use a flash lamp because sometimes it causes the glare on the skin and the “red eyes” effect. Color of your eyes must be natural so pictures with “red eyes” will not be accepted either.

BE Driving Licence Photo originality and validity

Maybe you have your favourite photos from holidays or parties and you ask yourself if you are allowed to crop or cut out your head from one of them and treat it as a passport photo? We must deny. You must not do it.

The photo dedicated to the official document must be originally taken. It cannot be a photocopy and you must not crop your face from a larger photo or use the zoom function.

“Originality” requirement means also that the picture must not be altered with Photoshop or other computer programs. Do not retouch the picture and do not use any popular filters. Every picture is checked by computers and if they detect interference, they mark a picture as “wrong”.

Your photo is valid 6 months from the moment you have taken it. You must submit your application within this period. In the case of a delay, capture a new picture as it must show your current appearance.

Belgian driving licence photo Maker

We have already introduced to you our special online photo App which is able to resize and crop your image to the demanded 35 x 45 mm and adjust the head’s size for a proper crop. It also removes the background and at the end, it verifies if everything is as required. And this photo tool is really user friendly! You have only to choose a document from our base - in this case, is “Belgian driver’s licence” - and upload your picture. The rest will be done automatically in one second! This App resizes, crops and exchanges the background in one second and then the App sends your ready to print picture to your address email. 

Belgium driving licence photo template 

Once you use our smart photo maker, you receive your correct photo on the email address. From that moment you can print it in, for example, one-hour photo store or photo lab.

This photo template may serve you also for other documents such as passport, visas, badges etc. Just check before if the requirements for them are the same as for the Belgian driving licence photograph. If not (for example the passport photo format is different in the US than in the EU) you can take another picture and use the documents photo App to create it again.

Driving Licence in Belgium - photo validator

How to verify if your photo is 100% correct? As you know, the wrong photograph will be automatically rejected and in effect, you will wait longer for your driving licence.

If you want to be 100% sure that it will be accepted first time, use a Belgian driving licence photo app which verifies in an instant if it is correct. If not, you may capture more shots till to the satisfactory effect for free. You pay only for the shot you order at the end so you may try as many times as it is needed.

Last update: 07/12/22