Somalia Passport Photo

Until the year 2006 when the Somali government announced that it would issue a new machine-readable document, in the Federal Republic of Somalia, the old non-biometric passports were in use. They had green covers and were often forged. That was such a big problem (fake Somalian passports flood the black market) that the implementation of biometric passports was a necessity.

Passports of the Federal Republic of Somalia

Nowadays, every passport issued by the Somalian government is biometric to ensure authenticity.

According to the Henley visa restrictions index, the Federal Republic of Somalia before the COVID-19 pandemic was ranked on 100th place with visa-free access for its citizens to 30 countries and territories. Other countries require visas from Somali citizens. There is also one country - Canada - that does not consider a Somali passport as a valid document.

How to apply for a Somali Passport

A Somali citizen can apply for the passport of their state in Somalia or abroad if they stay in another country. In both cases, a candidate must submit an application in person, because the collecting of fingerprints and signature is mandatory.

In order to submit your passport application, prepare and bring with your to the passport office in Somalia or the Somali consular mission overseas the following documents:

• Completed passport application form
• Certified Birth Certificate from Somalia (both: original and a photocopy)
• 2 recent (taken within the last 6 months) color photographs 
• Proof of payment for passport application fees

Remember to write your name on the back of each photo.

Once you are renewing your passport, you have to submit:

• Adequate passport renewing application form.
• Your expired passport 
• 2 passport-style photos meeting the requirements (write your name and surname on the back of each of them)
• Receipt of payment for passport application fees

New Somali Passport in the case when the previous one was stolen or lost

If your old passport was lost or stolen, the first thing you must do is report this fact to the Police, whether you are in Somalia or in another country. After having reported your loss you can apply for a new travel document. In such a case you have to provide the passport office or embassy with the following documents:

• Certified Police Report which states that your passport was lost or stolen
• Completed and adequate passport application form
• Photocopy of the lost or stolen passport if you have it
• 2 photographs of you not older than 6 months
• Proof of payment of the passport fees

Name’s change and Somali Passport

If you have changed your name or surname through marriage, divorce or deed poll, you should apply for a new passport. Ask a consular officer which application form you should apply for and submit the same documents as in the case of a passport’s renewal.

Somalia Passport Photo Guidelines

Take the right photo for your Somalian passport at home! Upload a picture to our service and get it professionally edited by a photo tool.

In order to complete your Somali Passport application, you have to submit 2 printed photos of yourself. They must be passport-style photographs and they must meet specifications as the pictures seen in passports nowadays are always biometric. That means that your photo must comply with the International Civil Aviation Organization Standards. 

Biometric photos show the physical characteristics of a person, such as the distance between the eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. This is why you have to pose in some special way, you must not smile and cover your head (with some exemptions). Be aware that if your photo does not satisfy requirements, the office processing your application will reject it.

Read our Guidelines to learn everything about:

• dimensions of the Somali passport photo
• coloring and lights
• technical details
• a crop of the photo
• its validity and originality
• demanded facial expression
• composition and head’s position
• background requirements

Do you find this difficult? It is not when you have a helpful tool: Somalia Photo Maker online.

Somali Passport Photo - take it yourself

All you need to create a perfect passport photo is your smartphone and our online photo app. You can do it everywhere, even in your garden, in the street or park. Just choose a convenient time, ask somebody for help or use a tripod and check the Somalia passport picture requirements list. You don’t need to be worried about photo size, crop, background etc. Let it do our intelligent app which automatically adjusts an uploaded picture to the requirements. You will obtain a template that you can print before submitting your passport application.

Quality specifications for a Somalia passport photo

There are some technical requirements for photos used for all the passports. If you print them, don’t use an inkjet printer. Home printers are not able to produce high-quality photo. The passport-style picture must be created at high resolution and printed on photographic quality paper. Send your picture to a one-hour photo service or go to a self-service photo point to print it. In terms of technical requirements, your ready to attach to your passport application picture must be:

• clear, sharp, and well-focused
• properly exposed - not underlit or overlit
• well contrasted
• in colour - showing your natural skin and eyes colors
• in good condition - without ink marks, not damaged or scratched

Somali Passport Photo Size and Dimensions

The width of the photograph dedicated to a passport in Somalia must be 35 mm and height - 45 mm. But do not worry about the size of your photo taken by your smartphone! Just check out the possibilities of the Somalian passport photo resizer app. Even if you do not remember what the required dimensions are, you are able to create a correct passport-style photo!

Just upload your image captured by phone and have it done in one second. The App automatically resizes every photo, so you can focus on how to look good in it!

Somalia passport photo crop

The crop of the Somalian picture must meet certain requirements too, for example, it must show all your head with hair, the neck and the upper part of your shoulders.

The head from the chin to the crown must not be smaller than 26 mm and not bigger than 30 mm. There must be space left between the crown and the edge of the picture and also on either side of the face. But instead of thinking about how to obtain this crop, you can just upload your picture to the Smart Cropping Photo App and wait one or two seconds when our program automatically resizes and crops the photo! And it’s done!

The correct background in the Somalian Passport Photo

The only accepted background’s color in the Somali passport-style photo is white. Any other colors, patterns or shadows are not accepted and may cause a rejection of the application. If you think that obtaining the plain, solid white color behind you in a picture is not easy, use a dedicated Somalian passport background photo editor which removes an incorrect background and changes it into a white one in one second. But do not do it with Photoshop. Using graphic software in passport photos is forbidden but you can use this professional tool. You can find a passport photo background remover in the AppStore or in the Google Play Store.

Coloring and lighting in the Somalian Passport Photos

Your passport photo (not only to Somalian passport but everywhere) must represent your natural skin tones and eyes color. That means that the effect of “red eyes” will cause a rejection of the picture too as it is not natural eye color. You may not either wear coloured contact lenses.

Remember that you must not retouch your picture, correct colors, put on any filters. Any graphic interference in the picture is forbidden, even if you do it at home with Photoshop. But the “red eyes” effect is easy to avoid. It is caused by a flash lamp, so in order to avoid it, take the picture with natural light.

Daylight is also recommended because it helps to avoid skin reflections. Bear in mind that your face must be lit evenly on both sides. Any glares or shadows on the face or background are unacceptable.

Smiling in the biometric photo for a Somalian passport

Do you know that you must now smile at the moment of capturing a photo for a passport in Somalia?

The facial expression must be neutral. It means that your face muscles must be relaxed and you have to look straight at the camera lens with open eyes and closed mouths. Do not smile, tighten your mouths or frown. Any grimace in the photo will make it rejected. Why such requirements? It applies not only to Somali passports photos, a “neutral facial expression” is a rule for every biometric photo for every official document, especially for passports and ID cards worldwide.

How to pose in the Somalian passport photo?

As you already know, there are some rules about facial expression. But this is not all. The rules apply also to the head’s position in Somalian Passport Photos. If you pose in the wrong way, your photo will be rejected.

You MUST:

• stay straight
• look straight into the camera
• keep your eyes open but without an exaggeration
• keep and mouths closed
• not tilt your head in any direction
• and again: NOT smile!

One more rule: birthmarks or scars on your face must not be covered as they are identifying marks.

Head coverings in the Somalia Passport Photo

Generally speaking, this is not allowed to cover the head capturing a photo dedicated to a biometric passport, not only in Somalia but in every state.

So, do not wear any fashion headgear, for example, headbands, hats in your Somali passport picture. They are forbidden in the photo as well as massive hair decorations and big earrings which can “touch the oval” of your face.

However, if you are wearing a head covering for religious or traditional reasons, you can pose in it. So, you can keep your head covering (like a turban, hijab, yarmulke or any other part of a religious attire) but you are responsible to make sure that it does not cover or drop shadow on your face.

The head covering should be dark in color against the white background to obtain a proper contrast.

Glasses in the Somalia Passport Picture

The main rule is: all your face must be clearly visible in the passport photo.

So, if you wear glasses and for some reason, you can’t or don’t want to take them off for the moment of taking a picture of your Somalian passport, you may keep them but under some conditions. Remember, that the photograph must show the eyes clearly, so avoid heavy frames and make sure that the frames do not cover any part of the eyes. Tinted glasses and sunglasses are forbidden in every case. Glasses must be 100% transparent and there must not be reflection or glare on them.

Dress-code in Somalia passport pictures

There are some requirements for clothing in Somali passport photos, like, for example not to wear a shirt or headscarf (only those worn for religious reasons are allowed) in the same colour as the background. So, do not wear white tops or hijabs.

Do not either expose your shoulders and chest. You can choose a top in a casual or elegant style to make sure you look good in a photo and you like your picture. Scarves on the neck are not allowed but a tie or necklace is absolutely ok!

Jewellery and piercing in the Somalia Passport Picture

As mentioned above, you can keep your jewellery in the Somalian passport - style picture.

All you have to do is to make sure that none of the decorative items obscures your face nor gives a glare on the skin. It also applies to facial piercing. You do not need to remove it if it doesn’t cover important parts of your face and does not give a glare.

Mistakes in Somalia Passport Photos and how to avoid them

Rejecting applications with wrong photos happens every day. We have checked which are the most commonly made mistakes causing it. Read the list below in order to avoid fatal errors in your Somali passport picture.

The most often reasons for photos’ disqualification are:

• alterations by any kind of computer software (be aware that this kind of alteration is always detected by artificial intelligence)
• poor-quality prints (especially on inkjet printers)
• over exposition or under exposition of the picture (use natural daylight to be sure that your picture is properly exposed)
• smiling in photos (remember that the neutral facial expression is the MUST)
• not an en-face view or head tilted (portraits, semi-profiles… no! They are all forbidden as passport photos. And selfies too)
• bad crop or size (use smart Passport Photo App to be 100% that your photo is correct!)

Remember also that the picture you must not:

• have a fashion head covering (the exceptions are only religious reasons)
• look sideways
• have your eyes closed
• show teeth, open the mouth

Beard and hairstyle in the photo of passport of Somalia

If you have a beard, you are not obliged to shave it for the Somalian passport photo under the condition that your face is still recognizable.

Any hairstyle is allowed in the passport-style photos as long as hair does not obscure facial features. Remember that it must be a space of 3-5 mm left between the top of your head (and the hairstyle) and the edge of the picture. So, if you have a voluminous hairstyle, wear your hair up.

Somalia passport photo maker

What exactly is the passport photo Maker?

It is an online App able to help you create your perfect passport photo, save money and time. This Passport Photo Generator crops, resizes, and at the end verifies your photos.

This Passport Photo Maker removes the background too and replaces it with the required white, plain one.

Once you order the correct picture, the App sends you ready to print the image in the JPEG format, directly to your address email.

You can download the Passport Photo Generator from AppStore or Passport Photo App from Google Play Store. It works under Android and iOS.

Somalia Passport Photo Validator - how to verify if your picture is correct

As you know, your biometric passport photo must comply with some strict standards, so you need to check if all requirements of biometrics are met.

If you want to be 100% sure, use a Somali passport photo app. You may be sure that if our Intelligent Photo App accepts your picture, a passport officer processing your application will do it too!

Last update: 10/1/22