Nigeria Passport Photo Requirements 2026
Written and fact-checked by the PassportLayout team · Last verified:
Official requirements from the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and Nigerian missions abroad, checked against the sources on the date above.
Quick Summary
The photo inside the booklet is captured live at your NIS enrolment appointment. Printed passport-sized photos — 35×45 mm by Nigerian studio convention, preferably on a white background — are still required for the paperwork: two endorsed by your guarantor for a fresh application, one of the guarantor on the guarantor form, and one of a minor endorsed by the consenting parent.
Photo Dimensions
The Nigeria Immigration Service lists passport-sized photographs among its documentary requirements without pinning the phrase to an exact millimetre figure on the official NIS passports page. In practice, Nigerian photo studios and passport offices work to the international 35 × 45 mm format — the same rectangular size used by the UK, the EU, and most ICAO-compliant e-passport programmes — and that is the size our tool produces for Nigeria.
Nigeria issues a fingerprint-enhanced e-passport, and the newest generation — the enhanced e-passport built on polycarbonate technology with an optional ten-year validity booklet in 32-page and 64-page variants — relies on biometric capture at the passport office rather than on a scanned print. The printed photos you bring serve the paper file, so they must still be clean, sharp, and correctly sized.
Do You Need a Printed Photo at All?
Yes — but not for the booklet itself. The NIS process note is explicit: applicants are required to appear at their chosen Immigration Office for photograph and biometric data capturing, and Nigerians in the diaspora go through the same capture at the nearest embassy, high commission, or consulate. The picture printed inside your passport is always the one taken by the officer, never one you hand over.
Printed photographs enter the process through the paper trail. According to the NIS requirements for citizenship-by-birth applicants, a fresh adult application requires two passport-sized photographs endorsed at the back by the guarantor, and the completed guarantor form — signed before a Commissioner for Oaths — must carry one passport-sized photograph of the guarantor alongside a photocopy of the guarantor's e-passport data page. Minors need one photograph endorsed on the reverse side by the consenting parent, and an age declaration submitted in place of a birth certificate must itself be accompanied by one endorsed photograph.
Face and Head Size
The NIS does not publish a chin-to-crown measurement for the printed photos, so the sensible target is the ICAO Doc 9303 portrait convention that Nigeria's e-passport programme is built on: the head, measured from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head, should occupy roughly 70–80% of the frame height — about 31 to 36 mm inside a 35 × 45 mm print. The face must sit centred on the vertical axis, with the eyes in the upper half of the frame.
Our tool positions the crop automatically once you drag the red line to the crown of the head and the blue line to the chin, so hitting the proportion is a matter of seconds rather than measurement.
Background Requirements
Nigerian missions phrase the rule as photographs "preferably with white background" — the wording used, for example, in the passport issuance and renewal requirements of the Embassy of Nigeria in Athens. A plain, evenly lit white backdrop is the safe choice everywhere: it photocopies cleanly onto the application file, and it matches what the NIS capture station produces at the office.
Avoid textured walls, curtains, gradients, and shadows behind the head. Standing half a metre away from the wall with light coming evenly from the front removes most background shadows.
Expression and Pose
Face the camera squarely with a neutral expression, mouth closed, and both eyes open. The ICAO biometric standard behind the Nigerian e-passport rejects tilted heads, three-quarter angles, and exaggerated expressions because they distort the facial geometry used for matching. Whatever you do in your printed photos, you will be asked to repeat at the capture station, so practise the neutral look once and use it twice.
Glasses
Take them off. Under the ICAO portrait rules that govern e-passport photography (see Sources), the eyes must be fully visible with no reflection or glare from lenses, no tinted glass, and no frames crossing the eyes. Since the officer at the enrolment counter will ask you to remove sunglasses or heavy frames for the live capture anyway, the simplest route to consistency is to keep glasses out of the printed photos as well.
Attire and Head Coverings
Wear everyday clothing that contrasts with the white background — a white shirt against a white backdrop tends to merge into it. Religious head coverings worn daily, such as a hijab or a gele tied clear of the face, are broadly accepted across ICAO-compliant systems provided the full face from chin to forehead, and both edges of the face, remain visible with no shadow cast across the features. Fashion hats and caps should come off, and hair should be kept away from the eyes.
Photo Recency
Mission checklists ask for "current" passport-size photographs rather than naming a fixed age limit. Treat "current" the way the biometric world does: the print should look like you do today, and a photo older than about six months is asking for a query at the counter. Because the applicant's live capture happens at the same appointment where the prints are submitted, any visible mismatch between the two is easy for the officer to spot.
Complete Specifications Table
| Requirement | Specification |
|---|---|
| Booklet photo | Captured live at the Immigration Office / mission |
| Printed photo size | Passport-sized — 35 × 45 mm by Nigerian studio convention |
| Fresh application (adult) | 2 photos, endorsed at the back by the guarantor |
| Guarantor form | 1 photo of the guarantor + copy of their data page |
| Minor (under 18) | 1 photo, endorsed on the reverse by the consenting parent |
| Age declaration | 1 endorsed photo attached, signed by a Commissioner for Oaths |
| Background | Preferably plain white, evenly lit |
| Expression | Neutral, mouth closed, facing the camera |
| Glasses | Best removed — eyes must be fully visible |
| Recency | Current — a faithful likeness of you at enrolment |
Common Rejection Reasons
- Application photos not endorsed at the back by the guarantor
- Guarantor form submitted without the guarantor's own photograph
- Minor's photo missing the consenting parent's endorsement on the reverse
- Coloured, patterned, or shadowed background instead of plain white
- Photo that no longer looks like the applicant at the capture appointment
- Head tilted, turned, or cropped so the proportions are wrong
- Glare on glasses, or hair and headwear obscuring parts of the face
- Blurry, low-resolution, or home-scissored prints at the wrong size
Tips for Nigerian Passport Photos
Count your prints before you count your documents. Between the two endorsed application photos, the guarantor form, and a possible age declaration, a single fresh application can consume four prints — and the guarantor needs to physically sign the backs, so allow time to get the photos to them. Printing a full sheet from one correctly cropped photo is far cheaper than repeat studio visits.
Since the requirements for fresh passports also demand that photographs accompany specific forms, keep every print identical: same session, same crop, same background. Take the photo against a white wall in daylight, drag the guide lines in PassportLayout.online to set the crown, chin, and centre, choose the Nigeria preset, and print the sheet at 100% scale on photo paper.
Create your Nigerian passport photos for free
Crop once, print a whole sheet of 35×45 mm photos for the application, guarantor form, and spares. Nothing leaves your device.
Create your Nigerian passport photo — freeFrequently Asked Questions
Does the Nigeria Immigration Service take your passport photo for you?
Yes. Every applicant must appear in person at their chosen Immigration Office (or Nigerian mission abroad) for photograph and biometric data capturing, so the picture inside the passport booklet is taken live by the NIS. Printed photos are still needed for the paperwork — the application form, the guarantor form, and age declarations all require passport-sized prints.
How many printed photos do I need for a Nigerian passport application?
A fresh adult application needs two passport-sized photographs endorsed at the back by your guarantor, plus one photograph of the guarantor attached to the guarantor form. Minors need one photograph endorsed on the reverse by the consenting parent. If you submit an age declaration instead of a birth certificate, that needs one endorsed photograph too — so print spares.
What size is a Nigerian passport photo?
The NIS asks for passport-sized photographs without publishing an exact millimetre figure on its requirements page. Nigerian photo studios print the standard 35×45 mm format, which matches the ICAO portrait convention used by the e-passport system and the preset in our tool. A plain white background is preferred.
Who can be a guarantor for a Nigerian passport, and why do they sign my photos?
The guarantor is an existing Nigerian e-passport holder who vouches for your identity. They complete the guarantor form, have it signed by a Commissioner for Oaths, attach a photocopy of their own passport data page and one passport-sized photograph of themselves, and endorse the back of your two application photos. The endorsement links the printed photos to a verified identity.
Sources
- Nigeria Immigration Service — Passports — application requirements, guarantor photo endorsement, and biometric capture note (verified 7 July 2026)
- Embassy of Nigeria, Athens — Passport Issuance / Renewal — photo counts, white background preference, in-person biometrics (verified 7 July 2026)
- ICAO Doc 9303 — Machine Readable Travel Documents — international biometric portrait standard