Finnish passport photo · 500 × 653 px
Checked and laid out to the official Finnish Police photograph instructions — exactly 500 × 653 px, to the pixel. Instructions dated 2020, submission page updated 2025-12-29, checked by us on 2026-08-17.
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Head and shoulders in frame, with clear space above the hair — the head should fill about half the photo, not all of it.
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Official specification
| Finished size | 500 × 653 px this authority specifies pixels, not a physical size |
| Head height (chin to crown) | 32 – 36 mm (445–500 px digital) |
| Eye height | not published by this authority |
| Background | light and neutral, monochromatic and flat — light grey is best |
| File formats | JPG / JPEG |
| File size | up to 250 KB |
| Taken within | the last 6 months |
Full rules
- Photographs submitted electronically must be exactly 500 x 653 pixels — deviations as small as one pixel are not accepted.
- JPEG format (not JPEG 2000), .jpg or .jpeg, at most 250 kilobytes. The photograph can be black-and-white or colour.
- The distance from the crown of the head to the chin must be 445–500 px (32–36 mm on paper photographs). Hair and beard are not included in the size of the head.
- There must be 56–84 px (4–6 mm) above the crown, 96–124 px (7–9 mm) below the chin, and the centre line of the face may differ at most 21 px (1.5 mm) from the centre line of the photo. The same requirements apply to subjects of all ages.
- There are no specific measurements for the width of the face — if the length complies, the width does not need attention.
- The photograph must be no more than six months old.
- The photograph must not be manipulated in any way that would change even the smallest details in your appearance or could raise suspicions about its authenticity — digital make-up included.
- No optical distortion: phone wide-angle lenses at short distance make the nose appear too large. The depth of field must reach from the ears to the tip of the nose, in sharp focus, not blurry or grainy.
- The background must be monochromatic, flat, light and neutral — light grey is best — with no shadows and nothing and nobody else in the frame.
- Head straight, face and eyes pointing directly at the camera, shoulders square — no portrait-style over-the-shoulder poses. Both ears do not need to be visible.
- Eyes must be completely visible: no frames near the eyes, no reflections, no thick frames. Tinted glasses or an eyepatch only for medical reasons. You can always take your glasses off.
- Photography studios normally send the photograph directly to the police, who give you a retrieval code for your application. You can upload your own photograph to the police photograph server, but the police do not recommend it — many self-uploads are rejected, and there is no preliminary inspection: the photo is only evaluated once your application is processed.
Sources
https://poliisi.fi/documents/25235045/31329600/Passport-photograph-instructions-by-the-police-2020-EN-fixed.pdf
Finnish Police (Poliisi) — Passport photograph instructions by the police · page updated 2020 · we checked it 2026-08-17
Finnish Police (Poliisi) — Passport photograph instructions by the police · page updated 2020 · we checked it 2026-08-17
The dimensions of photographs submitted electronically must be exactly 500 x 653 pixels. Deviations as small as one pixel are not accepted. Electronically submitted photographs must be saved in the JPEG format (not JPEG2000). ... The maximum size of an electronically submitted photograph is 250 kilobytes. ... The hair and beard are not included in the size of the head. ... The distance between the crown of the head and the chin must be at least 445–500 px (32–36 mm). There must be at least 56 px (4 mm) and no more than 84 px (6 mm) above the crown of the head. There must be at least 96 px (7 mm) and no more than 124 px (9 mm) below the chin. ... The photograph must not be manipulated in any way that would change even the smallest details in the subject's appearance ... Use of digital make-up is not allowed. ... The best background colour is light grey.https://poliisi.fi/en/submitting-passport-photographs
Finnish Police (Poliisi) — Passport photographs · page updated 2025-12-29 · we checked it 2026-08-17
Finnish Police (Poliisi) — Passport photographs · page updated 2025-12-29 · we checked it 2026-08-17
You can upload your photograph onto the police's photograph server, but we do not recommend this as many of the photographs uploaded have to be rejected. ... the licence officer will only evaluate the passport photo uploaded to the photo server once the related passport or other application has been processed. There is no preliminary inspection of photos. ... you will need one passport photograph which has been taken no longer than 6 months before submitting your application.Questions
What are the Finnish passport photo requirements?
Electronically submitted photos must be exactly 500 x 653 pixels — deviations as small as one pixel are not accepted — in JPEG format at 250 KB or less, no more than six months old. The head, measured from crown to chin excluding hair and beard, must be 445–500 px, with 56–84 px above the crown and 96–124 px below the chin.
How do Finnish passport photos normally get submitted?
A photography studio sends the photograph directly to the police photograph server, and you get a retrieval code to enter in your application. You can upload a photo yourself, but the police explicitly do not recommend it — many self-uploads are rejected.
Will my uploaded photo be checked straight away?
No, and this is worth knowing before you rely on it: the police state there is no preliminary inspection — the photo is only evaluated once your passport application is processed.
Does Finland measure the head including hair?
No. The instructions say hair and beard are not included in the size of the head, and the crown position is estimated if necessary. Our tool measures from the top of the cut-out outline, which includes hair, so for big hairstyles we run conservative — check the guide lines on the preview.
Can the photo be black and white?
Yes — the instructions accept black-and-white or colour photographs. Our checks work the same either way.
Can the photo be retouched?
No. The photograph must not be manipulated in any way that would change even the smallest details in your appearance or could raise suspicions about its authenticity — and the instructions single out digital make-up as not allowed.
Our own assumptions
- The police publish the paper-photo head measurements in millimetres but no overall paper size in this document, so we build to the electronic specification — exactly 500 × 653 px — and leave the physical size unstated rather than copying the 36 × 47 mm figure that circulates on competitor sites without an official source in hand.
- ⚠️ Finland measures the head excluding hair and beard, estimating the crown if necessary. Our crown detection uses the top of the cut-out outline, which includes hair — for voluminous hair or a tall beard-to-crown span we run conservative; check the guide lines on the preview.
- Finland accepts black-and-white photographs; our checks work the same either way.
- The police recommend having a studio send the photograph directly to their server. If you upload our file yourself, remember their warning: there is no preliminary inspection, and the photo is only evaluated when your application is processed.
- The chin is measured by 68-point facial landmarks; the crown comes from the top of the cut-out outline. Assumed accuracy ±5%, calibrated only on synthetic fixtures.
Where the authority does not specify something, we say so rather than pretending it does. The points above are our engineering choices, not official requirements.