France Schengen Visa Photo Requirements (Type C)

Photo size and shooting rules

This page covers the photograph for a France short-stay Schengen visa (Type C) — the visa for short stays. National visas (Type D) for longer stays, residence, work, or study follow a different document list on France-Visas and are not covered here.

France-Visas sets the photo width at 35 mm with the face at 70–80% of the image. The France-Visas FAQ states the face should measure 32–36 mm "from chin to forehead (excluding hair)". The ISO/IEC photograph requirements PDF requires a colour photo with natural skin tones, no more than 6 months old, taken against a plain light-coloured background, and printed in high quality on photo-quality paper. The common shooting rules below are drawn from the same PDF, the France-Visas FAQ, and Schengen/ICAO guidance.

The number of prints and the exact submission steps are set by the office that accepts applications where you live. Confirm the live checklist on France-Visas for your country of residence before you book or print.

• Recency: no more than 6 months old; must look like you today.
• Quality: colour, sharp focus, high quality, no creases or ink marks. Digital captures printed on photo-quality paper at high resolution.
• Background: plain light-coloured (a plain light grey can work if even). Avoid busy scenes and strong shadows on the face or behind the head.
• Lighting: even light, natural skin tones, appropriate brightness and contrast; no flash reflection on skin, no red-eye.
• Pose and expression: look straight at the camera; face square-on, not tilted; eyes open and not covered by hair; neutral expression, mouth closed; alone in the frame.
• Glasses: eyes fully visible; no tinted lenses; no flash reflection on the lenses; frames must not cover the eyes. Remove glasses if those conditions are hard to meet.
• Head covering: only for religious reasons, and the full face from chin to forehead and both edges of the face must still be clear.
• Editing: keep brightness and crop adjustments that do not change how you look. Avoid contour reshaping, eye or nose changes, and heavy beauty filters. The photo must remain realistic with natural skin tones.

Photos for children

Children need a photograph that meets the same quality rules: recency, a plain light-coloured background, and the child alone in the frame. France-Visas and its ISO/IEC photograph requirements PDF publish no separate numeric size table for children, so the same general rules apply: a photo no older than 6 months, 35 mm width, the face at 70–80%, a plain light-coloured background, a neutral expression with the mouth closed, and the child alone in the frame with no chair backs, toys, or other people visible. Because France publishes no child-specific size table, this page follows the ICAO-general basis; re-check the PDF if it is updated.

Fingerprint and live-photo capture rules for children (for example, that under-12s are exempt from fingerprints) are part of the application process rather than the photo specification. The office that accepts your application can confirm the current biometric procedure for children.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

These points combine the France-Visas ISO/IEC photograph requirements PDF wording (including its illustrated rejection examples) with general ICAO-style preparation checks.

France-specific risks: wrong print width (outside 35 mm); face under 32 mm or over 36 mm; patterned or dark background; shadows on the face or behind the head; a black-and-white print instead of colour; tinted or reflective glasses; heavy frames; wearing a hat or cap; redeye; portrait-style framing (too close or too far away); another person or a toy visible in a child's photo; photo older than 6 months; low-resolution print.

• Head cut off or tilted: retake with more distance, face square-on to the camera, both edges of the face visible.
• Uneven colour, shadows, or blow-out on the background: use a plain light background and even light so the face and the back of the head stay free of hard shadows.
• Glasses glare: remove glasses if practical, or use clear lenses and lighting that shows the pupils fully.
• Old photo: replace any portrait older than six months or that no longer matches your appearance.
• Heavy beauty filters: start again from a natural image; do not change face shape or skin texture.
• Pixelated print: export a high-resolution colour file and print on photo-quality paper.