Consular applications abroad take two 5x5cm square photos on a white background — the same requirement the consulates write as 2 x 2 inches. Inside Israel, PIBA bureaus photograph you on site instead.
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5x5cm square, white, two copies — unless you are inside Israel, where the bureau photographs you free of charge.
PIBA bureaus photograph you at no cost.
The consulates ask for a square.
Written as 5x5cm, or 2 x 2 inches.
Two recent photographs, not one.
Biometric passports are shot on site, free.
When you apply for a biometric passport or ID card at a Population and Immigration Authority bureau, there is no need to bring passport photos — the photo is taken at the service station at no charge.
So the audience for a prepared photo is narrower than it looks: Israelis applying through a consulate abroad. Portugal and Sweden work the same way, and it is worth knowing before you spend money on prints.
5x5cm, two copies, white background.
Israeli consulates ask for two recent photos against a white background, with a full front view of the face, measuring 5x5 cm. The same page also writes the requirement as two recent passport photographs, 2 x 2 inches, with a white background — so the two figures are interchangeable as far as the consulate is concerned.
This page previously described a 35x45mm rectangle. That was wrong, and it was wrong specifically for the people who actually need this page: consular applicants abroad are the ones the square requirement applies to. Corrected on 17 August 2026.
The consulate adds a note you rarely see spelled out — please ensure the photographs are not blurry and that the face is fully visible and clearly identifiable. Softness is being named as a rejection reason, not just framing.
You cannot crop a square out of a narrower photo.
Most size mismatches can be rescued by re-cropping. This one cannot. A 50x50mm square does not fit inside a photo that is only 35mm wide, so a spare European-format photo is a dead end rather than a starting point.
Work from the original camera file, framed square from the outset.
The practical upside is that a US passport photo is the right shape. Any studio anywhere knows what 2 by 2 means, even if it has never made an Israeli photo.
White, head and shoulders, nobody else.
The consulates state white — not light, not off-white. Stand about a metre clear of the wall so your shoulders do not cast a shadow onto it, and light your face evenly from the front.
The photo should show your entire head and shoulders in colour, with only you in frame — no other people and no objects.
Keep a neutral expression with your mouth closed, remove hats and head coverings unless worn for religious reasons, leave off jewellery that obscures your face, and make sure the photo is recent.
Printed at 50 x 50mm, 1181 x 1181px, JPG/PNG. Computed from this photo's own specification, not typed by hand.
Requirements verified · Source: embassies.gov.il (New York)
Watch out — Identical prints needed: 2
Create the 5x5cm square photo an Israeli consular passport application needs — white background, two copies. Free, and your photo never leaves your browser.
Start from the original, not a photo already cropped to 35x45mm.
We crop to a 50x50mm square with your face centred on white.
Consulates ask for two recent photographs.
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