The Colombian passport office or consulate takes its own photo during your appointment, so most applicants do not need this. Colombia publishes no rules for a photo you bring, so we run general file and face checks and frame the photo at 35 x 45 mm by the ICAO standard, with copies on a 4 x 6 inch sheet. We do not change the background. If you ask for it and confirm that such a photo may be rejected, we soften shine on the skin. We never change your features or the shape of your face. The authority decides what it accepts.
What the authority does not publish
- For a photo brought to the office, the Cancillería publishes no photo size, head height, eye line, background colour, glasses rule, head covering rule, recency or file spec.
- The authority says photos are not necessary ("No es necesario llevar fotos", "No requiere fotografías"). That is not a ban on bringing one, and no page read says a photo you bring will be used.
- The same on-site rule is stated for minors: the minor and the accompanying adult attend in person and no photos are needed.
- Recommendation only, from the FAQ: "Se recomienda presentarse con peinados sencillos y evitar el uso de joyas y accesorios." The wording differed between two fetches of the FAQ, so it needs a check in a browser.
- Resolución 10927 de 2026 asks for 3,5 x 4,5 cm photos only for the "libreta de tripulante terrestre" (Art. 27). That is a different document and its values are not used here.
- No page read mentions retouched, altered or background-edited photos.
- The online application is a different path with its own published photo rules, including a mandatory photo upload. Those rules are not used here.
What you get
- Your original photo. The file you uploaded, unchanged.
- 35 x 45 mm photo. Your photo framed on your face and sized to 35 x 45 mm, ready for a photo lab. The authority publishes no single size, so we use the 35 x 45 mm ICAO portrait.
- 4×6 inch print sheet. Copies of the 35 x 45 mm photo laid out on one 4×6 inch sheet, for a photo lab.
- What to bring instead. What the Cancillería says about the appointment and the photo taken there, in its own words.
Sources
Sources checked on 2026-09-22. Issued by Colombia: Cancillería.
- Cancillería: Pasaportes, Requisitos(opens in a new tab)
- Cancillería: Pasaportes, Preguntas frecuentes(opens in a new tab)
- Consulado de Colombia en Madrid: Pasaportes, Requisitos(opens in a new tab)
- Resolución 10927 del 4 de agosto de 2026, Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores(opens in a new tab)
- Cancillería: SITAC, Guía de Usuario: Pasaporte en Línea (PDF, 20/10/2025)(opens in a new tab)
What we do not claim
We cannot promise that an authority will accept a photo, and we do not submit applications for you. The issuing authority always decides.