Spain Visa Photo Requirements

No single national photo standard

Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, EU and Cooperation does not publish one photo-size figure that applies to every mission. The Consulate General in São Paulo’s Schengen requirements sheet states one size [1]; the Embassy in La Paz’s own Schengen sheet, describing the photo as passport-size, states a different one [2]. Neither page is a nationwide circular — each is a single mission’s own checklist, published on the same Ministry domain.

Photo count and visa category both vary by mission

The number of photos asked for is not consistent either. Missions handling the Schengen (short-stay) visa disagree with each other — La Paz’s checklist asks for one photo, and does not specify how it should be attached to the application form [2], while Asunción’s checklist for the same visa category asks for more than one [3]. A national (long-stay) visa checklist, from the Consulate General in Casablanca, also asks for more than one photo [5], for a different visa category than the short-stay Schengen visa.

Glasses: two missions, two different rules

Where a mission states its own glasses rule, the wording is not identical everywhere. The Embassy in La Paz’s rule excludes dark glasses and any glare or reflection, without further qualifying the frame [2]. The Embassy in Asunción’s rule is more specific: glasses are excluded unless they have a thin frame and show no glare from the flash [3].

Retouched, portrait-style, and old photos are rejected

The Embassy in La Paz’s Schengen checklist states plainly that portrait-style photos, old photos, and digitally retouched photos will not be accepted [2]. Separately, the Consulate General in London’s national-visa guidance also states that it does not accept digital retouching on identity photographs, and directs applicants to the ICAO photograph standard for the requirements a photograph must otherwise meet [8].

A minor’s photo must not show the person holding them

Where a child is too young to be photographed alone, the Embassy in La Paz’s checklist specifies that no part of the body of the adult holding the child may appear in the photo [2].

The passport photo standard is a different document

A separate Ministry document, the Consulate General in Düsseldorf’s passport photo rules, sets its own width-and-height range for Spanish passport photos [7]. That page governs passport photos, not visa photos, and is cited on this page only so the two are not confused with each other.

The photo is submitted in person, not uploaded

Spain has no online (e-visa) application. The official Schengen visa application form carries only a blank box for the photograph; the photograph itself, along with fingerprints where these are required, is collected in person at the appointment and entered into the visa system by the consular authority, rather than uploaded as a file by the applicant [10]. At some missions, booking that appointment and handing in documents is outsourced to an external contractor, while the decision on the visa itself remains with the consulate [11].