What the rule actually requires
Do not look for a TIE photo regulation, because there isn’t one. The documentation from the Comisaría General de Extranjería y Fronteras asks for “a photograph meeting the requirements established in the regulations on the national identity document”. In other words, it points to Royal Decree 1553/2005, whose article 5.1.b reads:
“Una fotografía reciente en color del rostro del solicitante, tamaño 32 por 26 milímetros, con fondo uniforme blanco y liso, tomada de frente con la cabeza totalmente descubierta y sin gafas de cristales oscuros o cualquier otra prenda que pueda impedir o dificultar la identificación de la persona.”
That is: a recent colour photograph of the applicant’s face, 26 × 32 mm, on a plain uniform white background, taken from the front with the head completely uncovered and without dark glasses or anything else that hinders identification. Everything else — the exact head height, the margin above it, the sharpness — comes from biometric practice, and that is what separates an accepted photo from a returned one.
The TIE, the NIE and the EU registration certificate
It is the same photo. The green EU certificate does not always carry a photograph, but when the procedure asks for one, the format is the same 26 × 32 mm. The same goes for a TIE renewal, a TIE as a family member of an EU citizen, and the long-term residence card: the form changes, the photo does not.
The five real reasons photos get rejected
- A background that is not white. The light grey of your living-room wall does not count as white, and neither does the shadow you cast by standing close to it.
- A badly proportioned head. It must take up 70 % to 80 % of the photo height, measured from the crown — hair included — to the chin. Home crops usually leave it far too small.
- A turned or tilted face. “From the front” means both sides of the face are equally visible and the eye line is horizontal.
- Glare on glasses. Prescription glasses are allowed, but if the lens bounces the window back and hides an eye, the photo is no good. Sunglasses never are.
- Printing on plain paper. Even with a correct file, an A4 sheet from a home printer looks grainy and is turned away on sight.
How many photos to bring, and what else you need
Bring two or three copies. The procedure asks for one, but some comisarías keep one for the file and ask for another if the first does not convince them. Alongside the photo, the fingerprint appointment usually requires the completed EX-17 form, proof of payment of the tasa modelo 790 código 012, your passport with a photocopy, and the document granting your residence. Always check your own comisaría’s list: it varies from province to province.
How to get it without going to a shop
You need a front-facing photo, in window light, taken by someone else at your eye level, with a metre between you and the wall and room above your head. The processing does the rest: we cut out the background and make it plain white, measure the head from crown to chin, straighten the tilt of the eye line and crop to 26 × 32 mm at true 600 dpi.
You see the finished result with no watermark on it and decide. If you are happy, you download the files free of charge, plus a 10 × 15 cm sheet with eleven copies ready to take to a print shop.
TIE photo questions
Can I use the photo from my own country’s passport?
Only if it is 26 × 32 mm with a white background. Many countries use 35 × 45 mm on a grey or light blue background: that format does not fit and the photo has to be redone.
Can I wear a headscarf or veil?
The rule asks for the head to be uncovered, and religious head coverings are accepted as long as the oval of the face is completely clear, from forehead to chin.
What about a beard, long hair or make-up?
No problem, as long as you are recognisable and your face is not covered. Hair is best tucked behind the ears.
Is a child’s TIE photo different?
The format is identical. What changes is how hard the shot is: we cover that in the baby ID photo guide.