Can hair go outside the frame in a residence card photo? What the MOS rules say

A residence card photo shows the head from the top to the upper shoulders, with the face taking up 70–80% of the height. At that scale, hair that reaches below the shoulders, or a voluminous hairstyle, does not fit into the frame: it is cut off by the left, right and bottom edges. A common worry is whether MOS or the office will reject such a photo. It will not. No Polish rule requires the whole hairstyle to fit inside the photo. What must be inside is the head itself, from the crown to the chin, and the upper shoulders.

What the residence card regulation says

The regulation on the residence permit application (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 553, in force since 27 April 2026, replacing the 2014 regulation) describes the photo as showing “wizerunek twarzy cudzoziemca od wierzchołka głowy do górnej części barków, tak aby twarz zajmowała 70–80% fotografii” (the face from the top of the head to the upper shoulders, so that the face takes up 70–80% of the photo) with eyes “nieprzesłoniętymi włosami” (not covered by hair). That is all it says about hair: it must not cover the eyes. The size of the hairstyle and whether it fits in the frame are not regulated.

What gov.pl says about hair

The official guidance for ID card and passport photos, which follow the same biometric standard, is explicit: “fryzura może wystawać poza obrys zdjęcia” (the hairstyle may extend beyond the outline of the photo). The passport photo guide adds that with a large volume of hair, the head must be fully shown without making the face smaller, and “część fryzury może znaleźć się poza kadrem” (part of the hairstyle may be outside the frame). The same guidance notes that the ears do not have to be visible.

What ICAO 9303 says

The Polish rules follow the ICAO 9303 standard for biometric portraits. It defines the crown as “the top of the head ignoring any hair” and says directly that the 70–80% requirement “may mean cropping the picture so that not all the hair is visible”. In other words, the standard expects the hair to be cut off for people with long hair.

What MOS checks, and what the officer checks

At upload, MOS checks the file: JPG format, at least 684 × 883 pixels in 35 × 45 proportions, and a size under 2.5 MB. There is no official statement that the portal analyses the content of the photo. The substantive requirements, including the framing, expression, background and whether the eyes are visible, are assessed later by an officer at the voivodeship office. Hair leaving the frame is not among the reasons a photo gets questioned; a face that is too small, hair over the eyes, a shadowed background or a smile are.

How to frame the photo

• Put the top of the head, not the top of the hair, near the upper guide line and the chin on the lower one. Do not zoom out to fit the ends of the hair: that makes the face too small and breaks the 70–80% rule.
• Keep the eyes and eyebrows free of hair; a fringe is fine if it stays above the eyes.
• Hair may touch and cross the left, right and bottom edges.
• If the background is replaced, check the outline of the hair in the preview: clipped strands or a halo are a more likely reason for a request for a new photo than hair outside the frame.

Frequently asked

Does the hair have to be behind the ears?

No. The guidance says the ears do not have to be visible. The hair only must not cover the eyes.

Can the hair be cut off at the bottom edge?

Yes. The photo ends at the upper shoulders, so anything below that, hair included, is outside the frame by design.

Is a voluminous hairstyle a problem?

No, as long as the head itself is fully shown and the face is not shrunk to fit the hair. Part of the hairstyle may be outside the frame.

Sources

• Dz.U. 2026 poz. 553, the regulation on the residence permit application and the photo
• gov.pl: Zdjęcie do dowodu lub paszportu
• gov.pl: passport photo guide (PDF)
• Office for Foreigners: MOS questions and answers
• ICAO Doc 9303, Part 3