Greece Visa Photo — 35×45 mm Schengen Standard

Greece Visa Photo Rules (2026): What Are the Measurements?

Greece is a Schengen member, so its visa photo follows the common standard set by the EU Visa Code (Regulation EC 810/2009, Annex VI): **35×45 mm portrait**, head height **32–36 mm** from chin to crown (face filling 70-80% of the frame), plain white or light grey background, taken within the last 6 months, in colour and unretouched. The general Schengen rules are detailed on the Schengen visa photo page; see the 35×45 mm guide for size background.

Türkiye is one of Europe's highest-volume markets for Greece: **around 310,000 applications were processed in 2025**, and neighbour traffic (ferry routes, weekend island trips) grows every year. Since appointments get scarce in high season (April–September), preparing controllable items like the photo correctly and in advance is the cheapest way to avoid a "missing document" deferral.

What Is the Kosmos Visa Centre and How Does It Check the Photo?

Greece's applications in Türkiye are collected through the **Kosmos visa centres** (Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Antalya, Bodrum, Marmaris, Çeşme and seasonal offices). On appointment day, **2 identical 35×45 mm prints** go into the file; the officer checks the size against a template. Photos that are off-size, have shadowed backgrounds, show a smile or look older than 6 months can turn the file back on appointment day — on-site retakes are usually paid and queue-bound.

The Schengen mode of vesikalik.com.tr pre-checks exactly what the Kosmos officer looks at: the 32-36 mm head band, eye line, background uniformity, expression neutrality and lens glare. The 478-point face mesh auto-aligns the crop; output comes as both a 10×15 print sheet (8 cut-marked copies) and a digital JPEG.

Island Gate Visa or Regular Schengen? Which One Needs a Photo?

Since April 2024 Turkish citizens can enter selected Greek islands with an **express visa at the gate**; the scheme was extended in 2025. That route needs no photo but has two limits: only **7 days** and only **that island**. Crossing to Athens, hopping to another island or taking a mainland ferry is not possible on a gate visa — those plans require a regular Schengen application via Kosmos, and therefore the 35×45 mm photo.

Practical tip: if the summer plan combines islands and the mainland, apply for the regular Schengen visa from the start. With the gate visa costing about €60 next to the €90 visa fee, paying twice for two separate trips usually ends up more expensive than one Schengen visa.

What Are the Most Common Reasons Greece Photos Get Rejected?

The most frequent photo issues at Kosmos and Greek-consulate review: **(1) head height outside the band** (below 32 mm or above 36 mm); **(2) background problems** — wall shadows, patterned or dark backgrounds; **(3) an old photo** — the exact same frame as in the passport violates the 6-month rule; **(4) smiling / open mouth**; **(5) lens glare**. All of these are fixable at shooting time and are caught automatically at the analysis stage.

Since 2025, Schengen applications run through the **automated VIS biometric quality score**: a photo below ~0.6 on the 0-1 scale gets a "retake required" flag and adds 2-4 weeks of delay. In high season that delay can mean missing the holiday date; pre-scoring the photo against the VIS criteria removes this risk.

Which Other Applications Can the Same Photo Be Used For?

Since the 35×45 mm ICAO format is the common Schengen standard, a photo prepared for Greece is dimensionally valid for Germany (note: Germany is stricter about light grey background and no glasses), Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and the other 28 Schengen states. The same size also serves the UK visa and Russia visa; the square-format US visa is produced separately.

vesikalik.com.tr can generate several formats from one shot: a 35×45 print + digital copy for the Greece file, plus separately optimised outputs for UAE/Dubai or other country applications in the same season. The 6-month freshness rule applies to every application separately — reusing last year's frame in this year's file is the most avoidable rejection reason.