Philippine Passport Photo: White or Blue Background? (2026)

White is the current answer

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs requires a plain white background for the current ePassport, at 35x45mm, neutral expression, mouth closed, both eyes open and clearly visible, no glasses, taken within the last 6 months.

Where the blue answer comes from

Blue, sometimes described as royal blue, was the background color for the older Philippine machine-readable passport (MRP). That format has been phased out in favor of the ePassport, but a lot of the content describing it (guides, forum answers, printed signage at photo studios, even other online passport photo tools) never got updated. Because the physical size did not change, 35x45mm either way, the background color ends up being the one detail that quietly drifts out of date without anyone noticing.

If you are an OFW applying for a visa too

The white background answer above is specifically for the Philippine passport itself. If you are also applying for a visa or work permit for wherever you are headed, that document has its own separate background and size rules set by the destination country, not by the DFA. Gulf states, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and others each run their own spec, and it is worth checking the destination country's page directly rather than assuming it matches the Philippine passport rule.

We put together a broader rundown of how these destination specs differ in the overseas worker visa photo guide.

Frequently asked questions