Why sell the ICA one but not the German one?

Germany names apps. ICA names alterations, shows a retouched face as the failure, and recommends apps for taking the photo. One is a rule against the tool; the other is a rule against retouching. The page says which reading we took and that ICA decides.

Will more authorities go Germany's way?

The trend across the pages read for this site is toward in-person biometric capture and in-app photo capture for e-visas. Where that happens, the answer becomes "no photo from you at all" rather than "no app".

Which passports and visas refuse a photo made with an app?

TL;DR Two outright: Germany's passport and New Zealand's visa. Germany names passport-photo apps as not permitted since May 2025; Immigration New Zealand names "cropping your head and shoulders to place it on a plain background" as a banned edit. Two more say "no alterations" in a way their own examples show is aimed at retouched faces — Singapore's ICA and Taiwan. This site does not sell the first two and warns on the second two.

The two that name the tool

Germany: since 1 May 2025 the picture must be taken by a studio or by the passport office and sent over an encrypted cloud link with a data-matrix code; photos taken on your own phone and photos from passport-photo apps are named as not permitted. New Zealand's visa: "You cannot manipulate or digitally alter your photo using Artificial Intelligence (AI) or other digital editing tools", and the banned list includes placing your head and shoulders on a plain background.

The two that say "no alterations"

ICA: "Digital photo must be original without alterations using computer software/mobile app" — the ✗ example is a retouched face, and the same page recommends photo apps for taking the picture. Taiwan: "Alteration of the digital image is not permitted", inside a paragraph about print resolution and resampling. Both read as rules against changing the face; neither says so in as many words, and both pages on this site say that is our reading.

And one that expressly allows cropping

New Zealand's passport — the same country as the visa rule above — tells applicants to "take a wider shot… then crop it to the correct head-size", while forbidding filters and AI that change how you look. The difference between the two New Zealand pages is the clearest statement anywhere of where the real line is: the face, not the frame.

The catalogue's position, document by document

Document	Authority's words	This site
Germany passport	Apps "not permitted"; studio or office only	Not sold. No purchase button.
New Zealand visa	No AI or digital editing; background replacement named	Not sold. No purchase button.
New Zealand passport	No changing how you look; cropping expressly allowed	Sold; real-face output only.
Singapore passport / IC	"Original without alterations using computer software/mobile app"	Sold with a warning; real-face output only; AI-face is keepsake-only.
Taiwan passport	"Alteration of the digital image is not permitted"	Sold with a warning; the sentence is quoted on the page.

A real case

A German-Singaporean dual national renewed both passports in one month. The Singapore one: photographed by a friend, cropped and background-replaced here, accepted. The German one: this site declined, she went to a studio in Tanglin that had the encrypted-transfer setup, and the office scanned the code off her receipt.

Common questions

Why sell the ICA one but not the German one?: Germany names apps. ICA names alterations, shows a retouched face as the failure, and recommends apps for taking the photo. One is a rule against the tool; the other is a rule against retouching. The page says which reading we took and that ICA decides.
Will more authorities go Germany's way?: The trend across the pages read for this site is toward in-person biometric capture and in-app photo capture for e-visas. Where that happens, the answer becomes "no photo from you at all" rather than "no app".

Sources

Read on the issuing authority's own pages on the dates shown on each document page:

Germany passport: www.personalausweisportal.de (read 2026-09-06)
New Zealand visa: www.immigration.govt.nz (read 2026-09-06)
New Zealand passport: www.passports.govt.nz (read 2026-09-06)
Singapore passport: www.ica.gov.sg (read 2026-09-06)
Taiwan passport: www.roc-taiwan.org (read 2026-09-06)

SGfoto is independent — not affiliated with or endorsed by any government or issuing authority — and does not guarantee acceptance. Requirements change; the authority's page is the one that counts. Rebuilt 2026-09-06.