Join the e-passport photo network and secure your future!
Benefit from our cloud-based system and remain the first port of call for high-quality passport photos
Our solution
The photo industry is on the verge of an exciting innovation: the cloud-based e-passport photo process. Since May 2025, the way passport photos are created and sent to authorities has been revolutionized. On this page, you can find out everything you need to know about the new system and how to register for it. Let’s take the next step towards a digital future together!
Our solution enables you to continue offering passport photos even after the new law – in the highest quality and with maximum flexibility.
Digitization is progressing and now also includes the creation of passport photos. The new law on “Strengthening security in the passport, ID and immigration document system”, which was published in November 2023, is an important step towards increasing the security against forgery of ID cards. One major change is that passport photos may no longer be submitted in physical form when applying for ID documents.
Your opportunity as a photographer
To ensure that you as a photographer can continue to offer passport photos without restrictions and remain the first port of call for professional passport photos, the E-Passport Photo Working Group has developed a cloud-based process. This ensures a high level of security when creating biometric passport photos and supports the requirements for certification and registration.
Why participate? Advantages of the network:
LEGAL
SECURITY
Meet all the requirements of the new passport photo law.
HIGHEST
SECURITY
Make sure that your passport photos meet the highest security standards.
STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY
Use our cloud-based system for fast and secure photo transfers to the office.
Registration
The e-passport photo procedure described above is available on a non-discriminatory basis to all photographers who can demonstrate their service provider status in accordance with the Regulation. Currently, more than 1,800 participants have already registered in Germany (as of August 2024).
Get in touch with us!
Find out more about the possibilities of working with us and make sure you can continue to offer passport photos for your customers in the future.
STEPHAN UHLENHUTH
Head of working group
E-Passfoto
RINGFOTO GmbH & Co KG
Benno-Strauß-Str. 39
90763 Fürth/Germany
passbild@ringfoto.de
Phone: +49 911 6585 – 0
Fax: +49 911 6588 – 347
You have already registered - perfect!
Here you will find the procedure for registered participants in the procedure:
1. actively approach the office in your area and contact it.
Present yourself as a partner of the authority for taking biometric passport photos. Point out that your office is not obliged to have the terminal offered by the Bundesdruckerei sent to you or to purchase it. If you can get ten or more offices / municipalities / cities to come to your town hall or another location on a date agreed with Mr. Uhlenhuth (suhlenhuth@ringfoto.de), we will be happy to support you with a presentation! Alternatively, an online appointment as part of a team call is also possible.
2. consult a system integrator immediately to find the best solution for you.
If you do not yet have an active business relationship with a system integrator, you will find a brief introduction to our three cooperation partners below. These are medium-sized companies in the photo industry that have already developed, marketed and supported digital passport photo systems in recent decades and work closely with RINGFOTO as part of the e-passport photo working group:
Together with RINGFOTO, these system integrators have developed a passport photo system (hardware and software) for the cloud-based e-passport photo system based on their many years of experience in the passport photo business. This allows you to continue to participate in the passport photo business while taking into account the central security requirements regarding the prevention of morphing and other manipulations. Depending on your individual requirements, the system can be stationary or mobile and can therefore also be used outside the studio, e.g. for use in hospitals or retirement homes.
3. after selecting a system integrator, you can purchase the license from them.
This license is required in order to use the system and make the images you have created available to the authorities via the high-security cloud. The respective system integrator will be happy to explain the details and the exact procedure to you.
4. initial identification with e-ID procedure
- Over the next few months, you will be asked to log in to the e-passport photo system by e-mail and, as the company owner, you will have to identify yourself once with your ID card using the e-ID procedure.
- Check whether your ID card is NFC-capable and whether the online ID function of your ID card or electronic residence permit is activated. If this function is not activated, you can have it activated free of charge at your local citizens’ office.
- To be able to use the online ID function, you will need the six-digit PIN code you have chosen yourself. If you have lost your PIN letter or no longer know your PIN, you can request a new PIN free of charge from your local Citizens’ Registration Office. The Citizens’ Registration Office will also provide you with your blocking password on request. You can find further information here
5. register all employees of your company in the e-passport photo system who are also to take passport photos.
All these employees must also identify themselves using the e-ID procedure. EU citizens who are employed by you require an e-ID card for citizens of the EU and the EEA. Further information can be found under the following link.
On Friday, November 10, 2023, the E-Passfoto working group successfully installed and tested the cloud-based E-Passfoto system together with three photographers and photo retailers in the Offenbach region.
Live test of the e-passport photo system: During the test, passport photos were taken live on site and transferred directly to the photographers’ software. These photos were then automatically cropped to biometric specifications and checked. The photographers received immediate feedback on the quality and conformity of the images.
Approval and cloud upload: After approval by the customers, the photos were uploaded to the cloud to make them retrievable for the offices. In addition, a printout with a QR code was generated for each photographer.
Smooth process at the City of Offenbach Office: The City of Offenbach Office used the VOIS/FSW specialist process from HSH – prokommunal to scan the QR code and check the image. The entire process ran smoothly and the image was integrated into the specialist process without any problems.
Conclusion: This successful test marks significant progress in the digitization and security of passport photo production and shows how efficiently and securely the new e-passport photo system works in practice.
The security of our system is very important to us. If you have any questions or comments about security or would like to point out a potential vulnerability, please contact epassfoto-sicherheit@ringfoto.de
