DGSN Applications: Photo and Document Requirements Explained
What the DGSN recruitment portal typically expects from your ID photo and supporting documents, and how to prepare them without guesswork.
DGSN (Direction Générale de la Sûreté Nationale) recruitment campaigns draw huge numbers of applicants, and the portal's upload requirements are strict about a few specific things that are easy to get wrong on a first try.
The photo
DGSN applications typically expect a formal ID-style photo: plain background, neutral expression, recent, and — critically — under a fairly tight file size limit, commonly in the 100 KB range. A photo straight off a modern phone is usually 10–30x too large.
The fix isn't to lower your camera's photo quality setting (that affects every photo you take) — it's to compress just this one photo to the exact target after taking it. A 100 KB compressor does this automatically, finding the best quality that still fits.
The document format
Supporting documents (diplomas, CIN, certificates) are almost always requested as PDF, not as raw photos. If you only have photos of these documents, assemble them into a PDF first rather than uploading individual image files, unless the form explicitly asks for images.
Common rejection reasons, roughly in order
- Photo file too large — by far the most common. Fix: compress to the exact stated limit.
- Photo taken casually — selfie angle, non-plain background, group photo cropped down. Fix: retake against a plain wall or use an ID photo tool that adds a proper white background.
- Wrong file format — a photo submitted where a PDF was expected, or vice versa.
- HEIC files — iPhone photos saved in a format the portal's upload form doesn't recognize. Convert to JPG first.
A note on the exact numbers
DGSN campaigns are run periodically and specifics (exact KB limits, required photo dimensions) can shift between campaigns — always check the current notice PDF or portal page for the number in effect for your specific campaign, and treat any number quoted here as a starting point, not a guarantee.
Once you know the target, preparing the file itself takes under a minute and happens entirely on your device — nothing you upload during preparation, only the final file goes to DGSN's own portal.