Near infrared (NIR) absorbing filter can be applied on lighting apparatus for night vision imaging system (NVIS)-compatible lighting. NIR absorbing filters were prepared by doping cyanine dye in polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) filter to develop the NIR absorbing plastic filter for NVIS-compatible lighting. The influence of cyanine dye's dosage on the NVIS compatibility of the filters was studied. The results show that the transmittivity of visible light decreases gradually and the NIR absorbing capacity increases gradually with the adding of cyanine dye's dosage, and the NVIS Radiance decreased gradually towards meeting the needs of the NVIS-compatible lighting. A NIR absorbing green filter for NVIS-compatible lighting was achieved by utlizing the cyanine dye and common dyes(Yellow GS and Blue AP-FW) for plastic, the filter's color was NVIS green A and the filter's NVIS Radiance value was 9.22×10-12, which met the needs of the NVIS-compatible lighting in military standard, and the filter had excellent photostability.