Home / Blog / Passport & Visa US DV Lottery Visa Photo Requirements (2026 Complete Guide)
By Abdulkeni Abdelwahid Updated 2026 15 min Try it now: Make a compliant 600×600 px DV Lottery photo in under a minute.
Open tool Every year the Diversity Visa (DV) programme makes 55,000 US immigrant visas available by random selection — and every year a large share of entries are thrown out for a reason that has nothing to do with luck: the photo. The Electronic Diversity Visa (E-DV) system runs an automated check on every image you upload, and if it fails, your entry is either rejected on the spot or disqualified later at the interview stage with no appeal and no refund of the year you waited. This guide sets out the exact US DV Lottery photo requirements for 2026 — dimensions, file size, head height, background, clothing, headwear and the digital rules — written to mirror the official U.S. Department of State standard published on travel.state.gov. It is maintained by the team at ImageGates, whose free photo tools are used by more than 12,000 applicants a month to produce compliant passport and visa images.
On this page
- DV Lottery photo specifications at a glance
- Why the photo rules are so strict
- Head size, eye height and framing rules
- Background, lighting and clothing
- File format, dimensions and size limits
- Step-by-step: take and submit your photo
- 12 mistakes that get entries disqualified
- Photos for spouses and children
- Glasses, headwear and medical exceptions
- After selection: the second photo
- Final pre-submission checklist
- Frequently asked questions
DV Lottery photo specifications at a glance
If you read nothing else, read this table. Every value below is a hard requirement of the E-DV entry system — not a recommendation.
| Requirement | 2026 specification |
|---|
| Image dimensions | 600 × 600 pixels, exactly square (1:1) |
| Maximum file size | 240 KB (240,000 bytes) |
| File format | JPEG (.jpg) only |
| Colour | 24-bit colour (sRGB). Greyscale and 8-bit images are rejected |
| Head height (chin to crown) | 50%–69% of image height — roughly 300–414 px |
| Eye height from bottom | 56%–69% of image height — roughly 336–414 px |
| Background | Plain white or off-white, no shadows, no pattern, no objects |
| Photo age | Taken within the last 6 months |
| Expression | Neutral, both eyes open, facing the camera squarely |
| Glasses | Not permitted (since November 2016) |
| Printed alternative | 2 × 2 inches (51 × 51 mm) if scanned from a print at 300 DPI |
The DV Lottery photo is a 600 × 600 px square. Head height and eye level are measured as percentages of the total image height. Ready to make your entry photo?
Free, private and processed in your browser — exact 600×600 px output, white background, correct head height and under 240 KB.
Create Your US DV Lottery Visa Photo → Why the photo rules are so strict
The DV Lottery is one of the few US immigration processes with no human pre-screening at the entry stage. Millions of entries arrive in a four-to-five week window, and the Kentucky Consular Center relies on automated facial-recognition and image-quality software to filter them. That software is unforgiving because the same photo later has to survive three more checks: duplicate detection across the entire entry pool, identity matching at the consular interview, and biometric enrolment when the immigrant visa is issued.
Two specific enforcement behaviours catch people out. First, duplicate-photo detection. The system compares your image against every other entry in that year's pool and against previous years. Reusing the passport photo you also submitted last year, or a photo that another family member submitted, triggers a duplicate flag. Second, post-selection review. Passing the upload does not mean passing the rules. Consular officers re-examine the entry photo at the interview, and if it does not match the standard or does not match you, the case is refused under section 212(a)(6)(C) — misrepresentation — and there is no appeal.
The practical takeaway: a photo that "looks fine" is not the standard. A photo that is measurably within spec is. That is why we recommend running any candidate image through a checker before uploading rather than trusting the eye. Our free visa photo checker measures head height, eye line, background uniformity and file size against the US standard and tells you which value is out of range.
Head size, eye height and framing rules
Framing is the single most common technical failure. People take a good photo and then crop it wrong — usually too tight, cutting off the top of the hair, or too loose, leaving the head at 40% of the frame.
Head height: 50%–69% of the image
Head height is measured from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head including hair — not to the top of the skull. On a 600 px tall image that means the chin-to-crown distance must land between 300 px and 414 px. The comfortable target is around 355 px (roughly 59%), which leaves margin on both sides if the automated measurement disagrees with yours by a few pixels.
Voluminous hairstyles are a genuine edge case. If your hair adds significant height, measure to the top of the visible hair, not the scalp. Braids, locs and afros that extend above the head count toward head height, so you may need to zoom out slightly compared with someone with short hair.
Eye height: 56%–69% from the bottom
Draw an imaginary line through the centre of both pupils. That line must sit between 336 px and 414 px above the bottom edge of a 600 px image. In practice, if the head height is correct and the head is roughly vertically centred with slightly more space above than below the chin, the eye line lands in range automatically.
Horizontal centring and pose
The head must be centred left-to-right and the face must point directly at the camera. A three-quarter turn, a tilted chin or a head leaning to one shoulder will fail. The shoulders should be square to the lens and both ears should be roughly equally visible (hair permitting). Full-face view only — no profile, no over-the-shoulder poses.
If you already have a good photo but the crop is wrong, you do not need to retake it. Use our image cropper to reframe to a square, then resize to the 2×2 / 600×600 standard.
Background, lighting and clothing
The background must be plain white or off-white with no shadows, no gradient, no texture and nothing visible behind you — no door frames, curtains, furniture, plants or other people. A very light grey passes in most cases, but pure white is safer because the automated background-uniformity test samples the corners and compares them.
Lighting that actually works
Shadows are the number-one reason home photos fail the background test — specifically the shadow your own head casts on the wall behind you. Two fixes, both free:
- Stand away from the wall. A gap of 60–100 cm between you and the wall means your shadow falls low and out of frame.
- Face a window, not a lamp. Soft, diffuse daylight from a large window on an overcast day is the closest thing to studio lighting you have at home. Turn off overhead lights, which cast harsh downward shadows under the eyes and nose.
Avoid direct sun, which blows out highlights on the forehead and cheeks. Avoid flash, which creates a hard outline shadow and red-eye. If your finished photo still has a shaded background, our AI background remover can replace it with a clean white field without touching the subject.
Soft window light and a metre of distance from a plain wall eliminate the shadows that cause most home-photo rejections. Clothing and appearance
- Wear normal daily clothing. Uniforms — military, police, airline, medical scrubs — are not permitted. Camouflage patterns are also excluded.
- Avoid white and very pale tops. They blend into the white background and can make the automated edge detection fail. Mid-tone or dark solid colours photograph best.
- No hats, caps, hoods or headphones. Religious head coverings are the only exception (see below).
- Jewellery is acceptable as long as it does not obscure the face or reflect light into the lens.
- Makeup is fine in moderate, everyday amounts. Heavy contouring that changes apparent facial structure is a bad idea for a biometric photo.
Heymondo — travel medical insurance for your US interview trip
If you are selected, you will travel to a US embassy or consulate for your DV interview — often in another country. Heymondo covers emergency medical care, hospitalisation and repatriation while you are abroad for the appointment and medical exam.
Get a Heymondo quote → Affiliate link — we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Insurance is not required to enter the DV Lottery.
File format, dimensions and size limits
Getting the picture right is half the job. The E-DV system also rejects technically non-compliant files, and the error messages it returns are famously vague.
- JPEG only. Not PNG, not HEIC, not WebP. iPhones default to HEIC — you must convert. Our HEIC/PNG to JPG converter does it in the browser.
- Exactly 600 × 600 pixels. Not 601. Not 599. Not 600 × 800 with white bars. Square, exact.
- 240 KB maximum. A raw 600 × 600 JPEG from a modern phone often lands at 300–500 KB because of high quality settings. Compress it rather than shrinking dimensions — use our compress to 200 KB tool to stay comfortably below the ceiling.
- 24-bit sRGB colour. Black-and-white photos, sepia filters and indexed-colour images fail.
- No compression artefacts. Over-compressing to 30 KB produces visible blocking around the eyes and hairline, which can fail the image-quality test. Aim for 120–200 KB — enough headroom under the limit with clean detail.
If you scan a printed photo
You may photograph or scan an existing 2 × 2 inch (51 × 51 mm) print. Scan at 300 DPI or higher, which yields at least 600 × 600 px, then save as JPEG at the required size. Do not scan a photo that has been cut down from a larger print, folded, stapled, or that has a stamp or handwriting on the front. Our guide on how file size and resolution actually work explains the DPI-to-pixel maths if you want the detail.
Ready to make your entry photo?
Free, private and processed in your browser — exact 600×600 px output, white background, correct head height and under 240 KB.
Create Your US DV Lottery Visa Photo → Step-by-step: take and submit your photo
Here is the complete workflow, from empty wall to submitted entry, that we walk applicants through.
- Find your wall. Plain white, evenly lit, no switches or skirting board in frame. Stand about a metre in front of it.
- Set the camera at eye level. Ask someone to hold the phone about 1.2–1.5 m away at your eye height. Selfies at arm's length distort facial proportions — the nose enlarges and the ears recede, which can trip facial-geometry checks. If you must self-shoot, use a tripod or prop the phone and the self-timer.
- Use the rear camera. It is sharper and higher resolution than the front-facing one on virtually every phone.
- Neutral expression, eyes open, mouth closed. No smiling. Look straight into the lens.
- Take 8–10 frames. Blinks and micro-expressions are invisible in the moment. Choose later.
- Convert to JPEG if your phone saved HEIC.
- Crop square and size to 600 × 600 px, checking head height lands at 300–414 px and the eye line at 336–414 px.
- Clean the background if there is any shadow or clutter.
- Compress below 240 KB without visible artefacts.
- Run a compliance check before you upload. Our visa photo checker flags out-of-range measurements.
- Upload at dvprogram.state.gov during the official entry window, and save your confirmation number. It is the only way to check your status — nobody will email you if you are selected.
The fastest route through steps 6 to 10 is the dedicated US visa photo tool, which applies the crop, dimensions, background and compression in a single pass and never uploads your image to a server.
Check dimensions before uploading — the E-DV system gives no second chance once the entry window closes. 12 mistakes that get entries disqualified
These are the failures we see most often, ranked roughly by frequency.
- Reusing an old photo. The six-month rule is enforced, and duplicate detection compares against previous years.
- Wearing glasses. Prohibited since 2016, including thin frames and non-prescription lenses.
- Smiling. A neutral expression is required. Even a slight closed-mouth smile can fail geometry checks.
- Head too small or too large. Anything outside 50%–69% of frame height.
- Shadow on the background. Caused by standing too close to the wall or using flash.
- Non-white or cluttered background. Curtains, doors, painted walls, another person's shoulder.
- Wrong file type. HEIC from an iPhone, or PNG from a screenshot.
- File over 240 KB. Or under-compressed to the point of visible blocking.
- Not square. Rectangular crops padded with white bars are still rejected.
- Digitally altered features. Beauty filters, skin smoothing, teeth whitening and background blur all count as alteration and can be treated as misrepresentation.
- Missing family members. Every derivative — spouse and each unmarried child under 21 — needs their own photo, even if they will not immigrate with you.
- Low resolution upscaled. A 200 × 200 px image stretched to 600 × 600 is soft and fails quality screening.
Four rejected examples and one compliant photo — the differences are small, but the automated screening is absolute. Our companion article on why passport and visa photos get rejected covers the same failure modes across other countries, and common 2×2 photo mistakes goes deeper on the US square format specifically.
Photos for spouses and children
This is the rule that disqualifies the most otherwise-valid entries. You must include a separate, compliant photo for:
- Your spouse, even if you are separated, even if they live in another country, and even if they do not intend to immigrate with you.
- Every unmarried child under 21, including step-children, legally adopted children, and children who already live in the United States or hold another status. Again, even if they will not immigrate.
Omitting a family member is grounds for disqualification at the interview. The only exception is a spouse who is already a US citizen or lawful permanent resident, and children in the same position.
Infant and toddler photos
The same 600 × 600 px, white background, neutral expression rules apply — no exemption for age. Practical technique for babies: lay the child on a plain white sheet and photograph from directly above, making sure no hands, arms or toys appear in frame and that the face is not shaded. For toddlers, a white sheet draped over a car seat works. Eyes must be open and the mouth closed; asleep-with-eyes-closed photos are rejected. Nobody else may appear in the photo, not even a supporting hand.
EntryNest — immigration, visa and relocation planning
Selected applicants face DS-260 processing, civil-document collection, police certificates and a medical exam. EntryNest maps out document checklists, consular routing and relocation steps by country.
Visit EntryNest → Sponsored link — supports this free guide. Always confirm requirements on travel.state.gov.
Glasses, headwear and medical exceptions
Glasses are not permitted. The Department of State removed the eyewear allowance in November 2016 after a high rate of glare and frame-occlusion failures. Remove your glasses for the photo. If you have recently had eye surgery and must wear a medical eye patch or protective lenses, you may submit the photo with a signed statement from a medical professional explaining the necessity — expect additional scrutiny.
Head coverings are permitted only for religious reasons that you wear daily in public. Even then:
- The full face must be visible from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead.
- Both edges of the face must be visible — no covering across the cheeks or jaw.
- The covering must not cast a shadow across the face.
- A signed statement confirming the religious basis may be requested at interview.
Hats, caps, hoods, bandanas, sunglasses, headphones, wireless earbuds and cosmetic contact lenses that change eye colour are all prohibited. Hearing aids and similar medical devices are allowed and do not need documentation.
After selection: the second photo
Check your status at dvprogram.state.gov using your confirmation number — from roughly May of the following year. Selection is not a visa; it is permission to apply, and there are about twice as many selectees as available visas, so processing speed matters.
If selected, you will need a new photo for the DS-260 immigrant visa application and the consular interview. It must meet the same technical standard but must be recent again — taken within six months of that submission, not the one you took for the entry. Applicants routinely reuse the entry photo and get a request for evidence that costs weeks.
The rest of the selection stage involves the DS-260 online application, civil documents (birth certificate, marriage certificate, court and police records), the DV processing fee paid at the embassy, and a panel-physician medical examination. Most consulates also want printed 2 × 2 inch photos at the interview, so produce both the digital file and two prints. Our print and paper size tools lay out multiple 2 × 2 photos on a single 4 × 6 inch sheet so a local shop can print them for under a dollar.
Final pre-submission checklist
Run through this list before you press submit. Every item is a documented rejection reason.
- ☐ Photo taken within the last 6 months, and not used in any previous entry
- ☐ Exactly 600 × 600 pixels, square
- ☐ JPEG format, 24-bit colour
- ☐ File size under 240 KB, with no visible compression blocking
- ☐ Head height 300–414 px (50%–69% of frame)
- ☐ Eye line 336–414 px from the bottom (56%–69%)
- ☐ Head centred, facing camera squarely, no tilt
- ☐ Plain white or off-white background, no shadow, no objects
- ☐ Neutral expression, mouth closed, both eyes open
- ☐ No glasses; no hat unless religious and face fully visible
- ☐ Everyday clothing, not white, no uniform
- ☐ No filters, retouching, beauty mode or background blur
- ☐ Separate compliant photo for spouse and every unmarried child under 21
- ☐ Confirmation number saved and stored somewhere you will still have it in a year
Ready to make your entry photo?
Free, private and processed in your browser — exact 600×600 px output, white background, correct head height and under 240 KB.
Create Your US DV Lottery Visa Photo → A note on scams. Entering the DV Lottery is free at dvprogram.state.gov. The Department of State never emails winners — you check your own status with your confirmation number. Any message demanding a fee to "release" your selection is fraudulent. Paid agents cannot improve your odds, and an agent submitting a duplicate entry on your behalf will disqualify you.
Conclusion
The DV Lottery gives you one shot per year and no way to fix a mistake after the window closes. The good news is that the photo requirement — the part that disqualifies the most people — is entirely within your control and costs nothing to get right. A plain wall, soft daylight, a metre of distance, a neutral face, and a 600 × 600 px JPEG under 240 KB with the head filling 50%–69% of the frame. That is the whole standard.
Spend fifteen minutes on it. Take ten frames, pick the sharpest, crop it properly, verify the measurements rather than trusting your eye, and keep a copy of the original file in case you are selected and need to produce prints for the interview. Then save your confirmation number somewhere permanent and check back in May.
Always confirm the current-year rules on the official Department of State site at travel.state.gov before you submit — the DV instructions are republished each year and the entry window dates change.
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