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DV Lottery Photo Requirements: a File, Not a Print

The Diversity Visa entry is submitted entirely online, so your photo is a file you upload. There is nothing to print and no sheet to cut. That changes what matters: the photograph has to be right, and so does the file itself.

A non-compliant photo can disqualify the entry. The Diversity Visa programme treats photo failures as grounds for disqualification, and there is no appeal and no correcting it afterwards. The next opportunity is the following year's programme. It is worth spending an extra two minutes on this.
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The file specification

Aspect ratio square, height equal to width
Dimensions 600 × 600 px minimum, 1200 × 1200 px maximum
File format JPEG only
File size 240 KB maximum
Colour 24 bits per pixel, sRGB
Recency taken within the last 6 months
Background plain white or off white, even, no shadows
Expression neutral, mouth closed, both eyes open
Editing not permitted: no software, apps, filters or AI
Source dvprogram.state.gov and travel.state.gov

Composition: where your head sits in the frame

The Diversity Visa instructions express head position as a proportion of the image rather than in millimetres. Your head, measured from the top of the hair to the bottom of the chin, should occupy roughly 50 to 69 percent of the image height, and your eyes should sit roughly 56 to 69 percent of the way up from the bottom edge.

Be aware of what this tool does and does not check. Our crop guides position your head using millimetre bands, which for a 2 by 2 inch square lands inside the required head-height range. We do not measure eye position. If you are entering the lottery, compare your result against the official composition template before submitting rather than relying on our guides alone.

Reusing an old photo does not work

Two rules catch people out. The photo must be from the last six months, and a photograph already submitted with a previous year's entry is not accepted. Everyone listed on the entry, including a spouse and each child, needs their own current photo. Reusing last year's file for yourself, or one photo for two family members, is a disqualification risk rather than a shortcut.

The United States does not accept edited photos.
The State Department states that photos must not be digitally enhanced or altered to change your appearance in any way, and its passport guidance adds that you must not change your photo using computer software, phone apps or filters, or artificial intelligence. This tool switches background replacement and the brightness, contrast, colour and sharpness controls off automatically when you select a US document, so you cannot break that rule by accident. Cropping, straightening and resizing are formatting rather than alteration and remain available. Get the background right in the camera instead: a plain white or off white wall in even light, with no shadow falling behind you. Read the official rule.

How to produce the file here

Add a recent photo taken in even light against a plain wall; a phone photo is fine. The tool crops to a true square and positions your head inside the guides. In the digital file options, click the preset and it sets 600 pixels and 240 KB for you. The download is always a JPEG for US documents, whatever the format picker says, the pixel size is clamped to the legal 600 to 1200 range, and the file is never shrunk below 600 pixels in order to hit the size limit, which is the usual way a photo fails quietly.

You also get a full quality copy alongside the compressed upload file, which is useful later: if you are selected, the interview stage does involve printed photos.

What we cannot promise

This tool formats the file correctly. It cannot judge the photograph. It does not assess your expression, spot glare on glasses, detect a shadow on the wall, or verify eye height. The decision belongs to the Department of State and no online service can guarantee acceptance. Given the stakes on a lottery entry, check your photo against the official guidance rather than trusting any tool, including this one.

Open the tool with the DV template →

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