Old or reused photo
Take a fresh photo for the current entry period, especially if hair, facial hair, weight, or eyewear has changed.
Green Card Lottery Guide
DV Lottery Photo Requirements Guide
Create a Diversity Visa lottery photo with the correct 600 x 600 px square format, JPEG compression, face placement, and background rules.
Prepare This PhotoDiversity Visa Program - 6 min read
Upload Checklist
Do not reuse an old visa or passport photo if your appearance has changed.
Keep both eyes open, head straight, and expression neutral.
Do not wear glasses, sunglasses, uniforms, or non-religious head coverings.
Do not digitally alter your face, skin, hairline, or facial features.
Prepare the final file before the entry deadline so you are not compressing in a rush.
Common Errors and Fixes
Wrong crop
Export a true 600 x 600 px square photo with the face centered and the head in the required range.
Background not plain
Use a clean wall or validated replacement background. Do not leave furniture, texture, shadows, or other people in the image.
Face edited by filters
Remove beauty filters, smoothing, face reshaping, or AI face edits. Only technical preparation should be used.
Step-by-Step Workflow
1
Take a fresh front-facing photo
Stand in even light with a plain background. Ask another person to take the photo rather than using a close selfie angle.
2
Validate DV-specific crop
Check square dimensions, face coverage, neutral expression, eye visibility, background, and glasses before submission.
3
Save a final upload copy
Use the final JPEG for the DV entry form and keep the original image in case you need to make a corrected version.
Final Safety Check
Do not alter your facial features
Government photo rules commonly reject altered, filtered, or beautified images. Use the studio for compliance checks, crop, export, and background preparation only. Follow the official source for your final application route.
Frequently Asked Questions
The core digital format is similar: square JPEG, 600 x 600 px, and under 240 KB. DV entries are especially sensitive because a non-compliant photo can disqualify an entry.
You can, but manual cropping often causes head-size errors. Use a biometric crop guide so the face remains centered and correctly sized.
No. US Department of State photo guidance generally requires applicants to remove glasses for visa and passport photos unless a narrow medical exception applies.