Every Diversity Visa (DV) lottery entry needs a digital photo of you and of the family members on it, and the photo is one of the few things that can quietly make an entry ineligible. Below are the rules from the State Department’s photo page and its DV instructions, the mistakes that trip people up, and how to make the file at home.
The DV photo rules
- A JPEG (.jpg) file of 240 KB or less
- Square, exactly 600×600 pixels, in color
- A plain white or off-white background
- Your head 50–69% of the photo’s height (1 to 1⅜ inches, or 22–35 mm, on a 2×2 inch print)
- Taken within the last 6 months, so it shows how you look now
- No glasses: the DV instructions say not to wear them
- Not digitally enhanced or altered to change your appearance
If you start from a printed photo, it must be 2×2 inches (51×51 mm) and scanned at 300 pixels per inch, which gives the same 600×600 pixels.
Who needs a photo
You, your spouse and each of your children on the entry, each in a separate photo that meets the same rules. The only exception is a spouse or child who is already a US citizen or a lawful permanent resident. One person per photo, with no one else in the frame.
Mistakes that can make an entry ineligible
- Reusing last year’s photo. The State Department’s DV-2026 instructions say that submitting the same photo as a prior year’s entry will make you ineligible.
- A manipulated photo: smoothed skin, a replaced background or a filter. The instructions say a manipulated photo may make you ineligible.
- A file that breaks the technical rules: over 240 KB, not exactly 600×600 pixels, or not a JPEG.
- A photo that doesn’t meet the standards: glasses, a background that isn’t plain white or off-white, or a head that is too small or too big in the frame.
How to take the photo at home
- Stand in front of a plain white or off-white wall, with nothing else in the frame.
- Face a window or a lamp so the light falls evenly on both sides of your face, with no shadows on the wall behind you.
- Take off your glasses, look straight at the camera and ask someone else to take the photo, so your head is level and not distorted by an arm’s-length selfie.
- Take a few shots. CropPass checks up to 6 at once on your device and puts the one that does best on the checks in the editor.
How to check your photo before you enter
The State Department’s own photo tool crops an image to a 600×600 square, but it says it is intended for cropping only: it doesn’t check the photo against the rules. CropPass checks head size, eye line, the background, glasses, light and sharpness in your browser, crops the photo to 600×600 and makes a JPEG under 240 KB. The checks and the preview are free, and your photo is never uploaded. The checks are a guide: the State Department decides.
How to avoid DV lottery scams
- Enter only at dvprogram.state.gov, during the registration period. Paper and late entries are not accepted, and more than one entry for the same person disqualifies all of them.
- Check your result only on that site. No letter or email will tell you that you were selected.
- The State Department says it never asks you to send payment in advance by check, money order or wire transfer.
- Consultants cannot improve your chances of being selected, and the State Department encourages you to fill in the entry form yourself.
- Treat any website that doesn’t end in .gov as suspect. That includes photo tools like CropPass: it makes the photo file and nothing else, and it can’t enter you or check your result.
Registration dates change from year to year, and the State Department announces them on its website. Check the dates there rather than on other sites.