DV lottery photo – 600x600 px, 240 KB, and the mistakes that disqualify entries
Updated 31 October 2026
The Diversity Visa (DV) lottery photo must be a square JPEG, 600 x 600 px, 240 KB or less, on a plain white or off-white background, taken in the last six months, with no glasses. The photo is the most common reason entries are disqualified, and you won’t find out until the results: there is no warning when you submit.
Is the DV lottery open?
Possibly very soon. As of 31 October 2026 the State Department has not published DV-2027 entry instructions or dates. In November 2025 it paused the usual autumn registration and said it would announce the dates “as soon as practicable”. A federal court has reportedly ordered the government to open a 30-day registration window by 1 November 2026. The government has appealed, so the dates could still change. Watch the official site, dvprogram.state.gov, for the dates.
Entering is done only on that site. Nobody can improve your chances, and you should not pay anyone who claims to enter you. A 30-day window is short, so get the photo ready now. Then you can enter on the first day, before the site gets slow near the deadline.
The photo rules at a glance
| Rule | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Shape | Square |
| Size | 600 x 600 px |
| File | JPEG, 240 KB or less |
| Background | Plain white or off-white |
| Head | Top of hair to bottom of chin 50–69% of the image height |
| Eyes | 56–69% up from the bottom of the image |
| Age of photo | Taken in the last 6 months |
| Glasses | Not allowed (except rare medical reasons) |
| Editing | No filters, beauty modes or retouching |
These follow the State Department’s visa photo rules, which apply to DV entries as well as the DS-160 visa form.
Everyone on the entry needs a photo
Your entry must list your spouse and all your unmarried children under 21, even if they won’t move with you, and each of them needs their own photo that meets the same rules. A missing family member or a bad photo of anyone on the entry can disqualify the whole entry. A group photo, or a photo cut out of one, is not allowed.
Mistakes that disqualify entries
- Glasses. Glasses haven’t been allowed since 2016, even ones with no glare. Take them off.
- Reusing an old photo. The photo must be from the last six months, so last year’s entry photo or the one in your passport usually won’t do. Take a new one.
- Wrong size or file. A phone photo is around 3000 x 4000 px and several MB. It must be cropped square and saved as 600 x 600 px under 240 KB.
- Head too small or too big. A photo taken from too far away leaves the head under half the frame. A close-up selfie crops off the top of the hair.
- Background not white. A coloured wall, a pattern, or a grey shadow behind you can fail.
- Edited or filtered. Phone beauty modes, background-removal apps and filters change your face. Turn them off.
- Hats and head coverings. Not allowed unless worn every day for religious reasons, and the full face must still show.
Taking the photo at home
- Stand about 50 cm in front of a plain white or very light wall, so your body doesn’t cast a shadow on it.
- Face a window in daylight. Avoid overhead lights and the phone’s flash.
- Ask someone to take the photo from about 1–2 m away, with the camera at your eye level. A selfie at arm’s length makes the nose look bigger.
- Look straight at the camera with a neutral expression, both eyes open, no glasses.
- Take several shots and pick the sharpest. Send the original file, not one passed through WhatsApp, which shrinks and blurs it.
Then upload it to the DV lottery photo tool. It finds your face in your browser, crops it square so your head and eyes fall inside the State Department’s ranges, and gives you a 600 x 600 px JPEG under 240 KB. Do the same for each family member on the entry.
If you are selected
The photo is needed again later. Selected applicants bring two identical 2 x 2 inch (51 x 51 mm) printed photos to the visa interview, following the same rules. Choose the print sheet option and you get a 4 x 6 inch sheet you can print at any photo lab.
Before you enter
Check each photo with the free passport photo checker. The State Department decides whether a photo is accepted, and it won’t tell you if a photo failed, so it’s worth getting right the first time.