Green Card Lottery (DV Program) Photo Requirements — Don't Get Disqualified

The one fact that matters most

The DV entry form only checks your photo's pixel dimensions at submission time. It does not check head size, eye position, or background at the point you upload it — the form will happily accept a photo that technically uploads but fails every other rule. Full compliance is reviewed later, after entries close, and photos that fail that later review get the entire entry disqualified — with no notification at the time, no appeal, and no way to fix it once the entry period has ended. Every year, entrants find out they "won" the lottery only to be told their photo doesn't qualify.

The exact spec

• 600×600px to 1200×1200px, square aspect ratio, JPEG
• 240KB maximum file size
• 24-bit colour
• Completely plain pure white or off-white background — no patterns, textures, shadows, or lines of any kind
• Head height 50–69% of the photo
• Eyes positioned 56–69% up from the bottom edge
• Taken within the last 6 months

Rules specific to the DV program

• Every family member listed on the entry needs their own separate, individually compliant photo — a household group photo doesn't work, even for infants
• A photo reused from a prior year's entry is disqualifying — it must be newly taken within the last 6 months
• The "completely plain" background rule is enforced more strictly here than on the equivalent US visa photo — even a faint shadow that would pass on a DS-160 submission can fail a DV Lottery review

Why this is worth getting right before you submit

Because there's no fix-it-later option, the DV Lottery rewards being conservative rather than assuming a borderline photo will pass. If your head size is close to the edge of the 50–69% range, or the background has any visible shadow, treat it as a fail and retake it — there is no second chance once the window closes.