600×600 pixels is the minimum photo size the DS-160 accepts and the only size the DV lottery entry accepts. Beyond that one number the two forms want the same thing: a square color JPEG, 240 KB or smaller, taken within the last six months against a plain white or off-white background. The full spec is below — then the honest way to get a compliant file out of a phone photo, and what to do when the uploader bounces one.
Convert my photo to 600×600 — see it freeThe specification
Transcribed from the State Department's photo pages — verifiable at the sources linked at the bottom of this page:
| DS-160 photo size | 600×600 to 1200×1200 pixels, square |
|---|---|
| DV lottery entry | Exactly 600 × 600 px — no range |
| Format | JPEG |
| File size | 240 KB or smaller |
| Color | Color (24-bit), sRGB |
| Compression | A ratio of 20:1 or less, if compressed |
| Scanning an existing print | 2 × 2 in (51 × 51 mm), scanned at 300 pixels per inch |
| Head height | 50–69% of the photo's total height |
| Eye height | 56–69% up from the bottom of the photo |
| Background | Plain white or off-white |
| Recency | Taken within the last 6 months |
The rules behind the message
The DS-160 uploader measures your file before it ever looks at your face. Three checks come first: the photo must be square — height equal to width, which a phone photo never is until you crop it; at least 600 pixels on each side — crop a portrait down to a square and the short side often lands under the minimum, which is exactly where this message comes from; and at most 1200×1200 — bigger is not better here, anything over the cap bounces too.
Passing the ruler is not passing the spec. The file must also be a JPEG — not a PNG, not an iPhone HEIC — at 240 KB or smaller. And inside the frame, your head has to fill 50–69% of the photo's total height, with your eyes 56–69% up from the bottom of the photo. Dimensions are the gate the uploader can measure instantly; the geometry is what fails a file that measures perfectly. The rest of the rules — expression, glasses, head coverings — live on the full DS-160 photo requirements page.
One number, two forms
Same spec, one difference — the dimension range.
Everything else matches: square aspect ratio, JPEG format, the same file-size cap. The practical consequence — make the photo at exactly 600×600 and one file serves both forms; make it at 1200×1200 and it is DS-160-only. That is why the US visa flow here outputs exactly 600×600: the one size both accept.
One DV detail people miss: selectees bring two identical printed 2 × 2 inch photos to the interview. Those prints use the same 2 × 2 inch geometry the digital file encodes — but the interview happens long after the entry window, so with the six-month recency rule they need to be a recent photo, not a reprint of the entry file. More on the print-digital equivalence below.
The conversion
A generic image resizer will get you to 600×600. It will not get you to accepted. Resizers center the crop with no idea where your chin is, leave the wall behind you as-is, and recompress blindly — so the file passes the ruler and fails the photo check. Four things have to happen to a phone photo, in order:
That is exactly what the maker does, server-side, from a single upload — JPEG, PNG, WebP, or HEIC straight off the phone, no pre-cropping. To be honest about the limits: this is not a general-purpose resizer. It produces the fixed sizes governments publish — 600×600 among them — not arbitrary dimensions.
Already have a file you think is compliant? The free US visa photo checker measures it against the spec as-is and alters nothing.
The equivalence
Yes — they are the same photo at two densities, and the State Department's own scan rule makes the equivalence explicit: an existing print submitted for the DS-160 must be 2 × 2 inches, scanned at 300 pixels per inch. Two inches at three hundred pixels per inch is six hundred pixels. 600×600 is the 2 × 2 inch photo in digital form.
That is also why the US passport photo — printed at 2 × 2 inches — and the DS-160 digital file are twins. If you need the printed version, for a passport application or for the two identical prints DV selectees bring to interview, the US passport photo flow produces a print-ready sheet alongside the digital file. The full story of the print size is on the 2x2 inch photo page — and other countries use different frames entirely; the passport photo size chart has every one, or start from convert a photo to passport size if your destination is not the US.
Filing the passport application itself this year? The government's charges sit apart from any photo cost — US passport fees 2026 puts every one of them in one table.
When it bounces
When the uploader bounces a file, the cause is nearly always one of five:
The step-by-step fixes have their own pages: DS-160 photo upload failed for upload and portal errors, “photo does not meet requirements” for the quality-check message, and a walkthrough of every DS-160 upload error if you want the full map.
DV lottery timing
As of this writing, the next DV entry window has not been announced. Entries have historically opened in the fall, but do not plan around the old calendar — the State Department's own notice says the next registration start will be announced “as soon as practicable,” which is official confirmation that the familiar schedule is disrupted. The one date that is fixed: DV-2027 selectees apply for their visas between October 1, 2026 and September 30, 2027.
The photo angle: State requires a photo taken within the last six months, to reflect your current appearance. Make the photo months before the window opens and you may be making it twice. Wait for the announcement, then convert — the whole process takes about a minute, so there is nothing to gain from doing it early.
Questions
For a US passport, yes in digital form — the print is 2 × 2 inches, and at the 300 pixels-per-inch scan resolution the State Department’s digital-image rules use, that is exactly 600 × 600 pixels. It is not universal: the UK’s digital passport photo, for instance, must be at least 600 pixels wide and 750 pixels tall — not square. Match the country, not the number.
Any image editor can crop a square and resize it to 600 × 600. What an editor cannot do is place the crop so your head fills the required band, replace the background with plain white, and compress the JPEG under the cap in the same pass — which is what the DS-160 actually checks. The US visa flow here does all four server-side from one phone photo and shows you the finished file free.
One side of your file is under 600 pixels, or the photo is not square. Both usually trace back to cropping — squaring a portrait shrinks the short side. Start again from the original camera file rather than a screenshot or an already-resized copy.
Yes, if it is exactly 600 × 600 — the DS-160 accepts any square between 600 × 600 and 1200 × 1200 pixels, while the DV entry takes 600 × 600 only, so the exact size satisfies both. Mind the clock, though: US visa photos must be taken within the last six months, so a file from a previous year’s entry should not carry over.
No — and nobody honest will tell you otherwise. Dimensions are the first gate of several: head height, eye line, a plain white or off-white background, six-month recency, and no eyeglasses except for documented medical reasons. What can be guaranteed is the measurable spec — exact pixels, format, file size — which is why the finished photo is shown to you before you pay anything.
The cap is 240 kB, as a JPEG in 24-bit sRGB color, with a compression ratio of 20:1 or less. Phone camera originals are usually far larger, which is why compression is part of the conversion — not an afterthought.