A DV lottery photo is a JPEG sized Exactly 600 × 600 pixels — no range, at 240 KB or smaller, head at 50–69% of the photo's total height, eyes 56–69% up from the bottom of the photo, background: Plain white or off-white. That's the whole specification, transcribed from the State Department's own photo pages — the size rule is stricter than the DS-160's, so read it, check it at the source, then let the maker hit the numbers for you.
WHAT WE HAND YOU: Exactly 600×600 JPEG · under 240 KB · pure white background
Make my photo → Free compliance check · download for $16.99at CVS; ours is $9.99 if it passes · refunded if the government rejects it
The specification
These are the numbers your photo is measured against, transcribed from Official US visa & DV photo requirements (travel.state.gov) — verifiable at the source, which is linked under the table:
| Photo size | Exactly 600 × 600 pixels — no range |
|---|---|
| File size | 240 KB or smaller |
| Format | JPEG |
| 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 |
Already have a photo? Check it against the spec — free
Applying as a family? Check the whole family's photos at once — the official requirements linked below ask for a photo of each applicant.
Who does what
Everything on the left is measurement and file work, which is what the maker is for. Everything on the right happens before the photo exists.
Make my photo →When E-DV Entry Form says no
The State Department’s Electronic Diversity Visa system at dvprogram.state.gov, where you file the entry form and upload a photo for each person on it.
When it appears. After you click Continue on a page of the entry form, when a field on that page fails a check.
What it means. Something on the page you tried to leave did not pass a check. This banner never names the field. The message that does name it sits further down the same page, in red, beside the field itself.
What to do. Do not retype the form. Scroll slowly down the page you were on and look for red text next to a field. Fix them one at a time, then click Continue again. Do not use your browser Back or Forward buttons while you do this. The E-DV help page says those buttons are not supported.
When it appears. After you refresh, go Back, or click Resume Entry once a submission has already gone through.
What it means. The system read this as a second entry for the same person. Often it is your browser resending the last submission after a refresh or a Back click. The block did its job: the duplicate was stopped, and your original entry stands.
What to do. If you already have a confirmation number on screen or saved, you are finished. Keep it and close the tab. Do not send another entry. If no confirmation number ever appeared, nothing was recorded, and partial entries are deleted rather than kept, so you can start a fresh one.
When it appears. On the same screen, alongside the longer duplicate message.
What it means. The short form of the same rule. One entry per person per entry period. Submitting more than one disqualifies every entry for that person.
What to do. Check whether you hold a confirmation number. If you do, stop there. That entry is your entry. If you do not, submit once and then leave the page alone until the confirmation number appears on screen.
When it appears. On the dvprogram.state.gov home page while registration is closed.
What it means. The entry form is shut. There is no open registration period, and the site is serving Entrant Status Check for past program years only.
What to do. There is nothing to submit today. The start date for the next entry period has not been announced. Get your photo and passport scan ready now, and watch travel.state.gov for the official notice. Any site quoting you a start date right now is inventing it.
Other US visa uploads take any square from 600x600 up to 1200x1200. The DV instructions give one figure: 600 x 600. A 900x900 file a DS-160 would accept is the wrong size here.
What to do. Export the photo square, 600 pixels wide by 600 pixels tall. Print size and DPI do not matter. The upload counts pixels only, so a 96 DPI tag that reads as 8 x 8 inches changes nothing.
These are among the few things the entry form itself stops you on, so they cost you time inside the 60-minute window. The cap is 240 kB, lower than several guides state.
What to do. Save as .jpg and check the file is 240 kB or smaller before you open the form. If it is too large, lower the JPEG quality rather than shrinking the pixel size, which has to stay at 600 x 600.
The instructions say not to submit a photograph older than six months. The entry photo is stored and pulled up again at the interview, often more than a year later, and compared against you in person.
What to do. Take the photo during the entry period itself. If your appearance has changed since it was taken, take another one.
No other US photo corridor has this rule. The instructions state that submitting the same photograph you submitted with a prior year’s entry makes you ineligible for a DV.
What to do. Take a new photo for every entry period, even if last year’s still looks like you. Do not reach into an old folder for the file you used last time.
The instructions set the head at 50 to 69 percent of the image height, chin to crown. The form does not measure this, so a phone photo taken too far away uploads without complaint and fails later.
What to do. Frame so the distance from your chin to the top of your head fills between half and a little over two thirds of the picture height. Put the camera about four feet away, not at arm’s length.
The instructions carry a flat line: do not wear eyeglasses. There is no glare or reflection allowance to argue over, and the form will not warn you, so glasses are caught long after the entry closes.
What to do. Take them off for the photo, and check they are not pushed up on your head either. A hearing device or a similar item you wear every day can stay on.
This is the quiet DV failure. The entry form does not check your background, so a blue or textured wall uploads without a warning. The check happens later, and its only visible result is Not Selected.
What to do. Shoot against a plain white or off-white wall with no texture, no lines and no shadow behind you. Stand far enough away from the wall that your own shadow does not fall on it.
The entry form warns at the photograph field that any manipulation of photographs that alters the facial characteristics is grounds for disqualification of the entire entry.
What to do. Upload the original camera file, cropped and resized only. Do not smooth skin, slim your face, or cut yourself out of the background with a retouching tool.
One bad photo takes down the whole entry. The instructions require a separate photo for your spouse and for every unmarried child under 21, including children who will not immigrate with you.
What to do. Prepare a separate 600 x 600 photo for every person before you open the form. You have 60 minutes once you start, and the form cannot be saved and finished later.
The form takes several photos in a row with a small preview and no final review screen. One selectee reported that his wife’s and daughter’s photos were swapped, and the family was refused at interview.
What to do. Rename each file with the person’s name before you start, not lottery_01.jpg. Check the preview under each field before you click Continue. You can replace any photo until you submit.
That tool is intended for photo cropping only, and a Department of State employee makes the final decision on whether a visa photo is acceptable. It does not weigh background, head size, expression or age.
What to do. Treat the tool as a cropper, not an approval. Check the background, head height, a neutral expression, no glasses and the date the photo was taken yourself before you upload.
A final rule effective 10 April 2026 requires each entry to carry valid passport details plus a scan of the biographic and signature page. It sits beside the photo in the form, and it is new.
What to do. Scan the passport page as a JPEG, not a PDF, and keep it under 5 MB. Have it ready before you open the form, along with a photo for every person on the entry.
Rejected by the portal? We refund you.
Email us with your order id and the full amount goes back to your card. No screenshots, no proof — just tell us it was rejected.
30 DAYS FROM PURCHASE · NO PROOF UPLOADS · EVERY MEASUREMENT CHECKED AGAINST THE PUBLISHED GOVERNMENT SPEC BEFORE YOU PAY
Questions
No. We're an independent service that makes and checks visa photos — not affiliated with the U.S. government or the State Department. Their own free photo requirements page is linked below if you'd rather do it yourself.
As of this writing, the next DV entry window has not been announced. The State Department requires a photo taken within the last six months, so a photo made months before the window opens may need to be made twice — the whole process here takes about a minute, so there is nothing to gain from doing it early.
Yes. The DS-160 accepts any square from 600 × 600 up to 1200 × 1200 pixels, while the DV entry takes exactly 600 × 600 — so this file satisfies both. Mind the clock: US visa photos must be taken within the last six months.
Not for the entry itself. If you are selected, you bring two identical printed 2 × 2 inch photos to the interview — and with the six-month recency rule those need to be a recent photo then, not a reprint of your entry file. A print-ready 4×6 sheet, for when that day comes, is an optional add-on at checkout.
You won't be charged. We show you exactly which check failed and how to fix it — move closer, find better light, use a plainer background — so you can retake and try again for free.
We refund you. Email info@readyvisaphoto.com with your order id (it is in your receipt, and on the page your refund link opens) and tell us it was rejected — the full amount goes back to your original card. No screenshots, no forms, no proof. Covers 30 days from purchase.
It’s used only to run the checks, downloadable by you for 30 days, then deleted automatically. No account, no photo library, no reuse.
Your download link stays active for 30 days after purchase.