US Green Card (DV) Lottery Photo Requirements 2026 (DV-2028)

The DV Lottery photo, in plain terms

The Diversity Visa entry photo follows the same strict standard as a US passport or visa photo. It must be a recent colour photo, taken within the last 6 months, on a plain white or off-white background, with your full face clearly visible. In practice:

• Square format. Printed it is 2 x 2 inches; uploaded it is a JPEG between 600 x 600 and 1200 x 1200 pixels.
• Your head fills 50 to 69 percent of the image height, from the chin to the top of the head.
• Plain white or off-white background, evenly lit, no shadow and nothing behind you.
• Neutral expression, mouth closed, both eyes open, looking straight at the camera.
• No glasses, and no hat or head covering unless it is worn daily for religious reasons.
• File under 240 KB, 24-bit colour. Not a scan of a printed photo, not the photo from a previous entry.

The 2026 rule that gets entries rejected

As of January 2026, the US State Department rejects any photo that has been digitally altered. That includes beauty filters, skin smoothing, and AI enhancement, and the trap is that many phones and apps apply this automatically. A photo that looks normal to you can still carry AI changes that fail the check. The rule is simple: your face must look like you, untouched. Cropping to size and setting a clean white background is fine, but never let an app edit your features. A tool that only crops and cleans the background, and never touches your face, stays inside the rule.

Why the photo matters more than you think

The Diversity Visa is a true lottery. Tens of millions of people enter for a fraction of a percent chance, so you only get one shot per year. Unlike a paid visa application, there is no officer to email and no way to fix a rejected entry after the window closes. A blurry photo, a grey background, glasses left on, or a reused photo quietly invalidates the entry. Getting the photo exactly right is the cheapest way to protect a free shot at a green card.

When to prepare for DV-2028

The Diversity Visa registration period runs for about one month in the autumn, free, at the official site dvprogram.state.gov. The DV-2028 entry period is expected to open around October 2026. Beware of websites that charge you to enter, the official entry is always free. Prepare your compliant photo now, before the window opens, so a last-minute technical error does not cost you the entry.

How to make a compliant DV photo for free

You do not need a studio. Stand facing a window in soft, even light, in front of a plain white wall, and have someone take the photo with the rear camera at eye level. Then crop it to the exact square size and set a true white background with a free tool like IDPhotoSnap. It runs in your browser, keeps the photo on your device, and never edits your face, so it meets the 2026 rules. The same photo works for a US passport photo, since the size is identical. If you are not sure why a photo failed before, see why passport photos get rejected.

Frequently asked questions