DV Lottery photo size and requirements
A DV Lottery entry photo is a square colour JPEG of exactly 600 by 600 pixels, no larger than 240 kB, on a plain white or off-white background. Unlike the DS-160 visa upload, there is no range to choose from. This free tool opens at 600 by 600 and keeps your photo in your browser.
Jump to the toolYour workspace PIXELS · PREVIEW · DOWNLOADPrivate by default
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What the authority specifies
- Photo size
- 600 x 600 pixels
- Background
- plain white or off-white
- File size
- up to 240 KB
- Read strictly
- At most 240,000 bytes, which your computer shows as 234.4 KB
- Source
- travel.state.gov
- Read at the source on
Each size on this page was read at the issuing authority's own website, not copied from another converter or from a search result.
The page it came from and the date it was read are printed above, so you can check the same source in one click.
Why this size?
The instructions say a photo that misses the specifications, has been manipulated, or was used in a previous year's entry may make you ineligible for a DV.
A DV is the visa itself, not the entry, so a bad photo can cost you after you have been selected rather than when you submit.
The form adds a clock. It gives you 60 minutes from the moment you open it, and it needs a photo for you, your spouse and every unmarried child under 21. Make all of them here before you start.
Where the pixel figure comes from
Passport offices publish millimetres, not pixels, because the photograph is printed. Turning millimetres into pixels needs a resolution, and most authorities do not name one.
This one publishes pixels directly, because the photo is uploaded rather than printed, so no resolution was needed and the pixel figure above is the authority's own.
That matters if you are uploading rather than printing.
An online form usually states its own pixel size or file size limit, and where an authority publishes one this page uses that instead of converting anything.
Check before you submit
Requirements change, and the only version that counts is the one on the authority's own page on the day you apply.
Every size here links to the page it came from and shows the date it was read. If that date looks old, spend a minute at the source before you print anything.
What happens to your photo?
Your selected photo is processed in your browser, without an image upload to a server. The page may download code and codecs needed for editing.
Save your result before closing the tab; unsaved edits are kept in memory rather than in an online account.
Common questions
What size is a DV Lottery photo in pixels?
Exactly 600 by 600 pixels, square, in JPEG, and no more than 240 kB. That is the only size the entry instructions give.
If you are selected, you bring two identical printed photos to the interview, 2 by 2 inches, the same print as a US passport photo.
Can I use a 1200 by 1200 photo, like on the DS-160?
Not for the lottery entry. The DS-160 visa upload accepts 600 to 1200 pixels, and some DV guides repeat that range, but the DV instructions state 600 by 600 and nothing else.
Scanning a print gives the same answer: 2 by 2 inches at 300 pixels per inch is 600 by 600.
Can I reuse the photo from last year's entry?
No. The instructions say that submitting the same photo you submitted with a prior year's entry may make you ineligible for a DV, even if it still meets every other rule.
Take a new photo each year, within the six months before you enter.
Do my spouse and children need their own photos?
Yes. The entry needs a separate photo of you, your spouse and each unmarried child under 21, all to the same specifications. A family member who is already a US citizen or permanent resident needs none.
The form expires 60 minutes after you open it, so prepare every file first.
Is there a minimum file size or a 20 to 1 compression rule?
Not in the DV instructions. They give a 240 kB ceiling and no floor. The 20 to 1 compression limit is on the separate DS-160 digital image page.
On three detailed photos measured at 600 by 600, the default quality gave 59 to 94 KB, and quality 98 took two of them over 240 kB. Push the slider that far and the tool lowers the quality until the file fits.
When can I submit my DV Lottery entry?
Only during the registration period announced in that year's instructions, at dvprogram.state.gov. As of 24 September 2026, the State Department had not announced the DV-2027 dates, only that it would do so as soon as practicable.
Take the photo once the dates are out, so it is under six months old.
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