US Visa Photo Requirements: The Complete Guide
Updated September 2026 · Free tool included
Every US visa application — tourist (B1/B2), student (F-1), work, or the Diversity Visa lottery — needs one digital photo that passes strict automated checks. A rejected photo is one of the most common reasons an application gets bounced back, adding weeks of delay. Here is exactly what the State Department expects, and how to produce it at home for free.
The official checklist
- Size: 2 × 2 inches (51 × 51 mm).
- Digital file: square, between 600 × 600 and 1200 × 1200 pixels, in JPEG format.
- Background: plain white or off-white, free of shadows and other people or objects.
- Recency: taken within the last 6 months, reflecting your current appearance.
- Head position: head must measure roughly 50–69% of the image height from chin to crown, centered.
- Expression: neutral expression or a natural smile, both eyes open, looking straight at the camera.
- Glasses: no longer allowed in visa photos, even prescription glasses. Take them off.
- Head coverings: only permitted for religious reasons, and the face must remain fully visible from chin to hairline.
Why photos really get rejected
Most rejections are not about the subject — they are about lighting and posture. The automated acceptance test checks pixel dimensions, but a human reviewer then checks that the face is evenly lit with no shadows on the face or behind the head. Backlit photos (window behind you), ceiling-light shadows under the brow, and slight tilts are the three most frequent failures. Fix those and your acceptance rate approaches 100%.
Taking the photo at home
- Stand 0.5–1 m in front of a plain white wall.
- Have someone else shoot (or use a tripod and timer). Selfie arm-length distortion is real: shot from below, the chin and nose exaggerate and the head shape changes.
- Camera at eye level, daylight facing you (stand facing a window, never with it behind you).
- Shoulders squared, full head plus a little shoulder visible.
Full lighting walkthrough: how to take a passport photo at home.
Turn your shot into a compliant photo — free
Our US visa photo tool pre-loads the 600 × 600 square, detects the face in your browser, and guides the framing to the 50–69% head-height band. Nothing is uploaded — the whole pipeline runs on your device. If you prefer a different starting point, the main tool covers 1-inch, 2-inch and US visa formats.
Printing notes
If you also need prints (some embassies still want two physical copies for the interview), print at 300 DPI on glossy photo paper — 2×2 inches prints four-up on one 4×6 sheet at most photo kiosks.