9 Photo Mistakes That Get DV Lottery Entries Disqualified

DV Lottery · 5 min read · Updated: 2026-07-03

A significant share of DV entries are invalidated by photo errors before the draw even happens. The 9 most common causes:

1. Photo older than 6 months — re-uploading last year's entry photo can be detected automatically.
2. Wrong head ratio — head under 50% (too far) or over 69% (too close).
3. Eye height out of range — eyes outside the 56–69% band from the bottom.
4. Background shadow — standing too close to the wall under overhead light is the classic mistake.
5. Glasses — banned since 2016, including empty frames.
6. Low resolution / heavy compression — under 600 pixels or visible JPEG artifacts.
7. Hair or headwear covering the face — the face outline and both eyes must be clearly visible.
8. Filters / retouching — beauty filters and sloppy background-removal artifacts.
9. Family member photo errors — spouse and children photos follow the same rules; one bad photo invalidates the whole entry.

How to avoid them

Before uploading, measure the head ratio, eye height, background and file size — do not eyeball them. Our tool measures 12 official rules automatically and shows what passed and what failed with a visual guide.

Source: travel.state.gov — DV Program ↗

📸 Check your photo free now →

Checks and preview are free; your photo is never stored on our servers.