The green card lottery, and the photo that disqualifies entries
The passportphoto.digital team · August 5, 2026 · 4 min read
Entry is free, takes about fifteen minutes, and is thrown out for technical reasons more often than most people expect. The photo is the leading cause, and it is entirely preventable.
The short version
- Entry is free and only at the official State Department site. Anyone charging you a fee to enter is selling you nothing.
- One entry per person. Duplicate entries disqualify you outright — not the extra entry, all of them.
- Results come only through Entrant Status Check with your confirmation number. There is no notification email or letter.
How the program works
The Diversity Visa program makes a limited number of immigrant visas available each year to people from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the United States. Selection is random among qualifying entries.
The entry window is short — typically a few weeks in the fall — and it is announced in advance with instructions for that year's program. Entries submitted outside the window do not exist, and there is no late filing.
Two eligibility requirements apply beyond country of birth: a high school education or its equivalent, or two years of qualifying work experience within the last five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training. Being selected is not the same as being issued a visa — selectees go through a full immigrant visa process afterward, and more people are selected than there are visas available.
The rules that disqualify entries
One entry per person, per year. Submitting more than one does not improve your odds — it disqualifies every entry you made. If a spouse is also eligible, each of you may submit one entry listing the other, which effectively doubles the household's chances legitimately.
Every family member must be listed, including a spouse and every unmarried child under 21, whether or not they intend to immigrate with you. Omitting someone is a disqualification discovered later, at the interview stage, after you have already been selected.
Save your confirmation number. It is the only way to check results, it cannot be recovered casually if you lose it, and there is no email notification to fall back on — a message claiming you have won is a scam, without exception.
The photo requirement
Photos are the most common technical reason entries are thrown out, and the entry system enforces the rules at upload. A photo for every entrant and every listed family member, taken within the last six months, meeting the standard specification.
The digital requirements are specific: a square image, at least 600 × 600 pixels and no more than 1200 × 1200 pixels, in JPEG format, under 240 kB. It must be a real photograph of the person, in color, against a plain white or off-white background, with a neutral expression, both eyes open, no glasses, and nothing obscuring the face.
Recycling a photo is an explicit disqualifier. Using the same image you submitted in a previous year's entry invalidates it, and the system is designed to detect that. So is using a photo already used on a visa or passport application. A new photo each year is not optional.
If you're selected
Selection means you may proceed, not that you have a visa. You file the immigrant visa application, provide civil documents, and attend an interview at a consulate, and you need to move promptly — DV visas must be issued within the program's fiscal year and the numbers run out.
You will need new photos at that stage, meeting the immigrant visa specification. The entry photo does not carry forward, and by then it will be outside the recency window anyway.
Be careful about who helps you. Legitimate assistance exists, but the DV program attracts a large volume of fraud built on the fact that entry is free and results are only available through one official channel. Nobody can improve your odds, and nobody has advance access to results.
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Check my photo freeFrequently asked
How much does it cost to enter the DV lottery?+
Nothing. Entry is free at the official State Department site. Any site charging an entry fee is not the official one.
Can I enter more than once to improve my chances?+
No. Duplicate entries disqualify all of your entries. A spouse may submit their own separate entry if they are also eligible.
How will I know if I've won?+
Only by checking Entrant Status Check with your confirmation number. There is no email or letter, and any message claiming otherwise is a scam.
What are the DV photo requirements?+
A square JPEG between 600 × 600 and 1200 × 1200 pixels, under 240 kB, taken in the last six months against a plain white background, with a neutral expression and no glasses.
Can I reuse last year's photo?+
No. Reusing a prior entry photo, or one already used on a visa or passport application, disqualifies the entry.
Sources
General information, not legal advice. Fees, forms and processing times are revised regularly — the linked government page is the authority. Written and maintained by the passportphoto.digital team.