DV Lottery photo rejected — DV-2027 fix in 60 seconds

Exact 600×600 pixels — the size validator

The DV Lottery requires the photo to be exactly 600×600 pixels (or 1200×1200) — square. Files at 800×600 or 600×800 are auto-rejected. JPG format, 240 KB maximum.

Many entrants try to crop a phone selfie manually and end up with non-square dimensions. complypic outputs exactly 600×600 with the head correctly positioned.

Background — white only, no shadow

Plain white or off-white. The DV portal is calibrated against off-white reference photos. Pure white passes, off-white passes, anything else fails.

Shadow on the wall behind the head — the most common rejection — caused by indoor lighting. complypic normalizes the background to uniform luminance.

Duplicate detection — DV photo cannot be reused

Each DV Lottery cycle, the State Department's system compares submitted photos against the entire previous cycle's photo database. Photos that match a previous entry are rejected as 'submitted previously'.

This is a common trap for re-entrants: you cannot reuse last year's photo. complypic generates a fresh photo per entry, ensuring no duplicate match.

Glasses, expression, recency

Glasses banned since 2016. Smile with teeth rejected. Mouth open rejected.

Photo must have been taken within the last 6 months. The DV portal does not auto-detect age, but if you win and are called for an interview, an old photo will be flagged by the consular officer.

FAQ