US Visa Photo for the DS-160: Size Rules and How to Make One at Home

From the U.S. Department of State's photo pages (listed below the article), for digital and printed photos alike:

• Taken within the last 6 months, showing how you look now.
• In colour, against a plain white or off-white background with no texture, objects or shadows.
• Full face, looking straight at the camera, with a neutral expression and both eyes open.
• Head, from the bottom of the chin to the top of the hair: 1 to 1⅜ inches (25–35 mm) on a print, or 50% to 69% of a digital image's height.
• Eyes: 56% to 69% of the image height, measured up from the bottom (1⅛ to 1⅜ inches on a print).
• No eyeglasses, except in rare medical cases with a signed medical statement.
• No hat or head covering that hides the hair or hairline, unless worn daily for religious reasons; the full face must show, with no shadows on it.
• No headphones or wireless hands-free devices. No uniforms or camouflage, except religious clothing worn daily.
• No filters, retouching or other digital changes to your appearance.
• Digital file: JPEG, square, 600 × 600 to 1200 × 1200 pixels, 240 KB or less, in colour (24 bits per pixel, sRGB).

The U.S. embassy or consulate where you apply decides whether your photo is accepted. No tool or photo studio can guarantee it.

For a nonimmigrant visa, such as a tourist, student or business visa, the DS-160 asks you to upload the digital image while you fill in the form. Some embassies and consulates also want one printed photo at the interview, so check the instructions of the one where you apply.

For an immigrant visa (Form DS-260), you bring two identical 2 × 2 inch prints on photo quality paper to the interview.

After you submit, check the photo box on the DS-160 confirmation page. The State Department's DS-160 FAQ says that if your photo shows there, the upload worked and no printed photo is needed. An "X" means it failed, and you then submit one printed photo that meets the requirements with the confirmation page.

The State Department recommends a professional photo service but lets you take the photo yourself, warning that most webcams and mobile phones cannot provide sufficient quality. These practical tips, which are not official rules, give your phone its best chance:

• Have someone else take it; arm's-length selfies distort the face.
• Use the main rear camera and turn off beauty mode, portrait blur and filters.
• Stand a little in front of a plain white or off-white wall so you cast no shadow on it. A white sheet can cover a coloured wall, as the State Department's own tips suggest.
• Keep the camera at least 1.2 metres (4 feet) from your face, at eye level. Closer shots make the nose and face look bigger.
• Face a window in daylight for soft, even light. Avoid direct sun, a single lamp from one side, or a flash that leaves shadows or shine.
• Look straight into the lens with your mouth closed and shoulders square. Take off your glasses and keep hair off your face.
• Take several shots, keep the sharpest, and leave space around your head for cropping.

If an iPhone photo in HEIC format will not open, convert it with the HEIC to JPG tool first.

Desktora's US Visa & Passport Photo Cropping Tool works inside your browser, so the photo is not uploaded to a server.

1. 1Open the tool and choose your photo.
2. 2Under Country / Visa Standard, select US Visa / Passport (2 × 2 in / 51 × 51 mm). The tool opens on the 35 × 45 mm preset, so make sure you switch.
3. 3Zoom and drag the photo, with a mouse or a finger, until your head from chin to top of hair fills most of the dashed oval without going past it.
4. 4Put your nose on the vertical line and your eyes on the eye line or slightly above it, never below: US rules place the eyes above the middle of the photo.
5. 5Use Rotate 90° if the photo is sideways, or Reset to start again.
6. 6Keep the background colour on White. It only fills empty space left by zooming out or dragging; it does not change the wall behind you. A blue background is not accepted for US photos.
7. 7Click Download US Visa Digital Photo to get a 600 × 600 pixel JPEG kept at or under 240 KB, ready for the DS-160.
8. 8For prints, choose 4, 6 or 8 photos under Printable Sheet Layout, then click Download Printable PDF Sheet.

The tool does not remove backgrounds or judge acceptance. The Remove Background tool can cut you out, but the State Department's examples reject cut-outs that change the outline of the head, so a real white wall is safer.

Open the downloaded file at full size and check these points:

• Head: 300 to 414 pixels tall from the chin to the top of the hair in the 600 × 600 file.
• Eyes: 186 to 264 pixels down from the top edge.
• Face and chin fully in the frame, head centred. Hair may run past the edge as long as the whole head is shown at the right size.
• Background: plain white or off-white, without shadows.
• Quality: the face is sharp and not grainy, skin tones look natural, and both sides of the face are evenly lit.
• File: JPEG, 600 × 600 pixels, 240 KB or less, as shown in the file's properties or info panel.

The printable sheet is an A4 PDF with each photo at its real size of 51 × 51 mm, outlined by thin grey cut lines.

1. 1Print the PDF at 100% or Actual size, not Fit to page, which shrinks the photos.
2. 2Use matte or glossy photo paper and your printer's best quality setting.
3. 3Measure one photo with a ruler: each side should be 2 inches (51 mm).
4. 4Cut along the grey lines with a paper trimmer or sharp scissors.

No photo printer? Take the PDF to a print shop and ask for it to be printed at actual size on photo paper. The State Department lists blurry, grainy and wrongly sized prints as unacceptable.

The State Department's photo examples and FAQ flag these:

• Eyeglasses, even pushed up on the head.
• Shadows on the face or the background.
• A tilted or turned head, looking down, or shoulders not square to the camera.
• A head that is too small, too large, off centre or partly cut off.
• A photo that is too dark or too bright, or colours that look wrong.
• A blurry or grainy image.
• A background that is blue, textured or otherwise not plain white or off-white.
• Filters, slimming, retouching or digital red-eye removal.
• A photo older than 6 months, or one that no longer looks like you after facial surgery or a major weight change.
• Hair, a scarf or a hat covering part of the face; squinting, closed eyes or an expression that is not neutral.
• A photo copied or scanned from a driver's licence or another official document.