A non-compliant photo gets you turned away at the embassy window — losing your appointment and weeks of waiting. Here’s the standard.
The State Department standard
- Format: JPEG (.jpg)
- Size: 600x600 to 1200x1200 px, square
- File: under 240 KB
- Background: white or off-white, no shadows
- Face: front view, neutral expression, both eyes open
- No glasses (banned since 2016; medical exception only)
- Recent: taken within the last 6 months
Taking it at home
Shoot in daylight against a white wall, no shadow under the chin, phone at eye level. Then crop to a 1:1 ratio.
Check before you submit
Most photo-stage refusals are over small things — a shadow, glasses on the head, wrong white balance. Check your photo free against all the parameters before you apply.
Not sure your whole profile is ready? Take the free test.