DV lottery photo guide for applicants from Turkey

A DV lottery entry from Turkey needs a JPEG, exactly 600 x 600 pixels square, under 240 KB, 24-bit colour, taken within the last 6 months, on a plain white or off-white background, no glasses, no digital editing, with the head filling 50 to 69 percent of the frame. The local trap is specific: the Turkish biyometrik fotograf used for passports and ID cards is a 50 x 60 mm rectangle, so it is both the wrong shape and the wrong proportions for a square DV file. Cropping it square cuts off the head or the chin. Take a fresh photo instead. Country eligibility is re-announced for each DV cycle, so confirm Turkey's status in the current official instructions before entering.

Check your United States visa photo against the official spec → Free check, accepted-or-money-back.

Check your photo right here, free

Measured against the official United States visa spec: head size, eye line, background, brightness and file limits. We never edit your photo.

Upload a photo

Click anywhere here, or drag and drop your photo. Use a clear, front-facing photo against a plain white wall in even light. We measure and crop it. We never edit the pixels you submit.

The 50 x 60 mm biometrik foto does not crop to a square

Turkish biometric photos are taken to a 50 x 60 mm frame, sized so the head fills a specific band of that rectangle. Cropping that file to a square either removes the top of the head or leaves the head too large in the frame, and head size outside 50 to 69 percent of the image height is a standard DV failure. Reshooting takes ten minutes and removes the guesswork.

Shoot straight on against a plain light wall, in even daylight with no flash, neutral expression, mouth closed, both eyes open and clearly visible, then crop to an exact square.

No glasses, no retouching

Glasses are not accepted in US photos, so take them off before the shot rather than trying to remove glare afterwards. Equally, do not let a studio smooth the skin, whiten the background or slim the face. Edited photos are rejected by US authorities, and a retouched photo that passed for a Turkish document will still fail here.

Prepare the family photos before the window opens

Entry is free and only through dvprogram.state.gov. Your spouse and every unmarried child under 21 need their own photo, taken within 6 months of the entry, on the same plain background. Because the six-month rule is measured at entry time, take the real photos close to the window, but do a practice run now so the setup is already known.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use my Turkish biometric passport photo for the DV lottery?

No. The Turkish biometric photo is a 50 x 60 mm rectangle and the DV entry requires an exactly square 600 x 600 pixel JPEG. Cropping the rectangle square throws the head size outside the accepted range.

Is Turkey eligible for the DV lottery?

The eligible-country list is re-announced every DV cycle, so confirm Turkey's current status in the official instructions at dvprogram.state.gov before entering.

Does the DV photo have to be taken at a studio?

No. A phone photo against a plain light wall in daylight is fine, and it is often safer than a studio shot because nothing gets retouched. What matters is the square crop, the head size, the plain background and the file limits.

Now check your photo against the official spec

Free, in your browser, in under a minute. You pay $9 only if it passes, accepted or your money back.

Check my photo free

Check your photo free →