Get your Diversity Visa photo under the size limit
Drop your photo and FitSize gets it under the DV size limit in your browser. Your photo is never uploaded to us.
- Current limit
- 240 KB
- FitSize aims for
- 240 KB
- Last checked
- 30 September 2026
- Read on
- cm.usembassy.gov
The Diversity Visa entry can reject a photo for its size, shape or dimensions, and the size limit is only one of them. It is a small square JPEG, so a normal phone photo is far too large until it has been cropped and resized. This page lists what the instructions require and what a compression tool can and cannot fix.
Why US DV photo has this limit
The instructions do not explain the requirement; they state it. The digital image must be a JPEG of 240 kB or less, in a square aspect ratio, 600 x 600 pixels. This page reads them from a US Embassy's copy of the State Department's DV-2026 instructions, so check the current year's instructions before you enter.
Source: cm.usembassy.gov
What FitSize does with your file
Compression alone will not fix this photo: the size limit comes with a fixed shape and fixed dimensions. FitSize aims for the size limit, and you still need to crop to a square and resize to the required pixels first. A photo that is the right shape and pixels but too large is exactly what compression is for.
Your file never leaves your device. It is read and compressed by your browser, and nothing is uploaded to a server.
Three things to watch on US DV photo
- Size is only one of four requirements. The photo must be a JPEG, at most 240 kB, in a square aspect ratio, and 600 x 600 pixels, so meeting the size limit is not enough on its own. Source: cm.usembassy.gov
- Scanning an existing photo has extra rules. If you scan an existing photo it must be 2 x 2 inches (51 x 51 mm) and scanned at a resolution of 300 pixels per inch, on top of the digital image requirements. Source: cm.usembassy.gov
- Some photos are not accepted at all. Photos copied or digitally scanned from driver's licences or other official documents are not acceptable, and neither are snapshots, magazine photos, low-quality vending machine photos or full-length photographs. Eyeglasses are not allowed. Source: cm.usembassy.gov