What Photo Tool to Use to Take a Green Card Lottery Photo?

To take a DV Program photo a prospective applicant needs it in an electronic form only, so photo centers and pharmacies like USPS, FedEx, Walgreens or CVS don’t work, as they do only photos in printed form.

Where Can I Take My Green Card Lottery Photo? 

These days almost anything can be achieved simply with a smartphone. Same goes for taking your Green Card lottery application photo.

There are several online services that allow you to upload your portrait and turn it into an acceptable passport and visa photo. You can either choose a fully automated, semi-automated or a manual service that lets you have control over the editing process. Although it may seem like an advantage, there are nuances making the manual process inadvisable. 

A fully-automated software will get everything done according to the U.S government requirements and leave you with a suitable image for your registration form. 

Best online photo services to help you get an eligible application photo: 

An official U.S government photo tool

The U.S government photo tool has a few handy features to help you take the photo:

  • It crops the image automatically to 600×600 pixels
  • If you aren’t pleased, you could edit manually via an “eye” button in the corner of your screen
  • The software doesn’t let you edit the background, so it’s better to have a plain white backdrop to avoid extra editing 
  • The photo tool can usually figure out the actual head size. Although sometimes the result doesn’t comply with the U.S government requirements due to certain facial or hair features of the applicant
  • It chooses the eye position correctly in the manual editing mode. The photo tool sometimes doesn’t locate the eyes properly on its own
  • You could use a verification tool to make sure your photo is absolutely correct 

DV Lottery photo online service

Here’s a different service that lets you get your photos done online. It’s pleasantly rich with useful features:

  • The service is fully automated. No need to do anything manually. Each photo is perfectly cropped to the required size, with head and eyes placed right as the conditions demand it
  • It can edit the backdrop if needed without altering the outline or damaging the quality of tbe image 
  • You could use a verification tool to make sure your photo is absolutely correct 
  • The cost for one digital photo and a separate one for a print out is only $7.

It’s up to you which of the available options to choose, but the best quality to cost ratio still belongs to the online software. We suggest going for the online service to get your picture taken to receive a compliant fully acceptable photo for your DV application form. Registration is open from October 6, 2023 till October 15.

Article by Born Realist