A bad photo is the most common reason a DV entry is disqualified. The rules are strict, but they're easy to meet once you know them. Every person on your entry — you, your spouse and each child — needs their own photo.
The technical rules
- File type: JPEG (.jpg)
- Size: exactly 600 × 600 pixels, square
- File size: 240 KB or less
- Colour photo, not black and white
- Taken in the last six months
Our free photo tool turns any photo into a 600×600 JPEG under 240 KB. It runs on your phone and never uploads your photo.
How the photo should look
- Plain white or off-white background, with no shadows or patterns
- Face the camera straight on, with both eyes open
- A neutral face or a natural smile, mouth closed
- Your head, from the top of your hair to your chin, fills about half to two-thirds of the photo
- No glasses
- No hat or head covering, unless you wear it every day for religious reasons — then your whole face must still show
- Not edited, filtered or retouched
Common mistakes
- A selfie held at arm's length — the face looks distorted. Ask someone else to take it.
- A busy background, a coloured wall or a curtain
- A photo of a printed photo, or a photo cut out of an ID card
- Strong light from one side, so half the face is dark
- Using the same photo as last year's entry
Tips for taking it at home
- Stand about half a metre in front of a white wall, facing a window for even light.
- Ask someone to stand about 1.5 metres away and hold the phone at your eye level.
- Take several photos and pick the sharpest one.
- Use our photo tool to crop and resize it.
Our team looks at every photo before we submit it. A file can pass the size and format check but still be rejected for how it looks, so we tell you if a new photo is needed.