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Passport Requirements

Important considerations about the passport requirement.

Update: Starting in October 2025, applicants will once again be required to provide passport details in order to participate in the Visa Lottery.

You must have a valid and unexpired passport or provide an acceptable reason why you do not have a passport in order to participate in the Green Card Lottery.

Only the primary applicant is required to have a passport. (Spouses and children are not required to have passports.)

On the application form you must provide your passport number, full name as it appears on your passport, your passport's country of issuance, and its expiration date.

You must also provide a clear image or scan of your passport's Biographic and Signature Pages.

Passport picture specifications.

Passport pictures must satisfy the following requirements:

  • The image must be in the Joint Photographic Experts Group (.jpg) format.
  • The image must be in color. Black and white, monochrome, or grayscale images will not be accepted.
  • Digital images from either a digital camera source or a scanned photograph via scanner will be accepted.
  • If a new digital photograph is taken, it must have a color depth of 24-bit color.
  • If the passport is scanned, it must be scanned at a minimum resolution of 300 pixels per inch (ppi) and with a color depth of 24-bit color.
  • The maximum image size accepted will be 240,000 bytes (240 Kb).

Acceptable passport pictures can look like these:

Example 1

Example 1
Example 2

Example 2


Click for additional tips on how to take a good photo of your passport using your phone.

Additional passport requirements.

  • The image must be clear, with all text, numbers, and the photo being sharp and easy to read.
  • The entire document must be visible, with no parts, edges, or corners cut off or covered.
  • The image must be oriented correctly so it can be read from left to right without needing to be rotated.

Passport exceptions.

You do not need a passport to apply if:

  • You are stateless,
  • You are a national of a Communist controlled country and unable to obtain a passport, OR
  • You are the beneficiary of a waiver approved by the United States Government.

Additional information is available about special passport circumstances.