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USCIS changed its photo rules in December 2025
Since December 2025, USCIS takes its own photo at your biometrics appointment for most forms, so you may not need to send one at all. If your form’s instructions or your lawyer still ask for 2 × 2 in photos, take them here. Free to check, $4.99 to download.
or drop a photo anywhere on this page
Head 1–1⅜ inChecked for a Green Card
Example photo, AI-generated.
Do you still need one?
Read your form’s current instructions before you print anything. Here is how it works now.
Green card photo requirements
The first row matters most, and only you can check it. The rest are checked on your photo before you pay.
| Rule | USCIS says | What we check |
|---|---|---|
| Who takes it | For most forms, USCIS or an authorised provider, at your biometrics appointment | Up to youCheck your form’s instructions before you print |
| Size | 2 × 2 in (51 × 51 mm); head 1–1⅜ in from chin to top | CheckedCropped to fit from the top of your head and your chin |
| Background | Plain white or off-white | CheckedColour, shadows, patterns and anything behind you |
| Glasses | Not allowed | CheckedGlasses, so you can take them off |
| Pose | Full face, facing the camera, eyes open; nobody else in the photo | CheckedClosed eyes, tilt, turn, and other people or hands in the frame |
| Unedited | Unedited photos only | Our promiseWe never change it, unless you choose to replace the background |
| How recent | Taken in the last 6 months | Up to youWe can’t tell when a photo was taken |
From USCIS, checked November 2026. USCIS always makes the final call. Compare every passport photo size.
Children and babies
USCIS usually takes its own photo of children and babies too. If you’re asked for one anyway, tell us it’s a child or a baby and we check it that way.
A child’s photo is usually taken at the biometrics appointment, like an adult’s.
No one else can be in the photo, not even a hand holding them up.
Lay them on a plain white sheet and take the photo from above.
Taking a baby’s photo? How to take it at home, step by step.
Questions
Probably not. Since 12 December 2025, USCIS only uses photos taken by USCIS or an authorised provider, and takes a new one at your biometrics appointment for forms including the I-485, I-90, N-400 and N-600. Check your form’s current instructions: some haven’t been updated and still mention photos.
2 × 2 inches (51 × 51 mm), the same as a US passport photo, with 1 to 1⅜ inches from your chin to the top of your head.
When a photo is asked for: 2 × 2 inches, in colour, on a plain white or off-white background, taken in the last six months, facing the camera with your eyes open and no glasses, and unedited.
That’s different. The Diversity Visa entry is run by the State Department, not USCIS, and you upload a digital photo with your entry. It follows the visa photo rules, so choose “US Visa” as your document to get a square 600 × 600 px JPG under 240 KB.
Some instructions were written before the change. Follow the latest version on the USCIS website, and if it still asks for photos, or your lawyer does, send them: it costs little to have them ready.
Yes, if you need one. Stand in front of a plain white wall with even light and have someone take it from about 4 ft away. We crop it to 2 × 2 inches and check it before you pay.
Free to check. $4.99 to download the print sheet and a digital copy. A drugstore photo costs about $15–18.
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