Can You Scan a Printed Passport Photo to Upload?
The answer depends entirely on which portal you are feeding. For a US passport application, a scan is banned. For the DV lottery, scanning an existing 2 x 2 inch print is an explicit, specified option. Here is where scanning is refused, where it is allowed, and why a scan so often fails the quality checks. Sourced from the US State Department photo pages, September 2026.
The short answer: it depends on the portal
For a US passport photo, the instruction is categorical: "Do not submit photocopies or digitally scanned photos." For a US visa: "Photos copied or digitally scanned from driver's licenses or other official documents are not acceptable." But the Diversity Visa (DV) lottery goes the other way — it explicitly lets you scan a physical 2 x 2 inch photo you already own, and even publishes the resolution to scan it at. Same country, three different answers, which is why the portal, not your habit, decides.
When scanning is banned
Two US routes refuse scans outright, and they are worth quoting in full because they are the ones people trip over. Passport: "Do not submit photocopies or digitally scanned photos." Visa: "Photos copied or digitally scanned from driver's licenses or other official documents are not acceptable." Read together, the pattern is clear — a photo that began life on another document, or as a copy, is not accepted as an original portrait.
The DV lottery exception, and its 300 ppi rule
The DV lottery is the exception that proves the rule is about the portal, not the country. It allows a scan of an existing photo: "your existing photo must be: 2 x 2 inches (51 x 51 mm); Scanned at a resolution of 300 pixels per inch (12 pixels per millimeter)". The digital file then has its own requirements: JPEG (.jpg); no more than 240 kB; square aspect ratio; 600 x 600 pixels. Read together, that is a scan made to a defined input resolution and then delivered as a small, square JPEG — a specific recipe, not a general licence to scan anything.
Why scans fail in general
A photograph of a photograph picks up everything the print carries. The US asks for "a high-resolution color photo that is not blurry, grainy, or pixelated. The photo should not have visible printer dots." Scanned prints fail on exactly those words: the paper texture reads as grain, a low scan setting reads as pixelation, and the halftone screen of an inkjet or lab print reads as visible printer dots. Digital copying of an existing photo also tends to soften the eyes and fine detail that facial recognition depends on — so even a technically clean scan can lose the very information the photo is for.
What to do instead
- Shoot a fresh digital photo where the portal expects an original, rather than scanning a print.
- Match the destination's file rules — format, size cap and aspect ratio — before you upload.
- Keep the original at full resolution and crop or resize from that, instead of re-saving the same file repeatedly.
- Check the eyes and the grain. The image should be sharp at the eyes and free of visible grain, pixelation and printer dots.
The format, size cap and aspect-ratio rules are collected in the digital file requirements; the DV and green-card differences are on the green card vs DV photo page; if you are printing instead of uploading, see the printing guide.
Frequently asked questions
Can I scan a printed passport photo and upload it?
For a US passport it is refused: do not submit photocopies or digitally scanned photos. For the DV lottery, however, scanning an existing 2 x 2 inch photo is explicitly allowed, at 300 pixels per inch.
Can I scan my driving licence photo for a US visa?
No. Photos copied or digitally scanned from driver's licences or other official documents are not acceptable.
What are the DV lottery scan rules?
Your existing photo must be 2 x 2 inches (51 x 51 mm) and scanned at a resolution of 300 pixels per inch (12 pixels per millimetre). The digital file must be JPEG, no more than 240 kB, square, and 600 x 600 pixels.
Why does my scanned photo look grainy?
A scan of a print records the paper texture, the print's halftone and any softness in the original. The US asks for a photo that is not blurry, grainy or pixelated, with no visible printer dots.
What kind of photo should I submit instead?
A high-resolution colour photo that is not blurry, grainy or pixelated, and that has no visible printer dots.
Need to hit a pixel size or a file cap? Resize with the image resizer and compress with the image compressor. The other common upload failures are listed in the rejection reasons.