Immigration forms filed with USCIS - adjustment of status on the I-485, work authorisation on the I-765, and several others - take passport-style photographs. The format is the familiar American square, but a couple of details differ from a passport application.
The specification
| Rule | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Print size | 2 × 2 inches, square, colour |
| Head height | 1 to 1 3/8 inches, chin to crown |
| Background | Plain white or off-white |
| Age of photo | Taken within the last 30 days for most forms |
| Expression | Neutral, facing the camera directly |
| Glasses | Not permitted |
| Quantity | Usually two identical prints |
Thirty days, not six months. This is the difference people carry over from passport applications and get wrong - a photograph taken for a passport renewal a few months earlier is not automatically acceptable on an immigration form.
Writing on the back
USCIS asks that your name and A-Number, if you have one, be written lightly on the back of each photo in pencil or felt pen. Two practical points: use pencil, because a ballpoint press-through embosses the face on the front, and write near the edge rather than across the middle.
If you are submitting through a portal rather than on paper, this does not apply - but check which route your specific form takes, because USCIS filing is a mix of paper and online depending on the form and the case.
Head coverings, again
Religious head coverings worn daily are acceptable provided the full face is visible from the bottom of the chin to the top of the forehead. Some USCIS filings ask for a written statement explaining the covering - a short letter, but one that has to exist before you post the package.
Photos for the whole case
A family-based filing usually needs photographs for multiple people, and often multiple identical prints per person. Printing them one at a time at a counter gets expensive and inconsistent; a single sheet with several photos on it, printed at true size, is both cheaper and guarantees every copy is identical.
See printing passport photos at a drugstore for how to get a sheet printed without the machine rescaling it.
Where these applications fail
Beyond the 30-day rule, the two recurring problems are background shadow - because these photos are often taken at home against a wall - and head size, because the American square is unforgiving and the head-height band is only about ten millimetres wide.
IDShot carries the USCIS presets alongside the passport and visa ones, crops to the square with the head inside the band, replaces the background with the required white, and prints sheets of identical copies at true size.
Requirements are changed by the authorities that publish them, and the official page is the only source that settles an argument. Each preset in IDShot links to that page, so you can confirm the current wording before you submit.