DACA Photo Requirements for Form I-821D and Form I-765

Yes, but they belong to the work permit application, not to the DACA form. The current Form I-821D instructions do not ask for photos. They do require Form I-765 and Form I-765 Worksheet with every initial and renewal request, and the Form I-765 instructions ask for two identical color passport-style photos.

The I-821D instructions also say that when the same documents are required for both forms filed together, you only send them once. In practice, that means one pair of photos for the whole package, labeled and kept with your Form I-765. For the full work permit rules, see the I-765 work permit photo guide.

The DACA photo rules are the ones printed in the Photographs part of the Form I-765 instructions. They are the same 2 x 2 inch passport-style rules used across USCIS forms.

Two points are open. Glasses are not mentioned, so take them off to match U.S. Department of State photo standards. Photos must be 'taken recently' with no set number of days, so take new photos for each request instead of reusing prints from two years ago.

The photo rules are the same for both kinds of request, but the processing picture is very different.

Renewal requests

USCIS continues to accept and process DACA renewals and the Form I-765 filed with them. It recommends filing 120 to 150 days (4 to 5 months) before the expiration date on your current Form I-797 DACA approval notice. Your renewal I-765 needs two new photos.

Initial requests

After a January 17, 2025 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, USCIS accepts initial DACA requests but says it will not process them at this time. Current DACA grants and related work permits stay valid until they expire unless individually terminated. Check the USCIS DACA page before filing, since court orders can change the rules.

After USCIS receives a complete DACA request with fees, it sends a notice to visit an Application Support Center for biometrics, and it may deny the request if you do not attend. Children under 14 who are in removal proceedings, or have a final removal or voluntary departure order, and are not detained, go to the ASC for photographs only.

USCIS Policy Alert PA-2025-29, dated December 12, 2025, says USCIS will not use or reuse self-submitted photographs to make secure documents. For a renewal, USCIS may reuse the photo from your earlier biometrics appointment if no more than 36 months have passed at filing, or it may take a new one. Keep sending the two photos the Form I-765 instructions ask for, and keep an eye out for your biometrics notice.

USCIS lets you file Form I-821D and Form I-765 online and has a video that walks through both forms. Your filing method decides whether you need prints or a digital file.

Online

Follow the evidence screens in your USCIS account. If they ask for a passport-style photo, upload a digital file that meets the same 2 x 2 rules. Our Digital photo costs $16.95.

Paper

Mail two identical prints on thin glossy photo paper with your Form I-765. Make sure every page of each form comes from the same edition, because USCIS may reject forms with mixed or missing pages.

For a renewal, every week counts. A request for evidence about photos or a missed appointment can push your decision past your expiration date. Avoid these common slips.

• Forgetting photos because the I-821D does not ask for them. The Form I-765 in your package does.
• Reusing old prints. Photos from your last renewal are not 'taken recently'.
• Edited photos. USCIS defines unretouched as not edited or digitally enhanced. Skip beauty filters and face edits.
• Non-matching photos. Both must be identical, printed from the same image.
• Wrong size or head height. Exactly 2 x 2 inches, head 1 to 1 3/8 inches.
• A shadowy or colored background. It must be white to off-white.
• Mounted photos. Do not glue them to a page or staple through them.
• Missing biometrics. USCIS may deny a request if you skip the appointment.

Check a photo you already have with the free passport photo checker.

Labeled photos stay matched to your file if they come loose. Lightly print your full name and A-Number, if you have one, on the back of each photo with a pencil or felt pen, as the Form I-765 instructions say. Press gently and let ink dry.

Keep the photos loose and unmounted. USCIS does not prescribe a holder, so many requestors use a small envelope marked with their name and 'Form I-765 photos' and paper clip it to the front of the I-765. Planning to travel later? Advance parole for DACA recipients is a separate Form I-131 with its own photos; see the I-131 travel document photo guide.

PhotoForPass handles the tricky part: getting a phone photo to the exact USCIS measurements and onto a sheet you can print the same day.

• Check first. Before you pay, the photo check runs in your browser and reviews face size, centering, tilt, eyes, lighting, shadows, blur and background. Your photo stays on your device until you pay.
• Fix and size. After payment, we fix the lighting, replace the background with plain white and crop to exactly 2 x 2 inches with your head and eyes inside the USCIS ranges. We never alter your face: no smoothing, no reshaping, no filters. A photo taken in soft daylight against a light wall needs the least correction.
• Print sheet. Photo + print sheet costs $18.95: the digital JPG plus a 4x6 sheet as JPG and PDF, ready in 30 to 60 seconds. Print it borderless for six identical photos at CVS, Walgreens, Walmart or at home.

Every order includes up to 5 photo checks and 3 free redos per person, a 14-day money-back guarantee with no questions asked and a full refund if the agency rejects the photo. After payment, photos are processed securely and deleted automatically after 90 days, and they are never sold. PhotoForPass is not affiliated with USCIS; final acceptance is up to USCIS.