EAD photo checker for Form I-765

Review the photograph you are preparing for Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. This is a limited check of an image for a print-photo profile. The findings do not verify all the photograph requirements or the preparation of your printed copies.

Where the photos fit in your I-765 filing

The USCIS I-765 instructions, edition 08/21/25, page 21 say to file every application with the required documents, assembled in order: the filing fee if applicable, your signed application, then the documents under item 3. Photographs are item 3.C.

They come after two copies that are easy to confuse with them. Item 3.A is a copy of your Form I-94, passport or other travel document. Item 3.B is a copy of your last EAD, front and back; if you never had an EAD, it is a copy of a government-issued identity document showing your picture, and that copy must clearly show your facial features. Neither copy replaces the photographs.

Put together the matching photo pair

Item 3.C requires two identical recent color passport-style photographs. Each must measure 2 × 2 inches, have a white to off-white background and be printed on thin paper with a glossy finish. Submit them unmounted and unretouched.

The instructions also say to lightly print your name and A-Number, if any, on the back using a pencil or felt pen. Check the pair and its preparation yourself: selecting one image in this tool cannot verify those steps.

Common problems to correct before printing

A side-facing portrait or incorrect head size does not fit the I-765 photo instructions. They require a full-face frontal view and head height of 1 to 1⅜ inches, measured from the top of the hair to the chin. Retake with your face fully toward the camera and allow room for that head size in the final print.

Make a fresh capture if the photograph is no longer recent or the background is the wrong color. Check the physical copies for the required dimensions, paper and finish before putting them with your application.

Read the result within its scope

This profile measures aspect ratio, face count and head height, with an estimated pose check. It does not check file properties, background color or uniformity, eye-line position, blur, exposure, open eyes or eyeglasses. Page 21 also specifies eye height; review that requirement manually.

The editing rules here differ from the Green Card profile. Retouching is prohibited, because the instructions require unretouched photos. The source does not address cropping or background replacement, and that silence is not permission to make either edit. When the capture needs a different background, take a new photograph in the required setting.