veronice
Active Member
Well, in this group I'm telling you about (spanish speaking) we had 3 cases when the Green Card was denied based on the use of the same photo used on a tourist visa. In one case, the woman had a tourist visa -issued in 2016- and they denied the green card and annulled the tourist visa because she used the same picture. Two other cases were denied because their DV entry picture was the same of a tourist visa REQUEST that was rejected.So, this anedcote does indicate repeated use of a photo still does not disqualify before selection.
But the answer to your question is part of what we don’t know. Technically it’s not allowed, in practice so far, like you, we have heard of people doing it and being ok. I’ve never heard of the denials for using same photo as a tourist visa before, that’s interesting and shows they do take the criterion somewhat seriously. It’s not a risk I’d take personally as they could decide at any time to implement it with respect to previous entry photos too.
Also they gave them a document with the denial that reads (I'm translating from spanish) "The picture included in the original application of the program was over 6 months and it was confirmed that it was used in a previous visa process"
I have a picture of that letter, if you want me to send it to you.