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DV 2020?

MisterPotato said:
There's no rush in applying, btw, you don't need to get it done right this second. There's more than a month to apply.

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Yup, always better to take one’s time and make sure one has read through the rules and instructions properly before applying. We always get a bunch of selectees every year who’ve managed to disqualify themselves because they didn’t read the rules properly and filled in one of the important answers wrongly.
 
SusieQQQ said:
Yup, always better to take one’s time and make sure one has read through the rules and instructions properly before applying. We always get a bunch of selectees every year who’ve managed to disqualify themselves because they didn’t read the rules properly and filled in one of the important answers wrongly.
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Agreed, the chances are already pretty darn low without accidentally self-disqualifying yourself. I've just downloaded the instructions and will be taking time to read through it, and will wait to see whether anyone more experience will spot any differences in instructions from the last rounds of applications. I'm sure the no-glasses rule of a couple years ago disqualified quite a few people. There's really no rush for at least the first week or so.
 
MisterPotato said:
Agreed, the chances are already pretty darn low without accidentally self-disqualifying yourself. I've just downloaded the instructions and will be taking time to read through it, and will wait to see whether anyone more experience will spot any differences in instructions from the last rounds of applications. I'm sure the no-glasses rule of a couple years ago disqualified quite a few people. There's really no rush for at least the first week or so.
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The website notes that minor changes have been made to the entry form, but I don’t know what they are.
 
Just noticed this in the instructions:
In addition, snapshots, magazine photos, low quality vending machine or mobile phone photos, and full-length photographs are not acceptable.
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Has this condition always been there?
 
Hubby and i intend to apply separately. Do i need 2 sets of photos so our application doesn't seem like a duplicate application or we can use the same photos.

TIA
 
Britsimon said:
As long as you take some care, that is no problem. Here is a good simple guide taking the photo yourself (and from DoS themselves).

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1933391466969030
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Is this a relatively new video? Mom mentioned that the rule is a new addendum this year, and maybe they haven't gotten round to removing that video yet. To be honest, I was kind of surprised that people in the past were being selected for phone pictures.

Anyway, I think we'll just get them done professionally. Like I mentioned, they're cheap enough here and their fancy DSLR cameras produce much more crisp pictures than I can possibly hope to get with my phone. Studio lighting helps, too. Last year, we took pictures using a phone and in retrospect, they weren't good. The colors weren't right and after cropping, they now look blurry. They were accepted by the photo tool, but it could be a reason we weren't chosen.
 
MisterPotato said:
Is this a relatively new video? Mom mentioned that the rule is a new addendum this year, and maybe they haven't gotten round to removing that video yet. To be honest, I was kind of surprised that people in the past were being selected for phone pictures.

Anyway, I think we'll just get them done professionally. Like I mentioned, they're cheap enough here and their fancy DSLR cameras produce much more crisp pictures than I can possibly hope to get with my phone. Studio lighting helps, too. Last year, we took pictures using a phone and in retrospect, they weren't good. The colors weren't right and after cropping, they now look blurry. They were accepted by the photo tool, but it could be a reason we weren't chosen.
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Nope! I never said that. All I said was I don’t recall seeing that before - quite a difference between what I said and your interpretation of what you think I said.
 
Sm1smom said:
Nope! I never said that. All I said was I don’t recall seeing that before - quite a difference between what I said and your interpretation of what you think I said.
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You're right, you didn't say that. I hadn't noticed it in the previous years either, which is why I thought it was odd and asked about it here.
 
MisterPotato said:
To be honest, I was kind of surprised that people in the past were being selected for phone pictures.

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To be honest, I’m kind of surprised that they are disallowing them. As long as the specs are all met there’s no reason not to accept them.

Also no it wouldn’t have been a reason you weren’t selected. If the photo tool accepted them as part of a valid entry that would have sufficed. If there was a problem with the photos in terms of meeting the actual specs, true likeness etc that would have been denied at interview.
 
MisterPotato said:
Is this a relatively new video? Mom mentioned that the rule is a new addendum this year, and maybe they haven't gotten round to removing that video yet. To be honest, I was kind of surprised that people in the past were being selected for phone pictures.

Anyway, I think we'll just get them done professionally. Like I mentioned, they're cheap enough here and their fancy DSLR cameras produce much more crisp pictures than I can possibly hope to get with my phone. Studio lighting helps, too. Last year, we took pictures using a phone and in retrospect, they weren't good. The colors weren't right and after cropping, they now look blurry. They were accepted by the photo tool, but it could be a reason we weren't chosen.
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The video was published on September 20 of this year. Mobile phone photos are fine as long as they meet the requirements (quality, size, composition and so on).
 
MisterPotato said:
Is this a relatively new video? Mom mentioned that the rule is a new addendum this year, and maybe they haven't gotten round to removing that video yet. To be honest, I was kind of surprised that people in the past were being selected for phone pictures.

Anyway, I think we'll just get them done professionally. Like I mentioned, they're cheap enough here and their fancy DSLR cameras produce much more crisp pictures than I can possibly hope to get with my phone. Studio lighting helps, too. Last year, we took pictures using a phone and in retrospect, they weren't good. The colors weren't right and after cropping, they now look blurry. They were accepted by the photo tool, but it could be a reason we weren't chosen.
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My guess is when they say "mobile phone" they mean just that; the old 90's brick style phones with a low quality cam (which are still widely in use across the globe). They probably do not mean modern flat panel PDA's with cameras that far exceed visa photo quality requirements, have good computing power (equal to a private digital cam). Professional studio pics are obviously the best, if you want to play it maximum safe, especially since professional studios often have the DV specs in their database, and can print/email it to you for a fee.

I don't think anybody was not selected, simply for the photo's, especially after the photo tool accepted them. Photo tool is not jus for DV, so if there was an issue, they'd let you know there and then. I think nobody even looks at pics until you actually get selected, respond with DS-260, and a person looks at your case at which point they may choose to disqualify. The photo is just to unambiguously establish the ID of the selectee, not judge you. If you were selected and then disqualified for pic sake, then you would know I guess. I'm not sure, but that's what I think, so I wouldn't worry about those previous times.
 
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SusieQQQ said:
To be honest, I’m kind of surprised that they are disallowing them. As long as the specs are all met there’s no reason not to accept them.

Also no it wouldn’t have been a reason you weren’t selected. If the photo tool accepted them as part of a valid entry that would have sufficed. If there was a problem with the photos in terms of meeting the actual specs, true likeness etc that would have been denied at interview.
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Well, good to know that I haven't lost out because of an issue with the pictures, at least.
 
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