When applying for Education Benefits, how to UPLOAD a picture?

[one-busy-beaver]

Hi everyone,

When I‘m asked to upload the required type of proof, the only option is to use the device camera, which doesn't have good resolution, so my request is never been approved.

Is there a way to UPLOAD a high resolution picture rather than using the device camera?

[VictorMoni]

Hi! @catloaf-cafe 😁👋

Yes — you don’t necessarily have to use the device camera. You can upload a higher resolution picture if you already have the document saved on your computer or phone.

When the camera window appears, there should also be an option to select a file (for example: “Upload” or “Choose file”). If you don’t see it on mobile, try opening the application process on a desktop browser — it usually shows the option more clearly.

If the option still doesn’t appear, you can contact GitHub Education Support here:
GitHub Education Support

That way you can provide a clear, high-resolution document to improve your chances of approval. 🚀

[one-busy-beaver]

Hi @VictorMoni

I'm using desktop browser all the time and I never see the option for upload or choose a file (I tried ctrl+F for "upload", "choose", and "select", but didn't find anything). Could you provide a screenshot for where to find that? Also, GitHub Education Support doesn't seem to take technical support questions anymore.

[VictorMoni]

@catloaf-cafe

I can't take a screenshots because I have already submitted the documents for the GitHub Student Pack but...

At first, the same thing happened to me — I couldn’t upload any files, and I failed 3 times before my submission to the GitHub Student Pack was approved.

After that, a new Upload button appeared, which allowed me to submit my school document. Once I uploaded it, I was finally approved for the GitHub Student Pack. 🚀

In any case, haven't you tried to make contact to GitHub Support about it? They usually help with that.

GitHub Education Support

[citruscai]

blinks

[WilyKatdenzy]

Same here, support team. How can I resolve this issue on my end?

[panzeyu2013]

I am facing the same issue here. I have tried several time but still I cannot find any upload button. Maybe I need to contact the support team.

[20Cuneyt10]

Hello I also am facing the same issue has anybody found where the upload button is

[ruturaj-018]

It sounds like you’re going through some kind of identity-verification or proof-upload process (maybe on GitHub Sponsors, Marketplace, or another service tied to your GitHub account). The reason you only see the camera option is usually because:

• You’re accessing the upload form from a mobile device, where the site/app defaults to the camera.
• Some verification providers (like Stripe or Onfido) force the camera for security reasons, to ensure the photo is “live.”

---

🔑 Things you can try

1. Switch to desktop
   On a laptop/PC, the same upload form usually gives you a file upload option so you can select a high-resolution scan/photo instead of using the camera.

2. Try a different browser
   Some browsers (especially mobile Safari/Chrome) default to the camera. Desktop Chrome or Firefox often shows both camera and file upload.

3. Prepare a clear scan/photo

   • Use a scanner if possible.
   • Or take a photo with your phone camera, save it, and then upload it from desktop.

4. Contact support
   If the system still forces the camera (some services intentionally restrict this), you’ll need to open a ticket with the support team of the platform (GitHub Support if it’s for GitHub, or the identity-verification provider if shown).

---

👉 is this happening inside GitHub (Sponsors, Marketplace, or Actions billing), or is it for another service? That’ll help me give you the exact workaround.

[20Cuneyt10]

Its for the education benefits and as stated there doesnt seem to be a upload button at all.

[rafaelpeter03]

🎉 After being turned down 3 times, I found the following workaround

1. Compress your image as much as possible to reduce its size.

2. Find a website that converts images to Base64, convert your image, and copy the entire generated string starting with data:image/png;base64....

3. On the Git verification screen, enable the webcam and take any random photo. Then, right-click anywhere on the model, open Inspect Element, and locate the hidden input divs. The first one is the image input:

   

4. Simply replace the content of value='{"image":" by deleting the Base64 string from the photo you took and pasting the Base64 string of the image you converted.

If you want, you can expand and inspect the value of the other inputs as well, to check if any automatically captured information is incorrect.

[TheBraveLittleToaster91]

Here is a Python script which converts an image to base64, in case you don't want to upload your document to a random image converter website.
jpg_to_base64.py

[kiyarose]

My crazy solution right now has been,,, using a custom background for my camera with my document, and just getting out of the way to take a photo. I have been having issues with the compression of the photo making the text hard to read, and getting denied because of that. This is so frustrating that this is even a thing we have to deal with.

[rizomariana019-bit]

Hola 👋

[BlueOutside]

Tried this but got rejected anyway for mostly false reasons
(Though the document I sent is in french only so...)

[JohnOlshea]

Worked. Thanks

[zeroshotstudio]

Was a solution ever found for this? Im having the same issue. Tried, Safari, Chrome, Firefox. No upload button, only Camera.

[Arthur160814]

Is there a solution for this?

[rjach]

THERE ARE 2 SOLUTIONS:

1. Compress and Convert the Image to Base64:

• Compress your image as much as possible to reduce its size, ensuring it meets any file size requirements set by the form.
• Find a website that converts images to Base64. There are many online tools that can help you with this.
• Once your image is converted, copy the entire Base64 string, which will look something like data:image/png;base64,....
• On the Git verification screen, enable the webcam and take any random photo (this step is required to trigger the image upload field).
• Then, right-click anywhere on the page, open Inspect Element, and locate the hidden input divs. The first one will contain the image input field.
• Replace the content of the value='{"image": field by deleting the Base64 string of the photo you took, and paste the Base64 string of your image.

2. Bypass the only Camera Requirement Using Burp Suite:

• Launch Burp Suite and set it up to intercept the form submission request.
• While applying for the benefits, intercept the request containing the form data that includes the camera_required parameter.
• Change the camera_required parameter from true to false. This will allow you to upload a file instead of being forced to use a webcam.
• Forward the modified request through Burp Suite, and then proceed with uploading your image file as part of the form submission.

[renesteeman]

For anyone trying to contact support about this, they have stopped offering any contact options for both verification of student status and technical issues.

[kiyarose]

I personally throughout this was having issues because I am a remote learner, and their god-awful compression kept making my document pretty much impossible to see. I contacted support due to "incorrect information for school", and they were willing to discuss it with me. I pretty much in the end needed to go back and make my file I was giving them extremely large, to compensate for the fact that their compression algorithm turns images into a pixel soup.

[sajansinghthakuri]

In many apps and verification systems, the camera-only flow is intentional for fraud prevention, so there may not be a built-in “upload from gallery” option. But there are a few things you can try:

1. Look for a small gallery/photo icon
   Sometimes the upload option is hidden inside the camera screen itself (top corner, paperclip icon, “Browse,” “Choose file,” or “Upload from device”).

2. Use a different device
   If your phone camera is poor, try:

   • another smartphone with a better camera
   • a tablet
   • a laptop webcam with better lighting

3. Improve the capture quality
   Even with a low-resolution camera, approval often depends more on clarity than megapixels:

   • place the document on a dark flat surface
   • use bright indirect light
   • avoid shadows/glare
   • tap to focus before capturing
   • clean the camera lens
   • keep all corners visible

4. Try the web version instead of the mobile app
   Some services allow file uploads on desktop browsers even if the mobile app forces camera capture.

5. Contact support
   Many platforms can manually enable alternative verification methods if your device camera cannot meet requirements.

If you tell me which app, website, or service is asking for the proof upload, I can check whether it supports gallery uploads or suggest the best workaround for that specific platform.

[RaynaVB]

Am having the same issue. There is no upload file button, the only option available is to use the camera to take a photo. I am on a laptop and want to upload my transcript, and it is not possible.

There is no button to upload a file (I have checked everywhere). I have checked across multiple browsers and across multiple operating systems. There is only the option to take a photo from the laptop's camera. I tried to report this in the "Get help with GitHub Education" page, but it does not allow me to report anything related to technical bugs or applications (for educational benefits) being rejected.

[Hassibi501]

It's so stupid what you have to do to resolve the issue.

1. When you get to the page where it asks you start camera to upload the document. You have to use Inspect (the dev tool F12) and Ctrl + f to find "#dev_pack_form_camera_required".
2. Once you find it change the value from true to false. Then click submit application.
3. After it gives you the error you will see the option to upload a file. But there is a catch. You can only upload one image file. It won't let you upload PDFs or any other files except for image files like JPG. If you need to upload multiple images too bad you can't. You have to either submit one relevant file that hopefully covers everything that is needed or somehow photoshop the image to squeeze in all the important things. Make sure it's legible by OCR.

This is for the GitHub team:

I am on Linux (Bazzite) and I used both Brave and Firefox browsers the issues still persisted. I turned off ad blockers and dark mode extension in case it was blocking something and that didn't work. I tried it with a new profile, and it didn't work. I then tried it on mobile on Android and Brave mobile. The issue still persisted. Even on Brave mobile it couldn't detect my phone's camera.