Is there a way to submit evidence without a webcam?

[patrickmcdee]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Question

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Verification Help & Guidance

Hi everyone,

I am getting to the verification part, but it wants to use my webcam to take a picture of the evidence. Is there any group to email or to upload a PDF instead? Trying to hold a screen shot of the document from my phone into my webcam is not working lol.

[codewithritiksaini]

Hey everyone! 👋

Running into the same issue here 😅 The webcam capture just isn't cooperating — tried holding my phone screen up to it to show the document, but the quality/glare/angle makes it basically unreadable.

Wondering if there's an easier alternative, like:

📧 Emailing the document directly
📄 Uploading a PDF instead of using webcam capture
🔗 Some other verification method that doesn't rely on webcam quality

Would really appreciate if someone could point me in the right direction! 🙏

Thanks so much in advance! 🚀

[Voltage202]

Same problem. I've been trying for months

[patrickmcdee]

Yea still not working for me. Everything is filled out, I've seen in the FAQ it says you can upload multiple photos but haven't seen how to do that. Once one photo is taken you can just submit then wait 10 min to get rejected.

The photo has my name, school, enrollment and current classes in it. And it keeps saying to have my profile updated and billing but all that is uploaded as well. I also tried through the phone but it still only wants to use the camera to take the photo of stuff. I can't imagine you can fit two documents into one picture and they can still read any of it. Going to try support now.

[karthikj30]

Hey @patrickmcdee @codewithritiksaini @Voltage202 ,

Please Mark this as answered if this helps you

There's no email-a-PDF path, but you almost certainly don't need one. Do the whole thing on your phone instead.

The easiest fix: apply from your phone

Open education.github.com in your phone's browser and continue the application there. On mobile, tapping the capture control opens the OS picker — on a mobile browser with "Desktop Site" enabled there's an option to upload a file, which you can use to submit a screenshot of a PDF. So instead of holding your phone up to a webcam, you screenshot the PDF (or export each page as an image) and pick it straight from your camera roll.

This solves your exact problem — no physical document, no re-photographing a screen, no glare or moiré.

Two things that matter for it to pass:

• Screenshot, don't photograph. A native screenshot at full phone resolution is far cleaner than any webcam capture of a screen.
• If your proof is multi-page, note that you may include multiple documents in one image — combine the relevant pages into a single image rather than submitting several attempts.

Skip document review entirely, if you can

Before fighting the upload at all: if your school issues you an address on its domain, add and verify it under Settings → Emails first. An institutional email often gets you approved without ever reaching the evidence step. Worth two minutes.

What the reviewer is actually looking for

The rejections people hit are usually content, not image quality. Your first and last name, complete school name, and a date demonstrating current academic affiliation must all appear in the document, and the image needs to be clear and easy to read. A few extra notes:

• School logos alone are not accepted.
• Completing your GitHub profile beforehand meaningfully improves your odds — name, bio, photo. It's a cheap signal and reviewers weight it.
• The name on the document should match your GitHub profile name.
• If your campus location and your country don't line up, the document needs to indicate virtual/distance learning.

Acceptable proof types: student ID with an enrollment date, current class schedule, transcript, or an enrollment verification letter.

If the phone route somehow still shows camera-only

Open a support ticket at education.github.com/contact (or support.github.com, category "Education"). If the flow never offers an upload option on any browser or device, that's a portal issue rather than a documentation issue, and it's the right thing to raise with Education support. Say plainly: no webcam, proof exists as a PDF, upload control not appearing. They handle this regularly.

One last thing worth knowing: the camera-only design is deliberate, not a bug — GitHub has said they request a live photo of evidence rather than an upload as an anti-fraud measure. That's why there's no official PDF inbox. The mobile file picker is the sanctioned way around it, and it works.

[patrickmcdee]

1. Tried both the mobile and desktop websites from my phone (iPhone) and it still wanted to open up the camera to take a photo of my screen (which I did because it is a better camera than my built in webcam at least).

2. .edu email is already attached to my github account

3. The photo has my school logo, my name, and my enrollment date. As well as the classes I have taken and what I have left for the semester along with enrollment dates. Profile is filled out except for a photo, just have the graphic one they provided. I am taking classes online though to a university in a different state. Where would I indicate that I don't live in the same state I am taking classes in?

If this one fails, I will message the support team, thank you.

[patrickmcdee]

Unfortunately it failed again after 9 min, says the same things every time that are already completed. Going to try the support team now.

[patrickmcdee]

Nevermind, you can't contact support about this anymore, it just tells you to come to the message boards. What an experience lol

[antoniovasssss]

@patrickmcdee

Core Workarounds & Steps

1. Apply via Mobile Browser (Primary Solution)

• Open education.github.com in your mobile browser.
• Enabling "Desktop Site" mode in your mobile browser allows the capture control to trigger your phone's native OS file picker.
• You can select a high-resolution screenshot of your PDF document directly from your camera roll rather than taking a picture of a monitor screen (which causes glare and moiré artifacts).

2. Verify Institutional Email First

• Before submitting document evidence, ensure your school-issued email address (e.g., @school.edu) is added and verified under Settings → Emails on GitHub.
• Verifying an active academic email can often automatically fulfill verification requirements without needing photo evidence.

3. Contact GitHub Support if Camera-Only Flow Persists

• There is no direct email inbox for submitting PDFs, as live photo capture is used as an anti-fraud measure.
• If the mobile browser flow still forces a live camera capture without an upload option, open a ticket via the [GitHub Education Contact](https://education.github.com/contact) page under "Education" to request support for submitting non-webcam evidence.

[patrickmcdee]

Thank you, none of that has worked unfortunately, waiting to see if this last attempt fails so I can contact support.

[patrickmcdee]

It failed again (third time wasn't the charm) so now trying support.

[patrickmcdee]

Nevermind, you can't even contact support about this anymore.