In the US there is a lot of law that makes employment discrimination illegal for a number of classes of people.

IANAL: I don't know if it is outright illegal to request a picture but it sure seems like a great way to open yourself up to a lawsuit.

> Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin > the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), which protects men and women who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment from sex-based wage discrimination > the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), which protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older > Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended (ADA), which prohibit employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in the private sector, and in state and local governments > the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which, among other things, provides monetary damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination.

https://www.eeoc.gov/facts/qanda.html

In the US a resume with a photo will be discarded immediately by most companies. I suspect companies have written policies that say no photo resumes allowed.

The simple reason is that a photo just opens up a ton of bias accusations. There is literally 0 information a photo can provide that can be legally used to make hiring decisions, but on the other hand, there are a whole host of biases it can introduce.

Then you shouldn,t be allowed to put your name on your application either.

This is why some people choose to use their initials.

It used to be the expected norm, but nowadays a lot of the larger companies actively say they don't want pics, and depending on job sector, more and more people tend to not include them regardless.