You can use FormData to submit your data by a POST request. Here is a simple example:
var myFormData = new FormData();
myFormData.append('pictureFile', pictureInput.files[0]);
$.ajax({
url: 'upload.php',
type: 'POST',
processData: false, // important
contentType: false, // important
dataType : 'json',
data: myFormData
});
You don’t have to use a form to make an ajax request, as long as you know your request setting (like url, method and parameters data).