Passport Bio Page for UK Visa: How to Scan and What to Include

TL;DR

The passport bio page is the photo-identity page of your passport. UKVI needs a clean colour scan at 300 DPI showing the photo, full name, passport number, dates, and (separately) all stamped or endorsed pages from previous visas. Damaged or illegible bio pages are the single most common technical refusal reason.

What counts as the bio page?

The bio page contains your machine-readable identity:

• Photograph
• Full name (as held by the issuing government)
• Nationality / country code
• Date of birth
• Sex
• Passport number
• Issue date and expiry date
• Issuing authority
• Two-line MRZ (machine-readable zone) at the bottom

In UK passports the bio page is on the inside back cover. In most other countries it's near the back of the document.

Scanning requirements

The whole bio page must fit on the scan in one piece. Don't crop the borders; UKVI looks at the page edges as part of authenticity verification (e.g. the binding strip on UK passports).

How to scan

Best: a flatbed scanner at 300 DPI, colour. Most UK libraries and high-street print shops have one.

Acceptable: smartphone camera using a proper document-scanner app (CamScanner, Adobe Scan, Apple Notes' built-in scanner). Place the passport flat in good even light, no shadow from the camera, hold steady.

Avoid:

• Photographs taken at an angle (perspective distortion)
• Phone screenshots of passport photos
• Heavily compressed JPGs (visible block artefacts)
• Photographing the page through a plastic sleeve

After scanning, view the result at 100% zoom on a desktop screen. If you can read every line of the MRZ, the scan is fine. If the MRZ is fuzzy, rescan at higher resolution.

Other passport pages UKVI wants

Beyond the bio page, include:

• All pages with previous UK visa stamps — even if the visa is expired or you've moved on
• All pages with foreign visa stamps — UKVI uses these to verify your travel history
• Cancelled or annulled visa pages — include these if relevant; not declaring them is worse than declaring
• Endorsement pages (work permits, residence permits printed on the passport)
• The signature page (if separate from the bio page)

Blank pages don't need to be included unless your country has a non-trivial blank-page policy.

What if my passport is damaged?

• Bent or torn but still readable — scan and submit; usually accepted
• Water damage with smudged ink — risk of refusal; consider getting a replacement passport before applying
• Bio page partially missing or rebound — replace the passport before applying
• Passport reported lost or stolen but recovered — declare on the application; include the lost-and-found documentation

If your passport expires within 6 months of your planned UK visa start date, renew it first. UKVI generally requires the passport to be valid for the duration of the visa or close to it.

Old passports

If you've held more than one passport in the last 10 years (common for renewals), include scans of the bio page of each one. Old passports document continuous identity and are checked against immigration history.

If old passports are lost or destroyed, declare this on the application form and explain. Don't fabricate scans.

Bundling

Place passport scans first in your bundle — the "Passport & ID" category at the top of the canonical UKVI document order. Use our Bundler to merge your bio page, previous visa pages, and partner's passport (for Spouse / Family routes) into the right sequence.

If the resulting bundle exceeds 6 MB UKVCAS upload limit, run it through the Compressor — but use the structural pass option to keep passport text crisp; rasterising can make MRZ unreadable.