The ITIN application requires a clear high-quality copy of BOTH the biographical page and signature page of your currently unexpired passport. The IRS has been very strict recently regarding document quality and, unfortunately, scans which were acceptable in the past can now lead to the IRS requesting better copies (this delays ITIN issuance and processing of your filing).
The following graphic illustrates a scan that will be rejected by the IRS against one that is acceptable.
Provided by the US Department of State. No copyright to US Government works.
Passport scans must include the following:
– Scan must include BOTH the information page and signature page (in some passports this is the same page, others, for example US passports, have separate pages).
– Passport must be unexpired.
– Scan should be in color and resolution should be high enough that all text must be legible.
– There should be no reflections or flares (no burned out/blown highlights).
– All parts of the page MUST be in the scan (no cut off edges).
– Document should be flat. Photographs of passports with a bend will generally be rejected.
– File type should be JPEG (.jpg) or PDF (.pdf).
We recommend using a flatbed scanner for best results. If you are using a smartphone camera, we recommend using the free Adobe Scan App for iOS or Android which can be found here: https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/mobile/scanner-app.html