Anyone familiar with applying for ITIN via W-7?

[figuringthisout 0]

I got some kickback from the government about my wife's W-7 application. It looks as if they need some identifying information from her to the likes of a birth certificate or passport etc? Which is great, however I don't know if I can just take copies of it and send them in... otherwise I think they may need to be notarized in the US. How in the world do I do that? Should I have her mail her passport to me and then get it copied and notarized here? I've never had anything notarized before so I'm not even sure what that means to be honest! lol

Thanks for any insight in advance!

[Heather&Matt 0]

I got some kickback from the government about my wife's W-7 application. It looks as if they need some identifying information from her to the likes of a birth certificate or passport etc? Which is great, however I don't know if I can just take copies of it and send them in... otherwise I think they may need to be notarized in the US. How in the world do I do that? Should I have her mail her passport to me and then get it copied and notarized here? I've never had anything notarized before so I'm not even sure what that means to be honest! lol

Thanks for any insight in advance!

My US husband took my passport to a lawyer and got it notarized. You pretty much just pay for them to photocopy it, stamp the photocopy with a signature and put a seal on it. You would then send it with the W-7 to get an ITIN.

You could also take her passport to your local IRS office and get everything done there.

[Ning 619]

I got some kickback from the government about my wife's W-7 application. It looks as if they need some identifying information from her to the likes of a birth certificate or passport etc? Which is great, however I don't know if I can just take copies of it and send them in... otherwise I think they may need to be notarized in the US. How in the world do I do that? Should I have her mail her passport to me and then get it copied and notarized here? I've never had anything notarized before so I'm not even sure what that means to be honest! lol

Thanks for any insight in advance!

They do not need to be notarized. A notary ony verifies the signature on a document is that of the person signing it. They have zero to do with the content.

I think they require both of the documents described. Double check on the IRS web site to see exactly what they want.

[CaliforniaGuy 2]

Heather&Matt is absolutely right. You need to have the passport in your hands and take it to a notary to have them notarize it or take it to an IRS office. You can use other IDs but than you need at least 2. I would do it with a passport (personal choice). You also need a letter to treat your spouse as a U.S. resident for tax year 2010 IF he or she is NOT. Here is a sample and it has to be signed by both od you.

March 15, 2011

Dear Sir/Madam,

I, (U.S. taxpayer), am a United States citizen and would like my non-resident alien wife/husband from (country), (name), to be treated as a United States resident for the 2010 tax year.

X______________________________ X_________________________________

(taxpayers name) (aliens name)

[figuringthisout 0]

Yes I called someone on my break from the IRS and they did say it needed to be notarized.

However if you had yours done in the US Heather by your husband (without you present?) then I don't know what in the world they're notarizing? Perhaps notarizing that the image wasn't manipulated and it is a 1:1 copy?

Either way, it doesn't seem to difficult now that I've had time to look into it... thanks for the replies folks!

[figuringthisout 0]

Heather&Matt is absolutely right. You need to have the passport in your hands and take it to a notary to have them notarize it or take it to an IRS office. You can use other IDs but than you need at least 2. I would do it with a passport (personal choice). You also need a letter to treat your spouse as a U.S. resident for tax year 2010 IF he or she is NOT. Here is a sample and it has to be signed by both od you.

March 15, 2011

Dear Sir/Madam,

I, (U.S. taxpayer), am a United States citizen and would like my non-resident alien wife/husband from (country), (name), to be treated as a United States resident for the 2010 tax year.

X______________________________ X_________________________________

(taxpayers name) (aliens name)

She definitely isn't a resident yet, working on that though. =P

However this wasn't brought up by the IRS guy or my tax preparer, do I send this in with the W-7 or??

[Heather&Matt 0]

Yes I called someone on my break from the IRS and they did say it needed to be notarized.

However if you had yours done in the US Heather by your husband (without you present?) then I don't know what in the world they're notarizing? Perhaps notarizing that the image wasn't manipulated and it is a 1:1 copy?

Either way, it doesn't seem to difficult now that I've had time to look into it... thanks for the replies folks!

I talked to Matt, he said if you were to e-file it then you had to go to the local IRS building to verify the passport in person. If you are going to snail mail it then you can go to a lawywer to get them to authenticate the passport. Essentially they are a legal authority to sign to the fact that my passport is from another country. You then can send in your IRS package with the W-7 and notarized photocopy.

Heather&Matt is absolutely right. You need to have the passport in your hands and take it to a notary to have them notarize it or take it to an IRS office. You can use other IDs but than you need at least 2. I would do it with a passport (personal choice). You also need a letter to treat your spouse as a U.S. resident for tax year 2010 IF he or she is NOT. Here is a sample and it has to be signed by both od you.

March 15, 2011

Dear Sir/Madam,

I, (U.S. taxpayer), am a United States citizen and would like my non-resident alien wife/husband from (country), (name), to be treated as a United States resident for the 2010 tax year.

X______________________________ X_________________________________

(taxpayers name) (aliens name)

I remember signing something VERY similar to this, at least twice now.

Edited March 16, 2011 by Heather&Matt

[M&Pooh 12]

However if you had yours done in the US Heather by your husband (without you present?) then I don't know what in the world they're notarizing? Perhaps notarizing that the image wasn't manipulated and it is a 1:1 copy?

Exactly. They notarize the fact that they see the original and the copy is true.

It's not necessary to take it to a lawyer. Any person having notary public license can do that. Every time I need something notarized I usually can find such a person somewhere in my office

By the same token - you need to sign the letter only if you want to file 'Married Filing Jointly'. If you're filing separately and just want to get exemptions for your wife - you still need W7 but obviously no such letter is necessary.

[figuringthisout 0]

I talked to the notary here in the state I reside, they said it has to go to the capital city to get "certified" as a regular notary can only notarize a signature.

So I called a Notary in Canada. Apparently Canada isn't part of the Hague Convention and thus can't send the required Apostille form required of non-American Notaries. D=<

What do we do now? We'd like to avoid sending her passport through the mail to me in the states if possible. Seeing as we've only got 30 days to submit we'd like to keep the time in the post down to a minimum!

[Heather&Matt 0]

I talked to the notary here in the state I reside, they said it has to go to the capital city to get "certified" as a regular notary can only notarize a signature.

So I called a Notary in Canada. Apparently Canada isn't part of the Hague Convention and thus can't send the required Apostille form required of non-American Notaries. D=<

What do we do now? We'd like to avoid sending her passport through the mail to me in the states if possible. Seeing as we've only got 30 days to submit we'd like to keep the time in the post down to a minimum!

You may just have to get it sent in the mail. I don't know any other options other than going to a lawyer (or certified 'notarizer') with her passport or to take her passport to your local IRS office. I'm not sure if there is any other way to get the ITIN without proving that she is a non-resident.

Anyone else have any ideas?

Edited March 16, 2011 by Heather&Matt

[figuringthisout 0]

Well if that worked for you guys what the heck I'll just have her send it to me. Looks like she'd have to jump through a flaming hoop of flaming fire in Canada to get the friggin thing to be officially notarized for US use.

If I have to take it to the capital its only a couple hours away, and the weathers been nice! -Roadtrip! lol

Thanks again all... oh and PS... NOA1 today, woot! =P

[Heather&Matt 0]

Well if that worked for you guys what the heck I'll just have her send it to me. Looks like she'd have to jump through a flaming hoop of flaming fire in Canada to get the friggin thing to be officially notarized for US use.

If I have to take it to the capital its only a couple hours away, and the weathers been nice! -Roadtrip! lol

Thanks again all... oh and PS... NOA1 today, woot! =P

Yeah it's kind of a pain in the @ss but at least she'll have the ITIN.

Congrats on your NOA!

[M&Pooh 12]

I talked to the notary here in the state I reside, they said it has to go to the capital city to get "certified" as a regular notary can only notarize a signature.

That's really interesting. Somebody is wrong... because a secretary in my office just put her notary seal to the copy of my wife's Canadian passport and signed that she sees the original and it matches...

[M&Pooh 12]

That's really interesting. Somebody is wrong... because a secretary in my office just put her notary seal to the copy of my wife's Canadian passport and signed that she sees the original and it matches...

Found the link that might be of help for you - http://www.***removed***/immigration/notarized-copy.html.

Also, it seems to me, this depends on a particular state's laws.