People who have filed W7 - For ITIN

[digital82 3]

Hey Guys for those who applied for ITIN for their spouse... is it worth it...

like many of U I applied too...

filled out the W7 to get an ITIN for my wife... so that i can claim her on my tax returns...

sent a Notorized copy of her passport with that. Proof to show she is really a foreign citizen.

also with that i sent a notorized copy of her drivers lic... and a letter stating that we want her to be treated as a resident alien...

well about a few weeks now and i got this letter... from the IRS today...

STATING: We need a VALID proof of overseas citizenship or residence...

HELLLLOOOOOOO

at this point i screamed "WHAT THE F***"

i dont know who as handling the case but seriously... i sent in her notorized passport and driver license copies for cryin out loud...

how much of a valid proof do they want...

at this point dealing with USCIS(the whole Texas Fiasco), NVC(birth certificate issue) and now with IRS...

im convinced they give jobs to anyone and everyone...

[George & Gina 29]

Hey Guys for those who applied for ITIN for their spouse... is it worth it...

like many of U I applied too...

filled out the W7 to get an ITIN for my wife... so that i can claim her on my tax returns...

sent a Notorized copy of her passport with that. Proof to show she is really a foreign citizen.

also with that i sent a notorized copy of her drivers lic... and a letter stating that we want her to be treated as a resident alien...

well about a few weeks now and i got this letter... from the IRS today...

STATING: We need a VALID proof of overseas citizenship or residence...

HELLLLOOOOOOO

at this point i screamed "WHAT THE F***"

i dont know who as handling the case but seriously... i sent in her notorized passport and driver license copies for cryin out loud...

how much of a valid proof do they want...

at this point dealing with USCIS(the whole Texas Fiasco), NVC(birth certificate issue) and now with IRS...

im convinced they give jobs to anyone and everyone...

1) You can't "claim" a spouse on your income tax return, you file the form jointly with them, they sign the form just as you do.

2) In your situation, you can only apply for an ITIN for your wife by filing the form W-7 with you joint tax return to the address in the W-7 instructions

3) What is the purpose of the drivers' license copy? With the passport, no other proof of identity is required.

4) Did you send a copy of your marriage certificate? It is not mentioned in your post.

5) I'm assuming her drivers' license is from India, but it doesn't happen to be a US license does it? Why would they think that she's not an overseas resident / foreign citizen? If she were US citizen or LPR you would just use her SSN on the return.

I just went through this process, and it went smoothly. I'm guessing there may have just been a misunderstanding on the requirements.

Let me know, I'm curious as to how this works out.

BTW, yes it's worth it. In my case, it was the difference between my having to pay almost $2000 or receiving a $4000+ refund.

George

Edited April 20, 2011 by George & Gina

[dsamyra3 3]

I am in the same situation as you; so I do not have any answers. BUT Ican sure relate.

[digital82 3]

1) You can't "claim" a spouse on your income tax return, you file the form jointly with them, they sign the form just as you do.

I Didnt Claim my wife on it... I filed Jointly and she did sign the form too

2) In your situation, you can only apply for an ITIN for your wife by filing the form W-7 with you joint tax return to the address in the W-7 instructions

File W-7 with my joint tax return

3) What is the purpose of the drivers' license copy? With the passport, no other proof of identity is required.

Well I send in her Notorized copy of her passport first page and last biographic page.

4) Did you send a copy of your marriage certificate? It is not mentioned in your post.

No I Didnt send in my Marriage Certificate

5) I'm assuming her drivers' license is from India, but it doesn't happen to be a US license does it? Why would they think that she's not an overseas resident / foreign citizen? If she were US citizen or LPR you would just use her SSN on the return.

Yea her Driver Lic is from India... and I have no idea what they are Thinking...

I just went through this process, and it went smoothly. I'm guessing there may have just been a misunderstanding on the requirements.

Let me know, I'm curious as to how this works out.

BTW, yes it's worth it. In my case, it was the difference between my having to pay almost $2000 or receiving a $4000+ refund.

George

Well lets see how it work out will be giving them a call today...

[dsamyra3 3]

Keep us informed.. I am curious to hear what they say to you. They told me I needed to send notarized copy of his passport (which I did already). So we are sending it again,rrrrr.

[hindustani24 7]

Was the passport notarized by the US notary? Simple Indian notary will not do because in that case you would need apostille. Here is detailed post about my experience with this process

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/301407-my-experience-with-w7-process-to-get-itin-without-using-passport/page__p__4556664__fromsearch__1#entry4556664

the difference was a refund or around $6000 for us.

[digital82 3]

Was the passport notarized by the US notary? Simple Indian notary will not do because in that case you would need apostille. Here is detailed post about my experience with this process

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/301407-my-experience-with-w7-process-to-get-itin-without-using-passport/page__p__4556664__fromsearch__1#entry4556664

the difference was a refund or around $6000 for us.

well her passport copy was notorized in India... as i didnt want her to mail me her passport...

maybe that was the problem...

so u think voters id would work...

and i did went to the bank to get her passport copy notorized and the lady told me she couldnt notorize it because the person need to be here in order to do it..

and i told her "If she was here i wouldnt need to get this thing notorized as i would already have her SSN" and the lady just looked at me... lol...

so did u get photocopies notorized or the original certificates...

let me know and how did u get it done...

thanks

[hindustani24 7]

well her passport copy was notorized in India... as i didnt want her to mail me her passport...

maybe that was the problem...

so u think voters id would work...

and i did went to the bank to get her passport copy notorized and the lady told me she couldnt notorize it because the person need to be here in order to do it..

and i told her "If she was here i wouldnt need to get this thing notorized as i would already have her SSN" and the lady just looked at me... lol...

so did u get photocopies notorized or the original certificates...

let me know and how did u get it done...

thanks

Well, as i said before, Indian notarization without apostille will not be accepted by IRS and that is what i think the problem was. You cannot get a US notary to notarize a document for being a true copy of original if you didn't have the original. I took both birth certificate and a voter ID (both original) and a copies to my US bank and the clerk there notarized that the copies are the true copies of the originals.

Voter ID defiantly works (with one more document) if you are not sending a passport (or a notarized or certified passport copy). W7 provides the whole list of documents that are accepted if you are not sending passport (or a notarized or certified passport copy). Oh and somebody mentioned that we need to send the marriage certificate. But nowhere on W7 it is required and i did not send it with my application. I already have ITIN and my big fat refund.

Edited April 21, 2011 by hindustani24

[hindustani24 7]

Forgot to add link for W7 instructions:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/iw7.pdf

[CaliforniaGuy 2]

4) Did you send a copy of your marriage certificate? It is not mentioned in your post.

OUCH! I sent my 1040, W7, letter signed by both of us asking for my wife to be treated as an alien resident for tax year 2010, Form 2555(foreign excemption), W2s from my wife as well with a calculation showing how I changed Canadian to US Dollars, and a US notarized Canadian passport. But I did not send a copy of marriage certification. I never read that anywhere but I might have missed it. Is a marriage cert mandatory?

[CaliforniaGuy 2]

Well, as i said before, Indian notarization without apostille will not be accepted by IRS and that is what i think the problem was. You cannot get a US notary to notarize a document for being a true copy of original if you didn't have the original. I took both birth certificate and a voter ID (both original) and a copies to my US bank and the clerk there notarized that the copies are the true copies of the originals.

Voter ID defiantly works (with one more document) if you are not sending a passport (or a notarized or certified passport copy). W7 provides the whole list of documents that are accepted if you are not sending passport (or a notarized or certified passport copy). Oh and somebody mentioned that we need to send the marriage certificate. But nowhere on W7 it is required and i did not send it with my application. I already have ITIN and my big fat refund.

How long did it take for IRS to mail you the refund after you mailed the tax return?

I just read that you didn't send a marriage cert either and received you refund. Wow what a relef!!!!

[hindustani24 7]

How long did it take for IRS to mail you the refund after you mailed the tax return?

I just read that you didn't send a marriage cert either and received you refund. Wow what a relef!!!!

I sent my return with W7 and other documents on March 5th, around March 17-18 i got her ITIN in mail and on March 30 i was able to see the refund on my account online. Also requested transcript for 2010 on April 1st and on April 5th, i had it in my mail.

Edited April 21, 2011 by hindustani24

[George & Gina 29]

OUCH! I sent my 1040, W7, letter signed by both of us asking for my wife to be treated as an alien resident for tax year 2010, Form 2555(foreign excemption), W2s from my wife as well with a calculation showing how I changed Canadian to US Dollars, and a US notarized Canadian passport. But I did not send a copy of marriage certification. I never read that anywhere but I might have missed it. Is a marriage cert mandatory?

My bad. The marriage cert is not a requirement for the W-7 / ITIN. I'll claim tiredness and it being late at night as my excuse

BTW, it took about 6 or 7 weeks before the refund was deposited in our account. I have yet to receive a notification or letter that tells me what her ITIN is. I did order a tax transcript for the most recent return and the ITIN is listed on that though.

George

Edited April 22, 2011 by George & Gina

[Casprd 167]

Marriage certificate is not required.

We got the same type of letter and I included a copy of her notarized passport, notarized birth certificate and our notarized marriage certificate. The only thing I can think is they didn't like that they were copies. I called the number on the letter and the woman kept saying they want the passport notarized at the US embassy, and she didn't like it when I pointed out that both the instructions and their letter said a notarized and appostlized document was fine. My wife EMS'd the orginal notary certificates for everything so I will try with these. I don't know what else to send.

As for being worth it, definately. The difference is huge and the impact is only a small amount of taxes on her salary. about a net difference of $3k in my favor.

[ingramj 0]

Hello,

I am/was in a similar situation. All I submitted was color copies of my wife and step-children's (they are from Peru) passport (the copies were legalized, apostilzed, and her signature notarized...We did all of this because we wanted to make sure there was no excuse for them to deny a number, etc...for a lack of information, etc...) along with the W7 application when filing my 2010 tax return, etc...I did this on 4/1 and received the ITIN number for my wife last week (on 4/23, my accountant told me I was very lucky because it didn't take a long time at all and that he has other cases currently that are taking 2 months+ to receive the number, etc...). BUT for my step-children they are requesting a date of entry into the US and I have to have this submitted within the next 45 days, which won't/shouldn't be a problem, etc...BUT in general this process went very smoothly without any issues, etc...The most important ITIN I needed was my wife's (again which I received) so I could file married/joint, etc...

Hope this helps...

Edited April 30, 2011 by ingramj