ITIN Application and Last Name

[AlexFB1907 2]

Hi 

 

I would like to file my wife's ITIN application together with our joint tax return. Since my wife has no official identification card with my last name after marriage, I wonder if I should file my tax return and ITIN application with her last name before marriage. I know that marriage certificate is a legal name change document in Texas. But when I visit a certifying acceptance agent (CAA) to verify her identity, the agent may question that my wife's Russian passport has the last that does not match the last name on line 1a in the ITIN application form.

 

The ITAN instructions mention that:

"Enter your legal name on line 1a as it appears on your identifying documents. This entry should reflect your name as it’ll appear on a U.S. federal tax return. Your ITIN will be established using this name. If you don’t use this name on the U.S. federal tax return, the processing of the U.S. federal tax return may be delayed."

 

 Should I use her last name on her passport on both ITAN and Federal Tax Forms? or Should I use my last name on both ITAN and Federal Tax Forms?

 

Thank you

Alex

 

[Co6aka 18]

If a name change is indicated on the marriage license, then when the marriage is recorded the name is legally changed. So, if you're married and your marriage certificate reflects a  new surname, then that new surname is your legal name. Your marriage certificate is your proof of name change. What you can also do is get a certified/notarized duplicate of your marriage certificate from your county clerk, and then get your state's apostille on that certified copy. Then, passport plus that marriage certificate is overwhelming documentary proof.  (Plus, the marriage certificate + apostille will be useful in Russia, and for changing your wife's name in her passport -- list Russia as the country it will be used in.)

 

https://www.sos.state.tx.us/authinfo.shtml

 

Also, re possibly getting a SSN, refer to this document; second page, top right:  http://ssa.gov/pubs/10096.html

Edited February 28, 2021 by Co6aka

[Wuozopo 4,293]

23 hours ago, AlexFB1907 said:

Should I use her last name on her passport on both ITAN and Federal Tax Forms? or Should I use my last name on both ITAN and Federal Tax Forms?

If you use her maiden name, you can file next year under married name with a SSN. Not an issue.
 

You could also do two identical returns and ITIN applications with the different names and take the marriage certificate. See if the officer would consider the name change. I would just go with using her passport name. 
 

Texas marriage certificates do not have an “after marriage name” field. 

[AlexFB1907 2]

5 hours ago, Co6aka said:

If a name change is indicated on the marriage license, then when the marriage is recorded the name is legally changed. So, if you're married and your marriage certificate reflects a  new surname, then that new surname is your legal name. Your marriage certificate is your proof of name change. What you can also do is get a certified/notarized duplicate of your marriage certificate from your county clerk, and then get your state's apostille on that certified copy. Then, passport plus that marriage certificate is overwhelming documentary proof.  (Plus, the marriage certificate + apostille will be useful in Russia, and for changing your wife's name in her passport -- list Russia as the country it will be used in.)

 

https://www.sos.state.tx.us/authinfo.shtml

 

Also, re possibly getting a SSN, refer to this document; second page, top right:  http://ssa.gov/pubs/10096.html

Thank you for your response. Unfortunately, there is no way to record the name change in Texas marriage cetificates. Therefore, there is no proof that the name was changed. I think I will you the maiden name on both forms as the certifying agent will verify my wife's foreign passport as the identifying document.

[AlexFB1907 2]

1 hour ago, Wuozopo said:

If you use her maiden name, you can file next year under married name with a SSN. Not an issue.
 

You could also do two identical returns and ITIN applications with the different names and take the marriage certificate. See if the officer would consider the name change. I would just go with using her passport name. 
 

Texas marriage certificates do not have an “after marriage name” field. 

Thank you for your help. I will take two copies of the forms with diffferent last names. Then I will let the certifying acceptance agent to decide which one to use. 

[JKLSemicolon 425]

This thread is recent enough that I thought it would be appropriate to add a related question here rather than starting a new topic:

 

My case is similar to @AlexFB1907, but my wife does have a state ID card that we got in her married name. Her passport is in her maiden name and can't be changed.

 

So could I do the following?

• Enter her married name on both the 1040 and W-7
• As evidence, submit 1) A copy of her passport certified by the issuing agency + translation, 2) Her state ID card, and 3) A certified copy of the marriage certificate

I would prefer that as we are trying to establish everything in her married name here in the US, knowing that she will continue to have to use her maiden name in Ecuador.

 

On 2/28/2021 at 8:01 AM, Co6aka said:

If a name change is indicated on the marriage license, then when the marriage is recorded the name is legally changed. So, if you're married and your marriage certificate reflects a  new surname, then that new surname is your legal name. Your marriage certificate is your proof of name change. What you can also do is get a certified/notarized duplicate of your marriage certificate from your county clerk, and then get your state's apostille on that certified copy. Then, passport plus that marriage certificate is overwhelming documentary proof.  (Plus, the marriage certificate + apostille will be useful in Russia, and for changing your wife's name in her passport -- list Russia as the country it will be used in.)

 

https://www.sos.state.tx.us/authinfo.shtml

 

Also, re possibly getting a SSN, refer to this document; second page, top right:  http://ssa.gov/pubs/10096.html

Were you suggesting the Apostille on the marriage certificate as a means of later changing the Russian passport, or to send to the IRS?

 

I have a copy of the marriage certificate that was certified by the County Clerk that issued it and it has an embossed stamp. Just want to make sure that is good enough for the W-7.

Edited March 12, 2021 by JKLSemicolon

[AlexFB1907 2]

Since my wife had only Russian passport with her maiden name, I filled out the W-7 and our joint tax return using her maiden name. 

 

I sent my package containing (i) W-7 Form, (ii) certification form signed by the certifying acceptance agent (ii) tax return, (iii) a copy of my wife's Russian passport ID page, (iv) a copy of USA visa page. The certifying acceptance agent told me that I do not need to send a copy of our marriage certificate or anything else.  

[JKLSemicolon 425]

2 hours ago, AlexFB1907 said:

Since my wife had only Russian passport with her maiden name, I filled out the W-7 and our joint tax return using her maiden name. 

 

I sent my package containing (i) W-7 Form, (ii) certification form signed by the certifying acceptance agent (ii) tax return, (iii) a copy of my wife's Russian passport ID page, (iv) a copy of USA visa page. The certifying acceptance agent told me that I do not need to send a copy of our marriage certificate or anything else.  

Thanks for the info. Was your wife present with you when you went to the Acceptance Agent? My understanding was that the person applying for the ITIN needs to be there in order to do it that way, and my wife is not in the US right now.

 

You didn't need a copy of the marriage certificate since you filled out the W-7 and return in her maiden name, but I'm still hoping to fill out the joint return and get the ITIN in my wife's married name, so I'm hoping someone can confirm whether the evidence that I mentioned in my post above would be enough for that.

 

[Co6aka 18]

On 3/12/2021 at 12:01 AM, JKLSemicolon said:

Were you suggesting the Apostille on the marriage certificate as a means of later changing the Russian passport, or to send to the IRS?

Wherever it might be needed to legally prove the marriage, name, identity, etc. A state's apostille certifies that the document is authentic, genuine, legal, etc, and is in accordance with the requirements of the Hague Convention such that it should be accepted as a legal document by all parties to the convention, domestic and international. In this case, it legally ties the maiden name to the married name, except that some states "just don't get it" and don't list both surnames and that the name was changed upon marriage, in which case some additional document(s) may be necessary. These days just about anyone can produce "genuine" fake documents, so an officiated document hopefully results in no questions or problems.  Overkill in some situations, probably not needed for the IRS, but...

 

My wife ran into a few situations here where her identity was questioned; her passport and visa (her only identity documents until she received her EAD) are in her maiden name but she goes by her married name, which IS her legal name after marriage. The marriage certificate with apostille immediately resolved everything. It could be the difference between a ruined day and a saved day, plus it can also be used in your spouse's native country to prove your marriage and their name change whenever necessary for whatever purpose. Also, when traveling internationally, your spouse will have their passport in their maiden name and advance parole in their married name, and the marriage certificate ties them together. My wife also had the marriage certificate with apostille translated to Russian and similarly certified by the Russian Consulate, so now it has both the NY and RC apostilles on it. Her passport is still in her maiden name, but now she has what she needs to have it changed someday, and meanwhile some peace of mind.

[Co6aka 18]

20 hours ago, AlexFB1907 said:

Since my wife had only Russian passport with her maiden name, I filled out the W-7 and our joint tax return using her maiden name.

How did you fill in the "Name" box; name versus name at birth?

 

 

If your wife's surname was changed upon marriage then her maiden name is NOT now her legal name, and in the future you'll have to wrestle with changing it, though that might be easily accomplished. Perhaps it could cause some issue when your wife receives her SSN? (Which I presume will be in her married name.) 

 

We had name problems because when we married the NYC marriage bureau was closed due to the pandemic, so for about 3.5 months we had only a photocopy of the executed marriage license. We were told that until the marriage was recorded my wife's legal surname was still her maiden name, so that's what she used until we received the marriage certificate. But, there was a problem with health insurance, so they used Maiden-Married for her surname, which of course had to be changed later and doing so turned out to be nontrivial.

[JKLSemicolon 425]

3 hours ago, Co6aka said:

How did you fill in the "Name" box; name versus name at birth?

 

 

If your wife's surname was changed upon marriage then her maiden name is NOT now her legal name, and in the future you'll have to wrestle with changing it, though that might be easily accomplished. Perhaps it could cause some issue when your wife receives her SSN? (Which I presume will be in her married name.) 

 

We had name problems because when we married the NYC marriage bureau was closed due to the pandemic, so for about 3.5 months we had only a photocopy of the executed marriage license. We were told that until the marriage was recorded my wife's legal surname was still her maiden name, so that's what she used until we received the marriage certificate. But, there was a problem with health insurance, so they used Maiden-Married for her surname, which of course had to be changed later and doing so turned out to be nontrivial.

I'm planning to enter her married name in the "Name" box and the maiden name as "Name at Birth".

 

At this point everything in the US is in her married name (state ID card, bank account, credit cards, beneficiary info on my accounts, health insurance), but everything in Ecuador is still in her maiden name and can't be changed due to marriage. The reason things got complicated is that we started doing AOS from a K-1 in the US with everything in her married name, but then started over with the CR-1/IR-1. Since the CR-1/IR-1 will be based on the name on her passport, the Permanent Resident Card and SSN will be issued at first in her maiden name. The SSN will be easy to change immediately with a copy of the marriage certificate and then we will have to send in form I-90 to change the green card to her married name. Multiple steps, but doable. But aside from that I don't want to continue to use her maiden name here in the US if I can avoid it.

 

I can get an Apostille on a certified copy of the marriage certificate (note that I already have the original and several embossed, certified copies directly from the County Clerk) if that's what the IRS needs, I just wasn't sure if that was necessary. She already has one copy with an Apostille with her in Ecuador but I didn't get more because I didn't think they would be needed here in the US.

 

So if I'm understanding you correctly I could then do this:

• Married name in 1a
• Maiden name in 1b
• Submit return and W-7 with a certified copy of her passport or national ID card (in maiden name) + her state ID card (in married name) + certified copy of marriage certificate (with Apostille just in case) to link the two

That is pretty much what I was planning except for the Apostille, but that only costs $2 plus postage so if it saves a headache later then I will do it.

[JKLSemicolon 425]

After looking at the W-7 instructions again and thinking about the ease of getting documents right now during the pandemic, I think I will end up submitting this along with the W-7 and tax return:

 

• Certified copy of birth certificate (in maiden name) - shows foreign status
• Original state ID card (in married name) - shows identity
• Marriage certificate to link the two (certified + Apostille)

That's in addition to a signed statement requesting to be considered a resident alien for tax purposes.

 

I will probably end up sending in the original of the state ID because I'm not sure how to get a copy certified from the issuing agency (the MVD).

[Co6aka 18]

10 hours ago, JKLSemicolon said:

I will probably end up sending in the original of the state ID because I'm not sure how to get a copy certified from the issuing agency (the MVD).

I wouldn't send any originals. I imagine a photocopy is enough, or you should be able to get a notarized photocopy - the notary makes the photocopy and notarizes that it's a true copy.

 

The rest sounds good.

Edited March 14, 2021 by Co6aka

[Wuozopo 4,293]

6 hours ago, Co6aka said:

I wouldn't send any originals. I imagine a photocopy is enough, or you should be able to get a notarized photocopy - the notary makes the photocopy and notarizes that it's a true copy.

 

The rest sounds good.

They require originals or a copy certified by an approved Acceptance Agent or by the IRS at a Taxpayer Assistance Center. An uncertified photocopy does not meet the requirement. A notarized copy is not acceptable.

[JKLSemicolon 425]

4 hours ago, Wuozopo said:

They require originals or a copy certified by an approved Acceptance Agent or by the IRS at a Taxpayer Assistance Center. An uncertified photocopy does not meet the requirement. A notarized copy is not acceptable.

Yes, I would not plan to send in notarized copies (and I used to be a notary myself, so I'm very familiar with that).

 

The instructions for W-7 specifically say:

Certified copies.

You can submit copies of original documents if you...Have the copies certified by the issuing agency.

 

I'm going to contact my local IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center to see if they will accept the documents there without my wife present - thanks.