Need Certified True Copy of Vietnamese Passport for ITIN Tax ID

[Bill Hamze 89]

I want to file jointly this year, but I need to obtain an ITIN for my wife as per form W-7 instructions. To do that, I need to send in a certified true copy of my wife's Vietnamese passport from the issuing agency. 

 

We went to the immigration office and they wouldn't help us. So I'm wondering if we can make a certified copy at the U.S. consulate? If it's $50 per page, do we need every page in her passport, including blank pages? Or just the biometric page? 

 

If not, is there an Acceptance Agent in Vietnam that can help with this?

 

Has anyone here done this before? Please advise! TIA

 

[arken 4,197]

1 hour ago, Bill Hamze said:

So I'm wondering if we can make a certified copy at the U.S. consulate?

The certified copy has to be from the agency that issued your wife's passport. US consulate didn't issue that passport.

Choices:

1. Mail her original passport for W7, there is risk of  mail getting lost and delays by IRS causing issues when she needs the passport.

 

2. File Married Filing Separately and amend to joint filing once she immigrates and gets SSN.

 

[Bill Hamze 89]

43 minutes ago, arken said:

The certified copy has to be from the agency that issued your wife's passport. US consulate didn't issue that passport.

Choices:

1. Mail her original passport for W7, there is risk of  mail getting lost and delays by IRS causing issues when she needs the passport.

 

2. File Married Filing Separately and amend to joint filing once she immigrates and gets SSN.

 

We’re waiting for her IV interview so #1 is not an option. We’ll try and figure something out, and if it works, great. If not, then I guess I’ll just have to bite the bullet and do #2. 

[Ashshwee 5]

We sent my husbands passport to the U.S consulate to get a certified copy and he received his ITIN and you just need the bio page. Also, on the irs website pick the country you're in and irs will give you a list of accepting agencies in that country as well, but consulate works.

[JeanneAdil 6,491]

Passport is the "stand alone "  document 

you can send 2 of the other's on the list 

you also need marriage certificate 

the following is the revised list 

 

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

• Passport (stand-alone document) *
• National identification card (must show photo, name, current address, date of birth, and expiration date)
• U.S. driver's license
• Civil birth certificate (required for dependents under 18 years of age)
• Foreign driver's license
• U.S. state identification card
• Foreign voter's registration card
• U.S. military identification card
• Foreign military identification card
• Visa
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) photo identification

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

2 hours ago, arken said:

Choices:

1. Mail her original passport for W7, there is risk of  mail getting lost and delays by IRS causing issues when she needs the passport.

 

2. File Married Filing Separately and amend to joint filing once she immigrates and gets SSN.

You forgot the acceptance agent option and there is one in Vietnam.

 

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/acceptance-agents-vietnam

 

Also the major accounting firms probably have offices there and they can be acceptance agents.

 

The following is a public list of Acceptance Agents for Forms W-7. This list is updated quarterly.

National/International CPA Firms *
Deloitte and Touche, LLP
Ernst & Young LLP
KPMG LLP
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
BDO
* Check local telephone directory for nearest location.

 

[Bill Hamze 89]

23 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

You forgot the acceptance agent option and there is one in Vietnam.

 

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/acceptance-agents-vietnam

 

Also the major accounting firms probably have offices there and they can be acceptance agents.

 

The following is a public list of Acceptance Agents for Forms W-7. This list is updated quarterly.

National/International CPA Firms *
Deloitte and Touche, LLP
Ernst & Young LLP
KPMG LLP
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
BDO
* Check local telephone directory for nearest location.

 

Thanks, we’ll look into these options as well. 

[Lemonslice 4,835]

Nevermind, misread.

Edited December 16, 2021 by Lemonslice

[nastra30 2,284]

23 hours ago, Bill Hamze said:

So I'm wondering if we can make a certified copy at the U.S.

Yes, the US embassy can endorse a copy of your passport for Tax purposes. I personally have done it. You pay fee and the endorse it.

There also other ways like visiting an acceptance agency.

[nastra30 2,284]

22 hours ago, arken said:

The certified copy has to be from the agency that issued your wife's passport. US consulate didn't issue that passport.

Not entirely true. For ITIN purpose US embassy can endorse a copy of the passport for a fee. It's actually pretty straightforward. Schedule an appointment, show up with your passport and copy of biography page, a completed W7 form, pay fee, passport copy get stamped and you are on your way.

[Bill Hamze 89]

I contacted the consulate about this, and we have to get the passport copy stamped by the Department of Foreign Affairs before we can bring it to the consulate (otherwise it won’t be processed). 
 

So we went to the Dept of Foreign Affairs, and it was closed due to covid. But we met an agent who was willing to help us with the paperwork, and it should be ready next week. 

[Liam2021 583]

You can file tax as married but filling separate(MFS). After you spouse come to US, amend the tax.

[Bill Hamze 89]

Update: we got it done by the foreign affairs department through an agent. Will take it to the consulate soon and we’ll be set. 

[poh 125]

On 12/15/2021 at 1:08 AM, Bill Hamze said:

I want to file jointly this year, but I need to obtain an ITIN for my wife as per form W-7 instructions. To do that, I need to send in a certified true copy of my wife's Vietnamese passport from the issuing agency. 

 

We went to the immigration office and they wouldn't help us. So I'm wondering if we can make a certified copy at the U.S. consulate? If it's $50 per page, do we need every page in her passport, including blank pages? Or just the biometric page? 

 

If not, is there an Acceptance Agent in Vietnam that can help with this?

 

Has anyone here done this before? Please advise! TIA

 

I don't know your details but she doesn't have a SSN?  SSN would be a easier route to use for tax purposes. 

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-7

An ITIN is a 9-digit number issued by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to individuals who are required for U.S. federal tax purposes to have a U.S. taxpayer identification number but who do not have and are not eligible to get a social security number (SSN).

Edited February 11, 2022 by poh

[Bill Hamze 89]

On 2/12/2022 at 6:34 AM, poh said:

I don't know your details but she doesn't have a SSN?  SSN would be a easier route to use for tax purposes. 

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-7

An ITIN is a 9-digit number issued by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to individuals who are required for U.S. federal tax purposes to have a U.S. taxpayer identification number but who do not have and are not eligible to get a social security number (SSN).

She isn’t a US citizen so no, she doesn’t have a ssn at this time. 
 

btw as an update to my original question, I got it sorted. The steps:

 

1. Bring copy of passport to the department of foreign affairs (they were closed at the time, so an agent offered to help and we took her up on it). 
 

2. Once we got the consular authentication stamp from step 1, I took it to the US consulate for notarization. 
 

That was it. I’m going to submit that along with the W-7 and tax return and we’ll get the ITIN code for my wife once they accept the tax return.