Passport Certified by issuing agency

[dvora 1]

Hello all,

I want to claim my wife as dependent on my tax returns for 2013 and since she has never been to USA and not eligible for SSN at this time I am applying for ITIN no. But the new rules say that they need original documents of my wife(passport) or copies certified by issuing agency. My wife's passport was issued in Mumbai and I am not sure who issues the passport or where to go in order to get the copies certified by issuing agency. Anyone on the forum has idea which agency or which departments certification would be considered the right one ????

I am confused and I dont want ITIN application to be rejected. Please help if anyone has idea ..

[Mourad81 20]

Hello all,

I want to claim my wife as dependent on my tax returns for 2013 and since she has never been to USA and not eligible for SSN at this time I am applying for ITIN no. But the new rules say that they need original documents of my wife(passport) or copies certified by issuing agency. My wife's passport was issued in Mumbai and I am not sure who issues the passport or where to go in order to get the copies certified by issuing agency. Anyone on the forum has idea which agency or which departments certification would be considered the right one ????

I am confused and I dont want ITIN application to be rejected. Please help if anyone has idea ..

Hi Brother,

I claimed my wife on the 2011 taxes too and the IRS was asking me for the same thing(Certified Copy by the issuing Agency),but even though with the certified copy form the agency that issued the Original passport they did not accept it.When i called to ask for the reason why they denied the ITIN application that i sent 2 times already they said that the stamp that the agency used was not a sealed stamp( sealed stamp= when you touch the paper with your fingers you can feel it,so it's a special stamp that my issuing agency does not have).

The only way that i could have them issue that ITIN number was to sent them my wife's original passport.

I hope this will help you!If you have any questions feel free to ask.

[ik2011 2]

Hello all,

I want to claim my wife as dependent on my tax returns for 2013 and since she has never been to USA and not eligible for SSN at this time I am applying for ITIN no. But the new rules say that they need original documents of my wife(passport) or copies certified by issuing agency. My wife's passport was issued in Mumbai and I am not sure who issues the passport or where to go in order to get the copies certified by issuing agency. Anyone on the forum has idea which agency or which departments certification would be considered the right one ????

I am confused and I dont want ITIN application to be rejected. Please help if anyone has idea ..

In our case, my husband was living in a foreign country at the time and so he got it from the Indian embassy there. If your wife is in India, I would assume she can go to the nearest passport office and get it from there. And no, there was no seal like a notary seal. It just says it is a certified copy and IRS accepted it and an ITIN was issued. They returned the certified passport copy back to us, btw. They just needed it to verify the information.

[dvora 1]

In our case, my husband was living in a foreign country at the time and so he got it from the Indian embassy there. If your wife is in India, I would assume she can go to the nearest passport office and get it from there. And no, there was no seal like a notary seal. It just says it is a certified copy and IRS accepted it and an ITIN was issued. They returned the certified passport copy back to us, btw. They just needed it to verify the information.

Thanks alot for the info, I have asked her to find out which department in India would be the right one to get it certified from. In W-7 instruction(Rev. January 2013) it says they accept certified copies from Consular officer at US Embassies around the world, but surfing through other place it says they have stopped accepting notarized copies from US Embassies. Not sure which one to go for. I also visited nearby IRS location and they said only original or certified copy from issuing agency is accepted. The representative seemed confused himself.

[dvora 1]

Hi Brother,

I claimed my wife on the 2011 taxes too and the IRS was asking me for the same thing(Certified Copy by the issuing Agency),but even though with the certified copy form the agency that issued the Original passport they did not accept it.When i called to ask for the reason why they denied the ITIN application that i sent 2 times already they said that the stamp that the agency used was not a sealed stamp( sealed stamp= when you touch the paper with your fingers you can feel it,so it's a special stamp that my issuing agency does not have).

The only way that i could have them issue that ITIN number was to sent them my wife's original passport.

I hope this will help you!If you have any questions feel free to ask.

I do not understand why they keep changing rules every year. I think last year before June they were accepting docs notarized by local agents or notary and now changed everything. I am still trying to find out which departments/ministry's stamp would be right as I am definately not sending original passport of my wife to IRS.