September 2014 Interviews

[Cupcake23 90]

Maybe my experience was unusual. When did you get your ITIN?

They changed the rules recently (late 2013?) and now they require that you mail in the applicant's passport or a "certified copy" (i.e. "notarized" is no longer good enough) of the passport along with your tax return and W-7 ITIN application. There is NO WAY we would mail my wife's passport to the IRS. It's really unclear to me what a "certified copy" of a UK passport might be, especially since "certified" has a different meaning in the UK than in the US. I can't really chance my tax return not getting processed in time because, after sitting on her W7 for 1-2 months, they decide they're not satisfied with the level of certification of her passport copy.

I called the IRS office in London to ask them... They rarely bother to answer the phone so that was an exercise in patience. They didn't say anything about certified documents. They said it's easier if my wife just drops off our return and her W7 at the IRS office at the London embassy.

So while I was visiting London in March we went to the IRS office in London with our 2013 tax return, W7, and my wife's UK passport. I don't even know how she could have gone in without me because that's on the USC services side of the embassy. They said it would take 2 months to process the ITIN application and that the ITIN notification would be mailed to her UK address. I had to call them last month because she still had not received the notification. Apparently it was finally delivered this morning.

If you're not resident in the US, you would then have to go through this dance every 5 years? I cannot wait for my wife to get a SSN for life!

We got an ITIN this year and filed for it in February. I don't think we got it until May. We mailed a photocopy of the his passport initially and were also asked to mail his passport. Instead we mailed is European Passport ID card and that seemed to be good enough. It was useful to get because now we can also amend the taxes I filed in 2012 as "Married Filing Separately". Other than the wait though, it really wasn't horrible.

[stackeria 280]

We got an ITIN this year and filed for it in February. I don't think we got it until May. We mailed a photocopy of the his passport initially and were also asked to mail his passport. Instead we mailed is European Passport ID card and that seemed to be good enough. It was useful to get because now we can also amend the taxes I filed in 2012 as "Married Filing Separately". Other than the wait though, it really wasn't horrible.

They don't have national ID cards in the UK, so I'm not sure we had an option other than to mail her passport in.

The lady at the IRS office in London was nice and helpful but she couldn't really tell me how we could obtain a "certified copy" of a UK passport that would satisfy the IRS. She basically said: Your wife should submit your tax return at the IRS office here in London in person and show us her passport.

The fact that you cannot e-file when you apply for (or renew?) an ITIN is annoying.

The fact that they want you to mail your passport is insane.

That the ITIN number of a USC spouse expires every 5 years is puzzling.

What are they afraid of? My wife's name is NOT JK Rowling. We're not going to use her ITIN to claim a million dollar refund on taxes withheld from the royalties of the Harry Potter book series!?!?

Edit: I agree having the ITIN is totally useful, which is why we went through the trouble. We are legally allowed to file jointly. I'm not a lawyer but I'm not sure it's reasonable to require us to file in person or mail a passport to the IRS in order to do so.

Edited August 22, 2014 by stackeria

[Sukie 1,440]

I didn't find that getting an ITIN was difficult at all. It just took a long time. Like 3 months. The fact that filing has taken 1 year, it was worth it to collect the extra money on my tax return. Especially because I'm the only one working.

The IRS REJECTED our request for an ITIN, saying my spouse didn't have a "real need" for one. Because we were in the NVC process, we couldn't risk the IRS keeping her passport for up to six weeks, so we went into a local IRS office, went through the WHOLE process (including getting a letter from the bank saying she needed one), plus getting a copy of her passport certified from the Consulate in Sydney (which was NOT free!). But the IRS rejected it anyway. Luckily, we ended up filing "Married, filing separately" and didn't need it.

And before anyone says anything, it was going to cost us MORE to file jointly because the US and Australia treat capital gains on the sales of homes differently.

Sukie in NY

[Cupcake23 90]

They don't have national ID cards in the UK, so I'm not sure we had an option other than to mail her passport in.

The lady at the IRS office in London was nice and helpful but she couldn't really tell me how we could obtain a "certified copy" of a UK passport that would satisfy the IRS. She basically said: Your wife should submit your tax return at the IRS office here in London in person and show us her passport.

The fact that you cannot e-file when you apply for (or renew?) an ITIN is annoying.

The fact that they want you to mail your passport is insane.

That the ITIN number of a USC spouse expires every 5 years is puzzling.

What are they afraid of? My wife's name is NOT JK Rowling. We're not going to use her ITIN to claim a million dollar refund on taxes withheld from the royalties of the Harry Potter book series!?!?

Edit: I agree having the ITIN is totally useful, which is why we went through the trouble. We are legally allowed to file jointly. I'm not a lawyer but I'm not sure it's reasonable to require us to file in person or mail a passport to the IRS in order to do so.

Well, it's only 5 years because they assume you'll apply for a SSN at some point and won't need it.

[stackeria 280]

Well, it's only 5 years because they assume you'll apply for a SSN at some point and won't need it.

That would not be a valid assumption for married couples living overseas with no immediate plans to move to the USA.

[Loulie 42]

visa issued!!!!

[r060106 109]

Presumably, those two things together are equivalent to a green card but good luck explaining that to someone at your local DMV office...

Right? They're not with it over there.

I didn't find that getting an ITIN was difficult at all. It just took a long time. Like 3 months. The fact that filing has taken 1 year, it was worth it to collect the extra money on my tax return. Especially because I'm the only one working.

I completely agree. We got the ITIN back like within in a week or 2. But then again, I sent it like 1 week after you could start filing. They sent back the passport in the prepaid Fedex envelope I gave them. It worked out perfectly. Fedex delivered the passport and Tax Return to the IRS and then delivered the passport back to me. It was actually a lot faster and more efficient than the spousal visa process.

[jsumner86 403]

visa issued!!!!

Congratulations!!!

[Loulie 42]

Congratulations!!!

Many Thanks Jsummer86!

[F2A PD 12/2/11 31]

Visa on hand guys!!

Thank you everybody, we couldnt be any happier. She flyes in on thursday, it took the embassy 4 business days to have the package ready to be picked up by my wife. Very efficient. Good think bc i was worried about having to change her flight dates. I saw some posting that there are no updates on the passport once the interview is don and visa issued; in our case the site is only updated once the package is picked up by the courier service.

Good luck guys

[jsumner86 403]

Visa on hand guys!!

Thank you everybody, we couldnt be any happier. She flyes in on thursday, it took the embassy 4 business days to have the package ready to be picked up by my wife. Very efficient. Good think bc i was worried about having to change her flight dates. I saw some posting that there are no updates on the passport once the interview is don and visa issued; in our case the site is only updated once the package is picked up by the courier service.

Good luck guys

That's brilliant news! Congratulations . All the best!

[bruins 14]

Visa on hand guys!!

Thank you everybody, we couldnt be any happier. She flyes in on thursday, it took the embassy 4 business days to have the package ready to be picked up by my wife. Very efficient. Good think bc i was worried about having to change her flight dates. I saw some posting that there are no updates on the passport once the interview is don and visa issued; in our case the site is only updated once the package is picked up by the courier service.

Good luck guys

Congrats! That might explain why our status says

Your visa has been printed. Depending on local procedures at the location where you were interviewed, your visa will be mailed or available for pickup soon. If there are further questions, or if we need updated contact information, you will be contacted.

Ustraveldocs shows no update status for the passport entered

[A & Y 15]

Case complete as of today...

[F2A PD 12/2/11 31]

Congrats! That might explain why our status says

Your visa has been printed. Depending on local procedures at the location where you were interviewed, your visa will be mailed or available for pickup soon. If there are further questions, or if we need updated contact information, you will be contacted.

Ustraveldocs shows no update status for the passport entered

Yes, thts exactly what ours said, and then on day 4 it got updated with the courier tracking #

[ameriturk 27]

Just got CC(AoS changed to N/A).

Hello new thread