Certified Indian passport copy for ITIN (How to get it ?)

[sidhumech03]

ITIN - No last name in passport

I am trying to apply ITIN for my wife (W4), but she have last name as "Blank" in Passport , What to do?

[skumar100]

Certified passport copy

I was in same situation and i had to send a certified copy of my wife passport to get ITIN.
I was able to get ITIN for my wife after sending certified copy of the passport.

In the IRS webiste ,it is mentioned that the passport has to be certified by the same office which issued it.
We went to the regional passport office of my location (not the passport seva kendra) , and asked to attest the passport by
giving a written application form, the regional passport issuing officer attested the photocopy of passport with his seal which shows 'pass port granting officer,Regional Passport Office'. I got front,back and visa page of my wife passport attested.
I sent the below documents to IRS office address (Internal Revenue Service, ITIN Operation, P.O. Box 149342, Austin, TX 78714-9342).
1. Attested copy of the passport(front,back and VISA page) - VISA page is not mandatory it seems, but i sent it to be on safer side
2. W2
3. W7
4. 1040 (whichever form applicable to you)

I had sent these documents via post office 'Speed post' option.The ITIN came approximatly 5 weeks after i sent the documents.
I filled the tax via a consultant 'valuestax.com' as it involved ITIN application etc.

Hi Shiju, do you have an idea if the certified copy of passport by any US consulate in India is also accepted? My spouse's passport was issued in Mumbai and we are currently staying in Hyderabad. So just wanted to check if we can get the certified copy from Hyderabad US consulate and if that will be accepted by IRS?

[skumar100]

Certified copy of passport

you can get indian passport certified if you are in india, from any Ministry Of External Affairs in india. One address i know in chennai is below.

45/20, College Rd, Thousand Lights West, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600006, India.

You have to carry your original passport with a b&w copy of first & last page in same page. Normally they are open till 1PM, so if you go in morning you can get the certified copy in evening.

This can be used for ITIN and IRS accepts this you can send this along with the filled form and you receive this with ITIN.

Hi Angapp, thanks for the above info. The IRS site mentions that certified copy of passport has to be from the issuing authority. Does that mean I will have to go to the same passport office which issued the passport, like Mumbai in my spouse's case?
Or can I go to a Ministry of External Affairs in Bangalore where my spouse is currently located? The MEA website mentions two step procedure where we first need to get the passport authenticated by "designated authorities of the State/Union Territory from where the document has been issued". So are we required to first go to the state authorities and then to MEA or we can directly get it done at an MEA office? http://mea.gov.in/apostille.htm

Alternatively, does IRS accept copy of passport certified by the US consulate in India like Chennai/Hyderabad US consulate? This route looks very simple and we don't have to go different authorities in this case.

Thanks in advance.

[suyashnigam]

Is Visa page also required to be certified?

I was in same situation and i had to send a certified copy of my wife passport to get ITIN.
I was able to get ITIN for my wife after sending certified copy of the passport.

In the IRS webiste ,it is mentioned that the passport has to be certified by the same office which issued it.
We went to the regional passport office of my location (not the passport seva kendra) , and asked to attest the passport by
giving a written application form, the regional passport issuing officer attested the photocopy of passport with his seal which shows 'pass port granting officer,Regional Passport Office'. I got front,back and visa page of my wife passport attested.
I sent the below documents to IRS office address (Internal Revenue Service, ITIN Operation, P.O. Box 149342, Austin, TX 78714-9342).
1. Attested copy of the passport(front,back and VISA page) - VISA page is not mandatory it seems, but i sent it to be on safer side
2. W2
3. W7
4. 1040 (whichever form applicable to you)

I had sent these documents via post office 'Speed post' option.The ITIN came approximatly 5 weeks after i sent the documents.
I filled the tax via a consultant 'valuestax.com' as it involved ITIN application etc.

Hi Shiju... Is the Visa page also required to be certified???

[suyashnigam]

Did you send a B/W copy or colored certified copy

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to share my experience with you all, I had been following this forum closely and running pillar to post to get my ITIN done. Finally received the ITIN's today so wanted to share my experience. I want to make this little elaborate as in future people can get to the process easily.

Feb 25: Went to Rhode Island (I live here) IRS office to file tax return with W7 form, they wanted original passport, they suggested I go to nearest NJ office as in-person verification is available, and so I can retain my original passports.

Mar 1: Travelled to NJ and filed my Tax along with W7. In person verification of passport was done. ( Thought everything was ok, but its was a mistake)

Apr 1: Received ITIN rejection notice for wife and kid, stating original or certified copied are required. (I never knew and should have provided certified copies on Mar1st itself)

Apr 10: After scrambling for a while thinking what's best to do, visited consulate general of india NY website. I did not want to travel to NY again.
Downloaded Miscellaneous services form to get certified/attested passport copies
took money order total 48$= 13$ (each passport) + 13$ (each passport) + 22$ (for return mailer)
attached 2 copies of passport of wife and kid with the visa pages. These pages should be notarized before you send to indian consulate.
finally sent the original passports of wife and kid
did a overnight fedex -> make sure you do it in weekdays, better it does not get returned in weekend.
then started the curious wait as I had sent the original passports.


Apr 19: Received back the original passports with the certified copies from indian consulate.


Apr 24: FedEx the certified copies along with the original birth certificate of child to IRS. The IRS address will be in the ITIN rejection letter.
then started the wait again...

June 8: Received ITIN # of wife and kid through post, no rejection this time .


Although I am yet to get the refund, I am happy at least one big process is over after agonizing 4 months. I don't want others to suffer in this process in future, I already spend nearly 500$ in tax filing, fedex, money orders and travelling...

Thanks
Krish

Might seem like a minor question but did you send a B/W or a colored copy. I have obtained a B/W copy of the passport and got it certified.

[rayb]

Obtaining a certification of a passport copy will not work as well for other than it did for the Indian poster. IRS recommends that the certification of a passport copy be done by an IRS Acceptance Agent, which can be found with some of the franchise tax preparation offices (in the U.S.). IRS Acceptance Agents are in some other countries, only one in the Philippines, and maybe none in India.

To further complicate this issue, ITIN's cannot be obtained for children if children are still outside the U.S.

--Ray B

Might seem like a minor question but did you send a B/W or a colored copy. I have obtained a B/W copy of the passport and got it certified.

[shijuthomas]

Hi Shiju... Is the Visa page also required to be certified???

: As I mentioned in the post, it was not required, but i sent the VISA page also.