Certified Canadian Passport? (ITIN for USA taxes)

[barch88]

Hi,

I'm a US citizen who's currently awaiting PR status in Canada. My wife and I got married last year and I'm attempting to do my taxes for 2016. We are filing separate (not jointly) - but have to file as "married" because we did get married in 2016. I'm moving to Canada and she does not have any ties to the USA, besides me of course. So I'm trying to obtain an ITIN from the US government for her, so I can finish filing my taxes. This is basically a tax ID number for them to track.

The US Gov requires the original or a certified copy of her passport to get this tax ID number. We don't really feel comfortable sending her original, so we want to get a copy. How do we get a certified passport from Canada? We see this form here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/passport/forms/pdf/pptc516-eng.pdf - but we can't seem to find any instructions. We found that on Google. Do we go to a local passport place in Canada? (There is one right in the mall nearby us). Do we take this completed form to them and they verify it against her passport and send it off? How do we obtain a certified copy of her passport?

Thank you!

 

[elithx]

My wife is American, and I had to do this. Yes you just need to go to a passport issuing office in your area. They will take the Canadian passport and will mail it back to you after 10 days or do with the certified copies.

I am in the same situation as you however I am now trying to figure out if I need to submit my taxes along with the ITIN application. I've read there are some exceptions where this will not be necessary, but I am not clear if I qualify for the exception.