ITIN for British spouse

Good stuff, Criostin. Thanks. And thanks to kitsonuk too. You've put my mind at rest. For some reason I didn't realise the US Consulate offered tax advice, but it stands to reason they would know more about filing as an expat than an office in Florida!

Recently there has been such a huge rush of people on this other forum getting official copies made of documents in preparation of applying for ITINs for their spouses....I was actually starting to wonder if I was the only one that missed some official IRS mailing for expats or something! It's already a stampede, I think, and since I don't post there anymore, I'm not going to attempt to argue with anyone.  Let them get ITINs! I'm not going to bother.

Thanks again, everyone who helped.

Silly people!

I mean if you read it, I could understand a bit what you might think, but if you really read it, it is saying that if you are the one filing, then you need a SSN or a ITIN (and that NRA is not accepted) which makes total sense, but if you are simply reporting that you are filing seperatly and your spouse is an NRA, then it would make no sense why your spouse would need one.

Of course, my relationship with my civil partner isn't even recognized in the US, so I still have to file as single, though in every legal aspect in the UK, I am not.

Silly people!

I mean if you read it, I could understand a bit what you might think, but if you really read it, it is saying that if you are the one filing, then you need a SSN or a ITIN (and that NRA is not accepted) which makes total sense, but if you are simply reporting that you are filing seperatly and your spouse is an NRA, then it would make no sense why your spouse would need one.

Yes! The person who quoted on that message board doesn’t seem to understand the quote that they, themselves cited:

If you do not have an SSN and are not eligible to obtain an SSN, but you have a requirement to furnish a federal tax identification number or file a federal income tax return, you must apply for an ITIN. By law, an alien individual cannot have both an ITIN and an SSN.

(bolding is mine)

Assuming that there is no obligation for the non-resident alien to report their income to the IRS for some unusual reason, then the above does not apply to them.

Quote from: member of other forum
If you do not have an SSN and are not eligible to obtain an SSN, but you have a requirement to furnish a federal tax identification number or file a federal income tax return, you must apply for an ITIN. By law, an alien individual cannot have both an ITIN and an SSN.

Assuming that there is no obligation for the non-resident alien to report their income to the IRS for some unusual reason, then the above does not apply to them.

The only reason I could say above would apply is in the states if your spouse was living with you - as the government likes to keep track of peoples movements at times...  Especially if you're in the US on a visa.

I am just about to mail my tax return for 2006.  I am filing married but separate and with my spouse as a non resident alien.

i have written - non resident alien in the spouse's ss number section and also
where it asks on question 3 in form 1040 for spouses name and ssn , i have put his full name followed by nra

i have done this for the past 4 years and have not had a problem

The only reason I could say above would apply is in the states if your spouse was living with you - as the government likes to keep track of peoples movements at times...  Especially if you're in the US on a visa.

If your spouse were living with you and you were both in the US, then your spouse would not be a non-resident alien.

Just to add:

1. You also do not need an ITIN to file a Form TDF90-22.1 to report the signature authority over a foreign foreign account with an NRA spouse (you will however need 2 Forms TDF90-22.1 if you have foreign accounts joint with your NRA spouse as well as in your own nme).

2. You also do not need an ITIN to file a Form 3520 to report a gift of over $100,000 from an NRA spouse (these sorts of amounts may be relevant if for example either you/your spouse inherits money, you/your spouse get a decent bonus, or you/your spouse buy or sell property in a year and have largish sums of money moving around).

If your spouse were living with you and you were both in the US, then your spouse would not be a non-resident alien.

Actually, I'm not sure this is true.

I am married to a British husband but we don't live permanently in the US.  We are going to the US for about 8 months later in the year, all being well, so I'm trying to sort out my US taxes.  I'm happy to see I just put NRA under his SSN! But when we go there, unless we specifically prove that we are moving back permanently, he won't be resident.  Neither will I.

If we showed we were moving back permanently, he could get a green card, and work. But he's going to be going on a visitor's visa, he's  not going to be able to work, because we aren't intending to live their permanently, I am just going for a temporary period and he is accompanying me. So my understanding is that he will be still an NRA.

I filed as married filing separate, claiming an exemption for my British husband (we are UK residents).  IRS refused the exemption and said he needed to apply for an ITIN.  He sent in a W7 in May (IRS received 29 May) with his passport.  We didn't realise we could do it through the US Embassy here....IRS says (on their website) that it can take up to 6 weeks but now we're worried it could take a lot longer and we have booked a cruise in Sept that requires visas (which we need to apply for month to be safe and he needs his passport to do this).

Does anyone else have a recent experience with applying for an ITIN as non-resident alien?  How long did it take?

Thanks

It is typically 6 weeks maximum now, but only if you filled the W-7 correctly (a year ago it was 16-20 weeks).

You could have used a certifying acceptance agent & then you would have kept the passport..

Afraid it's a little late for that now...we're just hoping it doesn't take more than 6 weeks.  Actually, the IRS have a number you can call after 6 weeks and supposedly they will check on it.  Wish we'd known then what we do now...would have gone to the US Embassy in London.