I'm a US Citizen and legally married my Thai wife in 2007. I'm wanting to get her an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number) so I can claim her as a dependent on my 2007 Tax Return. We both live in Thailand, she has never been to the US.

My question is this: Line 6d asks for 'entry date in US'. Does this mean she can't be issued an ITIN unless she is currently in the US; or do we just leave that line blank?

For the 'Applicant's mailing address' I can use my home US address and of course for the 'Foreign address' use my wife's actual Thai address. I can have anything mailed to the US address forwarded (or scanned then emailed) to me in Thailand; no problem there.

And......my wife has no income. Should I file 'Married Filing Jointly' or 'Married Filing Separately' ??????

I'd like to hear from those who have actally been thru this process in the past.

Thanks.

I think she needs the tax number because she isn't in the US, so she should be able to get it here.

If she was in the US she'd be able to get a Social Security number.

Contact the US Embassy, Citizen Services. They should be able to answer all of your questions.

I think filing married jointly works out better. It does for me.

She should not have to be in US or have ever been in US. Believe that date is for when you use the USCIS information for ID. I assume you will obtain notarized copy of her passport to submit, or two of the alternatives.

There is no reason you can not use the same Thai address both places that I can find.

Married filing jointly will mean you agree to worldwide tax on your combined incomes. For most of us with dependent, rather than working, wives this is the best option as you receive the full normal deductions. But for someone with a foreign spouse having large income/savings it might not be right. Study the tax regulations on that and believe you have to include a paper signed by her the first year stating intent to use joint filing.

You attach your 2007 tax return to this W7 application rather than filing normally.

Thanks lop - that answers everything and pretty much what I guessed but it sure helps to get confirmation. It gets really tiring downloading and reading all the forms and publications!