That is what we did, although that was 5 years ago. There may be a trip to the nearest IRS office that can authorise you - ours was 3 hrs away

As far as the ITIN applications are concerned a CAA would be wise.

You have until April 15 to file your return. Why not apply for the numbers and see if you can avoid the extension.

yes will try to, i believe it might take 8-10weeks in processing.
and they were accepting appointments end of Feb.

One question when applying for the ITIN.
Just noticed one of my sons UK Passports has expired. Didnt even Realize.
His US Visa though is valid.
Would this be a problem when applying for the ITIN?

Well more importantly you might want to check his I-94 because usually CBP only admit people until their passport expiration date - he could be out of status

I-94 expires next year, we had a 3year work visa L-1a and my wife/kids on the L2.
can extend upto 7years in total.

Each person is issued their own I-94 - have you actually checked your son's at https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/ ?

Yes for sure. as i mentioned, all our I-94 are the same expiry as mine.
so our status here is not the issue.
It was whether when applying for a New ITIN number, would his expired passport become an issue in terms of getting him classed as a dependent.
thanks

When I did this a few years a go you needed a reason to get the ITIN, which was to file taxes. I prepared our returns on TurboTax, printed it and took it with the ITIN applications to the IRS office. They then completed the ITIN verification process, numbers were attached to the file which then processed the tax return.
It takes longer to get any refund, but no need for the extension as the official date of filing was when we visited the office.

hey thanks for that. Yes thats what i'm planning to do. just about finished everything on Turbotax. will finalise the ITIN forms today and print it all off. will most likely send everything in the Post, because our meeting with the IRS is not until 3rd March. we would all have to go to that appointment, which is a little tricky for us as a family. thanks again

benwuk Interested in your experience of PWC and your first year tax return experiences. I have moved to California 3 weeks ago on an 3yr L1 Visa and my company are also engaging PWC to handle the first yr return, using a combination of US and UK tax specialists knowledge.

Just keen to ensure I start of on the right footing in what sounds an evermore complex area.

Thanks

The work will mainly be carried out in Bangalore. The tasks offered will be limited to those agreed in PwCs service level agreement with your employer. This may include taking positions that lower your employer's risk rather than those to your specific advantage.