Dinesh:
1) You MUST meet the Substantial Presence Test (SPT) before you can file as a resident alien under First Year Choice. That is 183 days, and you can count only ONE day in THREE from 2007.
Assuming you arrived on 16 August 2007, that means you get one-third of 117 days, or 39 days. For 1 Jan thru 30 Apr 08, you get 121 days, so on 30 April 2008, you have met ONLY 160 days of the SPT. That means the EARLIEST you can file is 23 May 2008.
2) The notarized passport photocopy is the
preferred document, because that document BY ITSELF is all that is needed. Other ID documents are allowed (the list is on page 2 of the W-7 instructions), but you need at least two for each applicant and at least one MUST be a picture ID for your wife (not required for the child). Go to
Internal Revenue Service to download the W-7 and its instructions.
The problem is that, even though the W-7 instructions CLEARLY says that passport photocopies that are certified by the Indian givernemt are acceptable, the ITIN Processing Center in Austin, Texas HAS REJECTED such certified documents in 2007 for the 2006 tax returns. For this reason, I advise clients in India to get the photocopies notarized/certified at either the U.S. embassy or at a U.S. consulate office. That CAN be difficult and it is my understanding that the U.S. consulate now CHARGES for the certification process.
Of course, you can submit your wife's and child's actual passport (with the IRS assurance that it will be returned to you), but later in the instructions the IRS states as a TIP:
To avoid any loss of your documents, it is suggested that you do not submit the original documentation.
I read that to mean:
"WARNING - We MAY lose your passport if you send it to us!"
3) No; only YOU have to meet SPT.
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