Hello,

I belong to India and have a wife and a kid. I am currently on a L1 visa here in USA. I have applied for a dependent visa for both my wife and kid so that they can join me here. Their visa will be processed and stamped before mid-december this year but they would be able to join me here only by mid next year.

Both of them are financially dependent on me as my wife is a house-wife back in India and my son is 10 years old. While filing the income tax return here for this year would I be able to claim tax benefit by showing them both as dependent on me? Please note that they have not set foot on US land for this entire year and will only do it next year.

If yes, then do I need to apply for ITIN for both my wife and kid? And when and how do I apply for ITIN?

If you could also help me by listing the documents that I would need for doing it, it would be a great help. Would a copy of their stamped visa be sufficient (who will do the true copy for it in India) or which other documents could be used.

Thanks,

Joseph

Joseph:

You can file jointly with your wife under the First Year Choice program; her physical location is irrelevent!

You can also claim your child as a dependent if the child has been in the custody of your wife for the entire year.

You WILL need to apply for a ITIN for each by submitting Form W-7 with a notarized photocopy of their passports attached. You submit these documents with your joint tax return.

Because your wife has to sign both the tax return and her W-7 and because there is some delay built into the First Year Choice option, you should wait until they get to the U.S. before filing your 2007 tax return.