[taxbuddy]

Hello,

I went to H&R BLOCK to file my returns this year and this is what happened...

I got married in India in December of 2008 but I came back alone to USA as she is stuck with personal problems but will be visiting USA soon.

I went to a tax rep at H&R and they filed my return as Single eventhought I was married ( I got that money for fed and state ).

Later through forums I realised I could have applied as joint "married" and get a good refund..

I went to a different H&R office and an ITIN expert ammened my already filed return.

This amended return "Federal" was filed along with the ITIN application as joint. This was in February second week.

I received the ITIN for my wife in March last week. I went back to the representative and asked her to now send my amended California state return as joint with the ITIN number. This was needed for the state one. This was done in last week of march

My questions are...

1. How long will it take to get my amended federal refund back..

Feb second week was when amendment was filed and ITIN was rceived in march last week.

2. When can I expect my amended California state refund back..

The amended state return was sent in last week of march.

3. Is my filing process for returns correct.. As my wife did not step into US after she got married but will come here she has her visa too.

Even though my spouse/ dependent is in a third country and not present here I can still file my return as joint correct..

Thanks in advance please help me with these questions...

[paroma]

What documents did you submit for your ITIN application. Enlighten us blc I want to applied for my spouse too thanks.

[AtlantaTaxExpert]

The best document to submit is a notarized photocopy of your wife's passport.

Other identification documents are accepted, but you have to submit TWO of those, and at least one must be notarized or certified and one MUST have a picture on it.

The notarized passport photocopy BY ITSELF is accepted by the IRS with little problem EXCEPT that a notarized photocopy from most Third World countries MUST have an apostille from the issuing government agency attached to it, certifying that it is a true copy.

We used to get around this requirement by having the U.S. embassy or U.S. consulate certify a notarized photocopy of the passport, but the U.S. State Department recently decided to forbid their consulate officers from certifying foreign documents, to include passport photocopies.