so i worked as a program manager at Microsoft last summer and the US government, in accordance with its fiscal policies, “withheld” a lot of my taxes. in order to get them back and to maximize my tax savings, i needed to get vicki (my wife) a US tax payer number (ITIN).
however, to do that, i needed a certified copy of her passport. here is what i did to get it.
- searched online to see if i could just go to the passport office – someone did.
- phoned the passport office to see if i could. couldn’t.
- they gave me a number for “passport information” or something like that in ottawa. called.
- was told i’d need a letter, with her DOB, name, etc. and her signature authorizing the copy to be made and sent to our address. the letter would need to be faxed
- FAXED?!?!? why is the government still using FAX?!?!
- i politely asked for an e-mail.
- got a cryptic five letter e-mail address.
- wrote the letter. vicki signed it. i sent it into the e-mail address.
- bounced back – e-mail address was wrong. (I KNEW IT!!!)
- after a few tries, fed up and used freefax to send in the fax
- called back to confirm receipt of the e-mail. was confirmed (by the same guy who talked to me – i think they only have one person in that office)
- waited three weeks.
- received an e-mail from a totally different person in the “government.” told me i would need to go into the nearby passport office
- was angry with rage
- went into the office – told me i would need a letter. WHAT LETER?!?!
- came back with the letter. told me they needed proof from US that i needed a certified copy.
- third time’s the charm: i brought back my US taxes and they took her passport. was told TWO WEEKS.
- QUESTION: canada – why does it take you two weeks to photocopy a passport and stamp it?
- politely asked to rush the process as it had been over a month since I first asked passport canada for this copy.
- they got back in less than a week.
See, the main area of concern for me is that the canadian government has so much beaurocratic mumbo jumbo that different people will tell you different things depending on the different days.
*sighhhhh*…..
And quite frankly, they not only waste MY time, they’re also wasting their OWN time and money – two valuable resources that end up being funded by the taxpayers.
What do you think?
November 6th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Hi,
I, like you, just looked online to try to figure out how I can get my Canadian passport certified because I need to fill out a W7 IRA form to get an ITIN. Your blog post came up.
Frankly, I’m finding the American bureaucracy just as headache-inducing, but if there’s any way your story can help me to reduce the pain on the Canadian end, hey, I’ll take what I can get.
Do you happen to know what kind of U.S. proof they require in order to certify the passport copy? Would a letter from the American university who would essentially be my employer do? (I haven’t yet paid any US taxes–I’m filling out these IRS forms in order to qualify for an exemption from that.)
I realize you may not know the answer to that, but I figured it was worth asking. (I was going to e-mail you, but it seemed rude.)
Thanks!
Naomi B.
November 6th, 2009 at 11:29 am
Hey Naomi,
Thanks for reading my blog – it’s a weird but nice feeling to know that my struggles can go to benefit someone else. lol
For the proof, all I needed was the W7 IRA form. Seriously. And specifically, the part in the form that asks you to get a certified passport. Of course, show them that you’ve begun to fill out the form.
You can also bring the letter, but that didn’t help me much.
It’s pretty fast once you know what you need to do – but you have to wait a couple weeks for the certified passport (which is just a photocopy with a signature… I guess that’s where our taxdollars go to)
Hope the helps. Feel free to email me if you need more information.
November 6th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Great! Thanks, Jon.
And yeah, this Brave New World [depending on your age
] *is* weird–but in this case, I’d say in a good way . . .
August 18th, 2011 at 10:49 am
Just wondering is the US gov’t accepted this certified copy from the Canadian passport office? I was told that only a US notary can certify anything for the IRS. Let me know if it all worked out for you in the end.
thanks
Ria
August 18th, 2011 at 10:42 pm
This was a while ago @Ria, but from my recollection when I finally got a “certified copy” of my canadian passport, it was ok.
I think i recall that in order for the IRS to accept it I needed to either get it certified by
1) the canadian governmenet
or
2) a us notary
If i knew about 2), i would’ve just crossed the border & done it. but i think i also wanted to save $ at the time (since the canadian gov did it for free, but took weeks, i essentially the price of my time for the costs)
January 9th, 2012 at 9:59 pm
My (Canadian) husband and I walked into the IRS office in Portland Oregon 2 weeks ago and was told to get a certified copy from “whoever issues passports in Canada”. When my husband returns to Edmonton next week, he’s just going to walk into the Passport Canada office with his passport and ask for one.
January 18th, 2012 at 7:00 am
Jon,
It is 2012. Your post still benefit some Canadians who needs a certified copy of passprot. Same as you, I need a ITIN. I think I should walk into passport office with my W-7 form and passport, then they will do it for me, correct?
Thank you,
DK
January 18th, 2012 at 9:34 am
Make sure to bring “proof” that you need a certified passport (which, in my case, was my US taxes and a “letter” stating that i needed it). You can try calling the passport office to confirm that, but as you read, they seem to be disconnected from what actually happens.
February 22nd, 2012 at 2:23 pm
I am also in the process of trying to get a certified copy of my passport for an ITIN. The IRS told me I had to go to a Canadian Passport office to get a copy OR to a a US Notory.
Since I live in the middle of nowhere, I called Passport Canada — they had no clue where the closest office to me was…they suggested I drive to Toronto (7 hours away). They were not sure if a passport receiving agent through Services Canada could do it. I’d call Services Canada but they don’t have telephone numbers, only addresses. The closest receiving agent for me is an hour away.
I called my local MP but his office is closed until February 28th. This process is ridiculous.
Thanks for sharing this information online.
May 26th, 2012 at 8:03 am
Hey Wendy! I’m glad it helped you out!