Two different roles, often confused
The IRS authorises two kinds of agent under the ITIN programme, and the difference decides whether your passport travels.
| Acceptance Agent (AA) | Certifying Acceptance Agent (CAA) | |
|---|---|---|
| Helps complete Form W-7 | Yes | Yes |
| Verifies the application is complete | Yes | Yes |
| Authenticates your identity documents | No | Yes |
| Signs Form W-7 (COA), Certificate of Accuracy | No | Yes |
| Your original passport goes to the IRS | Yes, it must | No |
Both are "acceptance agents". Only one of them keeps your passport out of an IRS mailroom. When a provider says they are an acceptance agent, ask which kind.
What a CAA is authorised to certify
This is where the limits matter, and where most websites stop explaining.
For you and your spouse
A CAA may authenticate all of the accepted identification documents, with one exception: a foreign military identification card, which must still go to the IRS or be presented at a Taxpayer Assistance Center.
For dependents
A CAA may authenticate only two documents: a passport and a civil birth certificate. Every other dependent document — school records, medical records, national identity cards — must be sent to the IRS as an original or as a copy certified by the agency that issued it.
If you are applying for children, part of the package may still have to travel. A provider who promises that nothing of yours will ever be mailed is describing authority no CAA has. Ask them, in writing, what they will certify for each applicant.
There is a further trap with dependents: a passport is only a stand-alone document if it carries a U.S. date of entry. Without one, additional proof of U.S. residency is required for most dependents.
The interview requirement
The IRS requires an interview with each applicant — primary, secondary and dependent. Video conferencing is permitted for the interview itself.
The part that is easy to miss: the CAA must have the original document, or an issuing-agency certified copy, physically in hand during that interview, in order to inspect its security features. A video call looking at a document held up to a camera does not satisfy the rule.
In practice, for an applicant outside the United States, this means one of two things: you courier the original to us for a short period and we return it immediately after the interview, or you obtain a certified copy from the issuing authority in your own country and send that instead. The second route means your passport never leaves you at all.
What the CAA actually signs
Every Form W-7 submitted by a CAA carries an attached Form W-7 (COA), Certificate of Accuracy. It states that the agent personally reviewed the original documents or agency-certified copies. Only the designated responsible party of the authorised CAA business may sign it, and the form carries that business's EIN, office code and PTIN.
That signature is a professional representation to the IRS. The agent is accountable for it, and the IRS reviews agents' accuracy under the terms of the CAA agreement. This is the substance of the relationship: you are not buying a courier service, you are buying someone's attestation.
How to verify any provider — including us
- Check the IRS Acceptance Agent list. The IRS publishes its authorised agents by state and by country. If a firm is not on it, it cannot certify your documents, whatever its website says.
- Ask who signs the Certificate of Accuracy. It must be the responsible party of the authorised business. If the answer is vague, or if the work is subcontracted to an unnamed third party, that is your answer.
- Ask what they will certify for each applicant. A provider who knows the dependent limitation will tell you about it before you ask.
- Check the professional licence separately. CAA authority and a CPA licence are different things. Many CAAs are not CPAs; some CPAs are not CAAs.
Temiz CPA PLLC holds both: a Texas CPA licence issued in 2009, verifiable at CPAverify.org, and an IRS Certifying Acceptance Agent authorisation. The Certificate of Accuracy on your application is signed by this firm — not by a subcontractor.