No: a remote CAA does not need your original passport specifically, but must physically possess your original identification document or an issuing-agency-certified copy during the interview.
“I am applying for an ITIN and looking at remote application services. Does a remote Certifying Acceptance Agent (CAA) need to hold my physical original passport to verify and create a certificate of accuracy, or can it be done without mailing it?”
Summary
You do not have to mail your original passport if you can obtain an issuing-agency-certified copy for the CAA or bring your passport to an in-person appointment. The important limit is that a remote video call alone cannot replace the CAA having an acceptable document in hand.
You can keep your original passport at home, but a remote CAA still needs an acceptable physical document in hand during the interview.
Obtain a of your passport from its issuing agency and get that physical copy to the CAA before the video interview. The CAA may possess and authenticate that copy rather than your original passport, then prepare the and submit your Form W-7 package. This avoids mailing your original passport, not mailing a document altogether. [C1][C3][C4][C5]
If you choose to use the original instead, the remote must have it in their possession during the video interview; a video view alone is insufficient. This is a permitted route, but it does not meet your goal of keeping the original passport with you. [C1][C2]
Visit a CAA, or—if you are in the United States—a designated IRS with ITIN services. The IRS identifies both as alternatives to sending original documents; at a TAC, your documents are returned at the end of the appointment. [C9][C10]
A remote agent cannot authenticate a passport and issue a valid solely from an uploaded image or your camera view: the IRS requires the CAA to possess the original identification documents or issuing-agency-certified copies during the interview. [C1][C3]
The IRS’s January 2025 agent guide describes possessing originals during a video interview; its April 2026 program guidance expressly permits originals or issuing-agency-certified copies. [C1][C2]
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Watch out for
Next steps
These steps let you choose a document-review route before submitting your ITIN application.
Before the interview
Get an acceptable passport document
If you want to keep your original passport, obtain an issuing-agency-certified copy bearing the agency’s official stamped seal; the W-7 instructions say an embassy or consulate may be able to provide one. A notarized photocopy will not substitute. If you use neither the passport nor its certified copy, the W-7 instructions require at least two qualifying documents establishing identity and foreign status. [C5][C6][C7]
Requirements
Before sending any document
Choose remote delivery or an in-person appointment
For a remote appointment, use the IRS agent directory at https://www.irs.gov/tin/itin/itin-acceptance-agents to choose a CAA, not merely an AA, and arrange for the CAA to possess your original document or certified copy during the video interview; agent fees vary. If you are in the U.S. and want to carry your passport rather than ship it, use an in-person CAA or an IRS TAC offering ITIN services at https://www.irs.gov/tin/itin/irs-taxpayer-assistance-centers-with-itin-services; call 844-545-5640 for a TAC appointment, which is free. [C1][C8][C10][C14][C15]
Requirements
By the applicable return deadline, unless an exception applies
Submit Form W-7 with the required paperwork
For a first ITIN, attach Form W-7 to the front of the return for which you need the ITIN and file by that return’s due date; if you meet a listed exception, submit its required documentation instead of a return. A CAA reviews the physical original or certified copy, prepares the Form W-7-COA certificate, attaches the required document copy, and submits the application package. At a TAC, bring the ITIN application package to your appointment and take your reviewed documents back when it ends. [C3][C4][C10][C11][C12][C13]
Requirements
Legal sources
This answer comes from IRS ITIN Acceptance Agent guidance, Publication 4520, Form W-7 and W-7-COA instructions, and IRS ITIN document-review pages.
IRS ITIN Acceptance Agent Program
The IRS permits a video interview but requires the CAA to possess the original identification documents or issuing-agency-certified copies during it.
Acceptance Agent Program reminders
AAs and CAAs must conduct an in-person interview with each ITIN applicant (primary, secondary, and dependent) in order to complete the application. Video conferencing maybe used for the interview only. However, CAAs must have the original identification documents or certified copies from the issuing agency in their possession during the interview.
IRS Publication 4520
The IRS agent guide explains why a video interview does not replace the agent’s examination of a document’s security features.
page 21
Applicant interviews can be conducted either by face-to-face or through video conferencing (i.e. SKYPE, FACETIME, ZOOM etc.), but the Acceptance Agent must have the original identification documents in their possession during the interview in order to see the security features and authenticate the documents.
IRS ITIN Acceptance Agent Program
A CAA’s certificate verifies review of original documents or issuing-agency-certified copies.
Acceptance Agent Program reminders
CAAs must complete and attach a Form W-7 (COA), Certificate of Accuracy for IRS Individual Identification Taxpayer Number, to each Form W-7 application submitted. This serves as verification they have reviewed the original documentation or certified copies from the agency that issued them.
Form W-7-COA
For a primary applicant, the CAA attaches a copy of the document reviewed to the certificate rather than treating a scan as the document inspection.
Instructions for Form W-7-COA
You must attach a copy of the original documents or certified copy by the issuing agency for primary and secondary applicants.
Instructions for Form W-7
A certified copy is issued and sealed by the agency that issued the underlying document.
Supporting Documentation Requirements
A certified copy of a document is one that the original issuing agency provides and certifies as an exact copy of the original document and contains an official stamped seal from the agency.
Instructions for Form W-7
A valid passport or certified copy can stand alone; without one, the applicant needs qualifying documents proving identity and foreign status.
Supporting Documentation
If you submit an original valid passport or a certified copy from the issuing agency, you don’t need to submit any other documents from the table. Otherwise, you must submit at least two types of documents listed in the "Supporting Documentation" table that prove identity and foreign status, and that meet the photograph requirement explained earlier.
IRS ITIN Documentation FAQs
A notary’s seal does not turn the applicant’s photocopy into an acceptable certified document for an ITIN.
What is the difference between a certified and a notarized document?
A notarized document is one that the taxpayer provides to a public notary who bears witness to the signing of the official document and affixes a seal assuring that the document is legitimate. These documents will not be accepted for ITIN applications.
Instructions for Form W-7
An ordinary Acceptance Agent does not offer the same document-authentication route as a CAA.
Where To Apply—Through an acceptance agent
An AA will need to submit original documentation or certified copies of the documentation from the issuing agency to the IRS for all applicants.
IRS ITIN Documentation FAQs
The IRS names an authorized CAA and a designated TAC as alternatives to sending originals to the IRS.
Alternative options for original documents
In lieu of sending original documentation, you may use an IRS authorized Certifying Acceptance Agent (CAA) or make an appointment at a designated IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC) location.
IRS TAC ITIN Document Review
At an IRS TAC appointment, the applicant receives reviewed documents back before leaving.
ITIN document review
Your documents will be returned to you at the end of your appointment.
IRS TAC ITIN Document Review
This is the IRS number for arranging an in-person TAC appointment.
Appointment scheduling
To schedule an appointment, call 844-545-5640.
Instructions for Form W-7
A first-time Form W-7 normally accompanies the return for which the ITIN is needed by that return’s due date.
When To Apply—First-time ITIN applications
If you’re applying for a new ITIN, complete and attach Form W-7 to the front of your tax return and file your application package with your tax return for which the ITIN is needed on or before the due date for the return.
Instructions for Form W-7
Documented exceptions can replace the usual requirement to submit a federal tax return with Form W-7.
Application Package—Exceptions
There are exceptions to the requirement to include a U.S. federal tax return. If you claim one of these exceptions, you must submit the documentation required instead of a tax return.
IRS ITIN Acceptance Agents
A private acceptance agent’s charge is not a fixed IRS fee.
ITIN acceptance agents
Fees for service may vary.
IRS How to Apply for an ITIN
An IRS TAC ITIN application appointment is free.
IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center with ITIN services
Apply for free at a Taxpayer Assistance Center in the U.S.
These are IRS rules as published on the cited dates; rules can change, and the guide and form identified only by revision month are dated to the first day of that month above.
This is general information about official processes, not legal advice, and SettleKit is not a law firm.
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