My wife need to apply for ITIN so we can file our joint tax return for the first time. She is not a US resident yet, so she can't apply for SSN. According to W-7 instructions, we need to file the W-7 form along with the tax return to IRS Austin, TX location. My wife can't send her original passport because she needs it to fly to Greece next month (some days after the taxes deadline extension for 2021). We tried to call the Greek Consulate in San Francisco several times to schedule an appointment for issuing a certified copy of her passport but they have never answer the phone. So, we are running out of options. The W-7 instructions state that Certifying Acceptance Agent (CAA) is another option, but this is only if you are renewing an existing ITIN; If you apply for a new one you have to submit it along with the tax return and all the required supporting documents. Does anyone have an idea on how to proceed with that?
As an alternative solution I was thinking of sending my wife's original greek national id but it seems that if we do that we will need another original or certified copy of another supporting document, e.g., a birth certificate we currently don't have available. Also W-7 instructions state that if a National identification card is used as a supporting document it must contain name, photograph, address, date of birth, and expiration date, but the greek national ids do not contain address and expiration date, so we probably can't use that.
