A Certifying Acceptance Agent (CAA) is a person or business authorised by the IRS to help applicants complete Form W-7, verify their identity and foreign-status documents, and submit the application. Because the CAA authenticates the documents and files a Certificate of Accuracy, the applicant keeps the original passport instead of mailing it to the IRS. An Acceptance Agent (AA) can help with the form but cannot certify documents.
What does a Certifying Acceptance Agent do?
The IRS runs an Acceptance Agent Program for people and businesses that help applicants get ITINs. A Certifying Acceptance Agent helps complete Form W-7, reviews it, and authenticates the applicant's supporting documents: it examines the passport or other documents, certifies that the copies are true, and submits the application with a Certificate of Accuracy. The IRS then works from the certified copies, which is why the original never has to be mailed.
The agent's job is accuracy before filing. A CAA reads the reason box against the documents, checks that an exception is supported, and stops a defective application before the IRS sees it. That is where the value lies: the IRS's decision time is the same for every route, but the share of applications that come back as a rejection is not.
CAA vs Acceptance Agent: what is the difference?
One word in the IRS's table. Both agent types are fee-based, both help complete and review the W-7, both operate in the US and abroad. Only the Certifying Acceptance Agent authenticates documents. Publication 1915 says it directly: acceptance agents who are not CAAs cannot certify your documents. With a plain Acceptance Agent, the passport still travels to the IRS.
| Certifying Acceptance Agent | Acceptance Agent | IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helps complete Form W-7 | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Reviews the W-7 before filing | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Authenticates your documents | Yes, except foreign military identification | No | Yes | No; originals or agency-certified copies go to the IRS |
| Where | US and international | US and international | US only, by appointment | Anywhere with a courier |
| Cost | The agent's fee | The agent's fee | Free | Postage |
| Your passport | Stays with you | Goes to the IRS | Stays with you | Goes to the IRS, back within 60 days |
Why does the passport matter so much?
Because the IRS's own timeline is 7 weeks, or 9 to 11 between January 15 and April 30 or from abroad, and the W-7 instructions say original documents come back within 60 days. For a founder who travels, two months without a passport is not an inconvenience; it is a stopped business. The instructions themselves say that if you will need your documents within 60 days you may wish to apply in person at a Taxpayer Assistance Center or through a CAA.
There is a second reason. A passport in the post can be lost, and a lost passport during an IRS application is a problem on two continents at once. A certified copy carries none of that risk.
How does the CAA process work, step by step?
- You present your original passport for verification in a live video session, in the way the IRS's rules for agents require. It stays in your hands.
- The agent checks the W-7 line by line: name as on the passport, reason box, exception and its evidence, mailing address, signature.
- The agent authenticates the documents and prepares the Certificate of Accuracy, Form W-7 (COA), which states that the copies are true and were examined.
- The application, the certificate and the certified copies are filed with the IRS.
- The IRS decides in its own time and writes to you: CP565 with the number, CP566 for more information, CP567 for a rejection.
How do you check a CAA is real?
The IRS publishes its Acceptance Agent Program page with the list of approved agents by location. Any service that says it works through a Certifying Acceptance Agent should be able to explain how your documents are verified and confirm, in writing, that the originals never need to be mailed. Ask both questions before you pay. A service that asks you to post your passport is not using the certifying route, whatever its page says.
What can a CAA not do?
Issue the number. Every ITIN is the IRS's decision, and no agent, certifying or otherwise, can promise one. A CAA cannot shorten the IRS's processing time, cannot authenticate a foreign military identification card, which the IRS excludes from what agents may certify, and cannot turn an applicant who is eligible for a Social Security Number into an ITIN applicant. Nor can it change what you are eligible for: if your situation does not fit a W-7 reason or one of the five exceptions, the agent's job is to tell you so before you pay the IRS with two months of waiting.
A CAA also does not replace a tax adviser. It checks that the reason, the exception and the documents agree; which US return you should file, and whether a treaty applies to you, remain questions for the person who prepares your taxes. A service that offers both should say which hat it is wearing.
Is a CAA faster than applying yourself?
The IRS part, no. Its processing time is the same for every route and the IRS says so. The part before the IRS, yes: no courier days, no waiting for a certified copy from a passport office, and a form that has been reviewed by someone who has seen the rejections. The faster ITIN is the one that is accepted the first time.
How American Leverage uses the CAA route
Your application is prepared and certified through an IRS Certifying Acceptance Agent. Verification is remote: you present your original passport in a live video session, the W-7 is reviewed line by line, and the certified copy goes to the IRS with its Certificate of Accuracy. Nothing is mailed. You complete one form; the rest happens by email. The fee is $399, refundable until we file, and it covers the ITIN only. The service page has the details and the price.