Thanks. I was thinking the same thing too. But as far as I know, our return will be sent to an agency that handles ITIN first if I attach her W7 with the tax return. Then the agency will append her ITIN to the tax return before reaching the IRS. In this case, I should have been able to claim the tax credit before we actually receive the ITIN, because as far as IRS is concerned, she has an ITIN when they receive the tax return.