Checking eligibility first avoids the most frustrating way to discover it: an error message halfway through a session that cannot be saved. Both conditions below are checked at the start, and both have to hold at the same time.
What are the two entry conditions?
Location and identification, together. The online application page states both, and the assistant checks them before asking anything about the business.
| Condition | What it means |
|---|---|
| Location | The entity has a legal residence, principal place of business, or principal office or agency in the United States or a U.S. territory |
| Identification | The responsible party already holds a valid SSN, ITIN or EIN |
Conditions verified against IRS material in August 2026. Neither condition concerns citizenship. A foreign national running a company from an office in Texas satisfies both; a U.S. citizen running a company entirely from Lisbon fails the first.
Who is locked out, and what is left for them?
Failing a condition removes the online route, not the number itself. Every group below receives an ordinary EIN through another channel, and the channel is determined by which condition failed. 1,2
| What fails | Channel that stays open |
|---|---|
| Responsible party has no SSN or ITIN, entity is U.S.-based | Fax or mail to the domestic unit |
| Entity has no U.S. or territory presence | Phone, fax or mail through the international unit |
| Both conditions fail | Phone, fax or mail through the international unit |
The paper route is covered step by step in how to get an EIN without an SSN or ITIN, and the exact coordinates are in IRS fax numbers for Form SS-4.
What does "principal place of business" mean here?
Location follows operations, not registration. A company registered in Delaware but managed entirely from Warsaw has its principal place of business in Poland, which puts it outside the online channel.
The distinction matters because incorporation state is the easiest fact to mistake for presence. State registration creates the entity; it does not by itself create a legal residence, a principal office or an agency in the United States.
Why does the responsible party need a number?
Verification. The Instructions for Form SS-4 require line 7b to carry the SSN, ITIN or EIN of the individual who actually controls the entity, and the online session validates that number against IRS records.
Two constraints follow from that requirement. The responsible party must be a natural person for every applicant except a government entity, and borrowing somebody else's number to pass the check is prohibited outright as a nominee arrangement.
Can one person open several EINs in a day?
No. The IRS limits issuance to one EIN per responsible party per day, across all channels rather than online alone. Founders registering several entities at once run into this constraint immediately. 8
Planning around it is simple. Space the applications across consecutive business days, or file the extra ones on paper and accept the longer turnaround. Attempting a second online session on the same day returns a reference number instead of an EIN. 9