Founders whose responsible party has no U.S. tax number will find the whole route below, for an LLC, a corporation or a partnership. Obtaining an ITIN itself is a separate process, and nothing here is tax advice about which entity type to choose. 2
Why does the IRS online tool require an SSN or ITIN?
The online channel was built for applicants the IRS can already identify. The online EIN application is open when the applicant has a legal residence, principal place of business, or principal office in the United States or a U.S. territory and the responsible party holds a valid taxpayer identification number.
Miss either half and you are not disqualified from holding an EIN. You are routed to the paper and phone channels, which existed long before the online one and issue exactly the same number. 1
How can I apply for an EIN without one?
Three routes stay open, and the choice between them is fixed by where the business is based, not by what documents you personally hold. The fastest one is not the route most people pick. 1,3
| Route | Who can use it | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|
| Fax | Anyone filing Form SS-4 | About four business days with a return fax number |
| Anyone filing Form SS-4 | About four weeks | |
| Phone | Applicants with no legal residence, principal place of business, or principal office in the United States or its territories | During the call |
Turnarounds published by the IRS, checked in August 2026. The phone route is the one most people overlook: an authorized person calls the IRS international line, answers the questions on the form, and receives the EIN before hanging up. Fill the form in first — the questions follow it line by line. Exact numbers and addresses are in IRS fax numbers for Form SS-4. 4,5,3,7
What do I write on line 7b?
Line 7b asks for the responsible party's SSN, ITIN, or EIN, and the Instructions for Form SS-4 single this line out: it must not be left blank. Three answers are possible. 2
- An SSN or ITIN, if the responsible party has one. Holding an ITIN does not force you online; it simply fills this line.
- "Foreign", if the responsible party has no SSN or ITIN and is not eligible to obtain one.
- An EIN — only when the applicant is a government entity. For everyone else the responsible party has to be an individual, not a company.
The responsible party is the individual who actually controls or directs the entity and its funds. Not your registered agent, not your accountant, and not a friend who happens to have a Social Security number.
Do I need an ITIN before applying for an EIN?
For most entities, no — and this is the claim that costs foreign founders the most time. An ITIN application takes weeks to months; the EIN it supposedly unlocks can be issued in four business days without it. 2,4
The real exception is narrow. A nonresident alien applying as a sole proprietor with income effectively connected to a U.S. trade or business is expected to give an identifying number next to the sole proprietor box, and "N/A" is not accepted there. A nonresident alien sole proprietor with no U.S.-source income writes "N/A" instead.
If you are applying for an LLC, a corporation, or a partnership, the sole proprietor line does not apply to you at all.
Can someone with an SSN apply on my behalf?
Not as the responsible party. Naming a person who does not actually control the business is the practice the IRS calls a nominee, and the instructions prohibit it outright.
The consequence lands on the entity, not on the helper: the IRS ties the EIN to the wrong person, and correcting it means filing Form 8822-B and explaining the original filing.
If what you need is help receiving the EIN, the third-party designee block does that legitimately. It authorizes a named person to receive the number and answer questions about the application, and the authority ends once the EIN is assigned.
What do I need to prepare before filing?
Five facts, and all of them are on the form itself. Gathering them first is what keeps the phone route to a single call.
- Collect the entity's exact legal name and formation date from its registration documents.
- Decide who the responsible party is — the individual who controls the entity and its funds.
- Choose the entity type for line 9a from the formation documents, not from what feels closest.
- Write down a mailing address that will still receive post in three months.
- State the principal activity in plain words: what the business actually sells or does.
What happens after I send Form SS-4?
The IRS issues the EIN in a notice — CP 575 for mailed applications — and that notice is what banks and payment processors ask to see. Keep it: a replacement letter takes longer to obtain than the original did.
If four business days pass after a fax with a valid return number, or four weeks after mailing, follow up before sending anything again. A second application can create a second EIN for the same entity, and unwinding that takes longer than waiting did. 4,5,6,8,9
When the entity type on line 9a is genuinely unclear from your documents — a foreign entity with mixed member liability, a trust, an estate — that is the point to involve a qualified U.S. tax professional. A wrong classification is undone with more paperwork, not with a second SS-4.