How to get an EIN without a Social Security Number
The fast online route at the IRS requires an SSN, which stops most non-resident founders. There is a separate route built for exactly this case — here is how it works and how long it takes.
Why most people get stuck here
An EIN is free, and the IRS issues one within minutes through its website — if you have a Social Security Number or an ITIN. You probably have neither.
This is where a lot of founders stop and conclude it cannot be done, or pay an intermediary who implies they have some special access. Neither is true: the route exists and is published — it is simply not the online one.
The route that works: Form SS-4, filed directly
Form SS-4 is the EIN application. The online tool is only a front end for it. When you have no SSN you submit the form itself — by fax or by mail — to the IRS unit that handles international applicants.
That route requires no pre-existing US tax number. The only conditions are that the company actually exists (it has been formed in a state) and that there is a responsible party signing the application.
The line everyone gets wrong: 7b
Line 7a is the responsible party's name; 7b is their tax identification number. When you have neither an SSN nor an ITIN, the correct entry in 7b is the word Foreign — not blank, not your passport number, and certainly not an invented one.
Leaving it blank is a common cause of rejection or of weeks of delay. Entering an incorrect number is worse, because it creates a bad record that is awkward to correct later.
Who the "responsible party" is
It has to be a natural person — a human being, not a company — with actual control over the entity or its funds. For a single-member LLC, that is you.
They do not need to be American or resident. This worries people unnecessarily: being the responsible party does not create a personal US tax obligation. It identifies who the IRS talks to about the entity.
How long it actually takes
This is the part nobody can shorten. The international route depends on IRS capacity, and the wait ranges from weeks upward depending on the season and the volume of applications. Anyone promising an EIN "within 24 hours" without an SSN is promising something they do not control.
The practical consequence for planning: do not tie a launch date that depends on a bank account to an EIN date. The bank needs the number, the number needs the IRS, and the IRS commits to no date.
What the number unlocks
- The bank account. No US bank opens a business account without it.
- Payment platforms. Stripe, PayPal and the rest ask for it when you register as a company.
- Tax filings, including Form 5472, which cannot be submitted without one.
- Supplier contracts. Many will ask for a W-9 or W-8 carrying the number.
EIN and ITIN are not the same thing
People conflate them constantly. An EIN identifies a company; an ITIN identifies a person and is issued when an individual has a personal US tax obligation. Most non-resident LLC owners need an EIN and never need an ITIN at all.
Do not pay for an ITIN because someone said it is "required for the company". Ask first: which personal return am I filing that needs it? If there is no clear answer, you do not need it.
What we handle
We complete the form, check the lines that applications are usually rejected over, submit it through the international route, and follow it until the number issues and the official confirmation letter (CP 575) reaches you — which is the document a bank will actually ask for, not just the number written in an email.
This is general information for educational purposes and is not a substitute for advice from a licensed CPA or attorney about your own situation.