Can a foreigner get an EIN from the IRS?
Yes. The IRS issues EINs to entities whose responsible party holds no SSN and no ITIN. Citizenship is not a condition, residence is not a condition, and the IRS charges $0 for the application.
An EIN identifies a business to the IRS. It does not grant immigration status, work authorisation, or a right to enter the United States. It opens a bank account, satisfies a payment platform, hires staff, and files a tax return. Those are its four jobs.
Three things the IRS does not ask a foreign applicant for: a Social Security Number, a passport, and a US visit. Form SS-4 carries 18 numbered fields and one signature block. Not one of the 18 requests an identity document, and nothing is uploaded anywhere.
One thing the IRS does require: an entity that legally exists. Line 1 takes the approved legal name and line 11 takes the state approval date. An application sent before the state approves the company gets rejected, and the notice arrives by mail weeks later.
| Question | Answer | Where it shows on Form SS-4 |
|---|---|---|
| Do you need US citizenship? | No | No field asks for citizenship |
| Do you need an SSN? | No | Line 7b takes the word Foreign |
| Do you need an ITIN? | No | Line 7b takes the word Foreign |
| Do you need a US address? | No | Lines 4a and 4b take a foreign address |
| Do you need a passport copy? | No | None of the 18 fields requests one |
| Do you need a US company? | Yes | Line 1 and line 11 |
Source: IRS Form SS-4 and its instructions, verified July 2026.
What does a foreigner need to apply for an EIN?
You need four things: the approved legal name of the entity, its state approval date, one human responsible party, and a mailing address. The IRS asks for no identity document and charges $0.
Gather these before you open the form. Every one of them comes off a document you already hold, and every one of them appears on a numbered line.
The exact legal name, from the state approval
Line 1 must match the state record character for character. LLC and L.L.C. read as two different entities to the IRS, and a trailing period counts. The IRS instructions for line 1 direct you to enter the legal name exactly as it appears in the entity's organising document.
The state approval date
Line 11 takes the date printed on the state approval, in month, day, year order. Not the date you paid the filing fee, and not the date you signed the operating agreement.
One responsible party, who is a person
Line 7a takes the individual who controls the entity and its funds. The IRS accepts exactly 1 responsible party per application. A holding company, a formation agent, or an accountant on line 7a triggers rejection.
A mailing address in any country
Lines 4a and 4b take the address where the IRS mails your CP-575 letter. The line 4b fields accept a province in place of a state and a postal code in place of a ZIP, followed by the country name. Lines 5a and 5b stay blank when no US office exists.
A fax machine or a fax service
The signed form goes to 855-215-1627 with no US business address, or 855-641-6935 with one. Software fax services send Form SS-4 the same way a machine does.
What is not on that list matters as much as what is. No passport scan. No visa. No notarised document. No apostille. No US phone number. No US bank account, because the EIN is what opens one.
What does a foreigner enter on Form SS-4 line 7b?
Enter the word Foreign. Line 7b takes the responsible party's SSN, ITIN, or EIN, and an applicant holding none of the three writes Foreign instead. The IRS accepts that entry and issues the EIN.
Line 7b is the fork in the road. Every other field behaves the same for every applicant on earth. This one field decides whether the IRS online assistant will finish your application or stop it at the responsible party screen.
The online assistant validates line 7b against SSN and ITIN records in real time. A foreign tax number fails that check, because the IRS holds no record of it. So the word Foreign never travels through the online tool. It travels on paper, by fax.
| What the responsible party holds | Line 7b entry | Filing channel |
|---|---|---|
| A Social Security Number | The 9-digit SSN | irs.gov online assistant, 15 minutes |
| An ITIN | The 9-digit ITIN | irs.gov online assistant, 15 minutes |
| An existing EIN, as an entity | The 9-digit EIN | Fax or mail |
| None of the three | The word Foreign | Fax, 855-215-1627 or 855-641-6935 |
| A foreign national tax number | The word Foreign | Fax, the foreign number stays off the form |
Source: IRS Form SS-4 instructions, verified July 2026.
The line-by-line rule for all 18 fields sits on the Form SS-4 checklist. The complete no-SSN walkthrough sits on apply for ein without ssn.
How does a foreigner file Form SS-4 without an SSN?
Complete the 18 fields with Foreign on line 7b, sign the form, and fax it to 855-215-1627 with no US business address, or 855-641-6935 with one. The IRS charges $0 on both lines.
The 6 steps, in order
- Register the US entity first (state timelines vary). The IRS issues EINs to entities that legally exist. Line 1 and line 11 come from the state approval document.
- Name 1 responsible party on line 7a. Line 7a takes one human being who controls the entity and its funds. A company on line 7a fails.
- Write Foreign on line 7b. One word replaces the SSN or ITIN. That single entry moves the application off the online tool.
- Complete the remaining 16 fields. Lines 4a to 6 take a foreign address. Line 13 takes a number in all three boxes, including 0.
- Sign and date the form. An unsigned Form SS-4 is returned unprocessed. The responsible party or an authorised designee signs it.
- Fax it to the IRS on 855-215-1627. Send to 855-215-1627 with no US business address, or 855-641-6935 with one. The IRS fee is $0.
| Channel | Number | Who uses it | Time to EIN |
|---|---|---|---|
| IRS fax, international | 855-215-1627 | The entity has no US business address | Days to weeks |
| IRS fax, US-based entity | 855-641-6935 | The entity has a US business address | Days to weeks |
| IRS international phone line | 267-941-1099 | Applicants outside the United States | One call |
| IRS mail, Form SS-4 | Postal, no number | Applicants with no fax access | 4 weeks |
Source: IRS, verified July 2026.
Fax has one weakness and it is worth naming plainly: no tracking number, no confirmation email, and no online status page. You send 1 page plus any continuation, and then you wait. That gap is exactly what the $67 covers, and it is the reason the filing guarantee is written in hours and days rather than adjectives.
The full fax walkthrough, including what a successful transmission report looks like, is on ein by fax. The phone route, including who is allowed to make the call, is on apply for ein by phone.
Which countries can apply for a US EIN?
Every country. The IRS sets no country restriction on Form SS-4, and no field on the form asks for nationality. The responsible party writes Foreign on line 7b from any address on earth.
The route does not change by country. What changes by country is the number people wrongly try to put on line 7b. Every national tax identifier below belongs to a foreign government, and none of them is an SSN, an ITIN, or an EIN. Line 7b takes one English word instead.
| Applicant country | Line 7b | Fax line | Country-specific note |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | Foreign | 855-215-1627 | A PAN card is an Indian tax number. It never goes on line 7b. Enter Foreign, and write India in the country field under line 4b. |
| United Kingdom | Foreign | 855-215-1627 | A UTR and a Companies House number are British identifiers. Neither belongs on line 7b or line 9b of Form SS-4. |
| Pakistan | Foreign | 855-215-1627 | An NTN is a Pakistani tax number and stays off the form. Line 7b takes Foreign, and the fax goes to 855-215-1627. |
| Nigeria | Foreign | 855-215-1627 | A Nigerian TIN stays off line 7b. Line 4b takes the Nigerian city, state, and postal code, then Nigeria in the country field. |
| United Arab Emirates | Foreign | 855-215-1627 | A UAE free-zone licence is not a US formation document. Line 1 takes the US entity name printed on the state approval. |
| Canada | Foreign | 855-215-1627 | A Canadian SIN is not an SSN. Line 7b takes Foreign. A Canadian province goes in the state field on line 4b. |
| Australia | Foreign | 855-215-1627 | An ABN and a TFN are Australian numbers and stay off the form. Line 7b takes Foreign, and the IRS fee stays $0. |
| Germany | Foreign | 855-215-1627 | A Steuernummer or a USt-IdNr belongs to the German tax office. Neither appears on any of the 18 fields of Form SS-4. |
| Philippines | Foreign | 855-215-1627 | A Philippine BIR TIN stays off line 7b. Enter Foreign, then fax the signed form to the international line, 855-215-1627. |
| Brazil | Foreign | 855-215-1627 | A CPF is a Brazilian individual number. It never substitutes for an SSN on line 7b, and the IRS asks for no substitute. |
| Singapore | Foreign | 855-215-1627 | A Singapore UEN identifies a Singapore company. Line 1 takes the US entity's legal name, character for character, from the state record. |
| Bangladesh | Foreign | 855-215-1627 | A Bangladeshi NID or e-TIN stays off the form. Line 7b takes Foreign, and no identity document is sent with Form SS-4. |
Fax line shown is the international line, for entities with no US business address. Verified July 2026.
The rule that produces every line above — no SSN and no ITIN on line 7b — is set out field by field on apply for EIN without SSN. Each country above gets its own full guide — the local number, the line 4b address format, and the fax line — on ein by country. India sends the largest share of these applications, and the PAN-on-line-7b failure that stops most of them is walked through field by field on get ein from india.
Which US entity does a foreigner form before applying for an EIN?
Form the entity with a US state first, then apply. Line 1 takes its approved legal name and line 11 takes its approval date. An LLC answers lines 8a, 8b, and 8c. A corporation answers line 9b.
The entity type sets the federal tax treatment for the life of the company, and the SS-4 is where you declare it. Line 8b takes the member count: 1 member defaults to a disregarded entity, and 2 or more defaults to a partnership. Line 8c asks whether the LLC was organised in the United States.
| Entity | Fields it drives | Default federal treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Single-member LLC, foreign owner | 8a Yes, 8b 1, 8c, 9a | Disregarded entity |
| Multi-member LLC | 8a Yes, 8b 2 or more, 8c, 9a | Partnership |
| C corporation | 9a corporation, 9b state or country | Corporation |
| Nonprofit corporation | 9a other nonprofit, 10 | Applies for exemption after the EIN |
| Sole proprietorship, foreign owner | 9a sole proprietor, 7b Foreign | Individual |
Source: IRS Form SS-4 instructions, verified July 2026.
Two boundaries worth knowing. A foreign-owned sole proprietorship still writes Foreign on line 7b, which the ein for sole proprietorship page sets out field by field. And a tax-exempt organisation applies for its EIN before it applies for exemption, which the ein for nonprofit page walks through in sequence. A brand name registered on top of the entity adds 0 numbers, which the ein for dba page explains line by line.
How does a bank verify a foreign owner's EIN?
Banks verify the EIN against the IRS CP-575 letter. The CP-575 prints the 9-digit EIN beside the legal name from line 1 of Form SS-4. The bank matches that name to the state formation document.
This is where a line 1 error surfaces, months after filing. The state approval says one thing, the CP-575 says another, and the account application stops. Read line 1 against the state approval before the fax goes out, because the IRS replaces a CP-575 with nothing except a 147C letter.
The EIN prints in a 2-digit prefix and 7-digit suffix, separated by a hyphen. The IRS issues 1 CP-575 per EIN and never reprints it. A replacement arrives only as a 147C letter, which the IRS sends on request to the address on lines 4a and 4b.
Mercury, Wise, Relay, Stripe, PayPal, Shopify, and Amazon each request the EIN during business verification, and several request the CP-575 image itself. Store a copy the day it arrives, before you open any account anywhere.
What does an EIN commit a foreign owner to filing?
An EIN creates a federal tax account, and the account files. A foreign-owned single-member LLC files Form 5472 with a pro-forma Form 1120 every year. The IRS penalty for a missed Form 5472 is $25,000.
That is the honest consequence of the number, and it is the part most EIN pages leave out. The EIN itself costs $0 in year 1 and $0 in every year after, because it never renews. The filing duty attached to it is annual and separate.
Line 12 of Form SS-4 sets the closing month of your accounting year. December keeps the entity on the standard US calendar year and its April deadlines. Line 13 takes a number in all three boxes, and 0 across all three is a complete answer for a company with no staff. Line 14 stays unchecked when the entity has 0 employees.
A foreign-owned entity with no US employees still holds 1 federal tax account from the day the EIN issues. Speak to a US tax preparer about the returns that account owes. einnumber.co prepares and files Form SS-4, and does not prepare tax returns.
Source: IRS, Form 5472 and Form 1120 instructions, verified July 2026.
Why do foreign applicants' EIN applications get rejected?
Foreign applications get rejected on 5 specific fields: a line 1 name that does not match the state record, a company on line 7a, a foreign tax number on line 7b, a blank line 13, and an unsigned form.
Line 1 does not match the state record. One character decides it. LLC and L.L.C. read as 2 different entities to the IRS.
A foreign tax number sits on line 7b. A PAN, a UTR, an NTN, a CPF, or an ABN fails. The IRS holds no record of any of them. Write Foreign.
Line 7a names a company. The IRS requires 1 person. A parent LLC, a formation agent, or an accountant on line 7a fails.
Line 13 is blank. All 3 boxes need a number. Enter 0 for agricultural, 0 for household, and 0 for other when you hire nobody.
Line 11 predates state approval. The IRS issues EINs to entities that legally exist. Use the approval date printed by the state.
The form arrives unsigned. An unsigned Form SS-4 is returned unprocessed, and the wait restarts from day 0.
A second EIN is requested for the same entity. Line 18 asks. Answering it wrong creates 2 federal tax accounts under 1 company.
The IRS reports a rejection by mail, not by email. On the fax route that means weeks pass before the notice reaches the address on line 4b, and the clock restarts at 0. This is the whole argument for checking the form twice, whoever files it.
How much does an EIN cost for a foreigner?
The IRS charges $0, with or without an SSN, through every filing method. An EIN costs $0 in year 2 and every year after, because an EIN never renews. einnumber.co charges $67, or $97 on Fast.
| Filed by | Price | Filing guarantee in writing | Year 2+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yourself, direct to the IRS | $0 | None | $0 |
| einnumber.co Standard | $67 | Filed by fax within 5 business days or the filing is free | $0 |
| einnumber.co Fast | $97 | Filed and the IRS call made within 24 hours, guaranteed — or the filing is free | $0 |
| Northwest | $200 | Not stated | $0 |
| ZenBusiness | $99 | Not stated | $0 |
| Rocket Lawyer | $59.99 | Not stated | $0 |
Competitor prices verified July 2026. Northwest reflects the no-SSN rate.
Read this before paying anyone, including us. Holding an SSN means the IRS issues your EIN at irs.gov in 15 minutes for $0, and this page has just told you how. The $67 exists for the applicants the online tool blocks: a paper form, a fax line with no tracking, 18 fields that have to be right the first time, and a rejection notice that travels by post.
What the fee buys is a deadline on the filing. Standard goes out by fax within 5 business days, landing 12–14 business days total. Fast goes out within 24 hours with the IRS call included, landing under a week. Miss either window and the filing is free. Business days are Monday to Friday, excluding US federal holidays, and your confirmation email prints the filing date.
The honest free path is set out in full on the free EIN number page, which prints the $0 IRS fee beside every paid alternative. Or get it filed within 5 business days, guaranteed.
Which guide covers each step for a foreign applicant?
Five guides cover the route end to end: the 18-field checklist, the no-SSN walkthrough, the fax process, the phone process, and the country pilot. Each one opens with its own 40-word answer.
apply for ein without ssn — The complete no-SSN route, step by step, from line 7b to the fax confirmation.
Form SS-4 — All 18 numbered fields, each with the IRS rule and a note for applicants filing from abroad.
ein by fax — Both fax numbers, what to send, and what happens in the weeks after the transmission report.
apply for ein by phone — 267-941-1099: who is allowed to call, what to prepare, and how the call runs.
IRS EIN assistant — The online tool runs 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern, and stops non-residents at the line 7b screen.
free EIN number — The honest version of the price question, including who should pay nobody at all.