Getting an EIN without an SSN
Written by the filing team at FastBusinessFiling. Reviewed .
You do not need a social security number to get an EIN, and you do not need an ITIN first. What you can't do without one is use the IRS's online application, which is the fast route and which closes the moment it asks for the responsible party's SSN or ITIN and you have neither. The way through is Form SS-4 submitted by fax, where you write "Foreign" in place of the taxpayer number. The IRS typically returns the EIN by fax in about four business days; by mail it's several weeks. Applicants outside the United States can also call the IRS international line and be issued a number on the call. All three routes are free from the IRS. What a service sells here is knowing which box breaks the application.
The short version
- No SSN and no ITIN is fine. The IRS issues EINs to foreign responsible parties.
- Only the online tool requires an SSN or ITIN. Fax and phone don't.
- On Form SS-4, line 7b takes the word "Foreign" when you have no US taxpayer number.
- The responsible party has to be an actual person, not a company.
- Fax is roughly four business days; mail runs to several weeks. Both are free.
Why the online application refuses you
The IRS's online EIN assistant validates the responsible party against an existing SSN or ITIN. If you have neither, there is no error message worth acting on — you simply cannot complete it. People spend a surprising amount of time assuming they've filled something in wrong.
The common next move is to go and get an ITIN first, on the theory that it unlocks the online route. It's an expensive detour. An ITIN takes weeks to months, generally requires a filing purpose, and you do not need one to be issued an EIN. Get the EIN by fax and get the ITIN later if your tax situation actually calls for one.
Form SS-4, and the line that matters
The form is one page. Most of it is uncontroversial: the legal name of the entity exactly as the state approved it, the mailing address, the state and date of formation, the entity type, and the reason you're applying.
Line 7a is the responsible party's name and 7b is their SSN, ITIN or EIN. When the responsible party has no US taxpayer number, 7b takes the word "Foreign". That's the whole trick, and it's the box that gets left blank or filled with zeros, which is what gets applications rejected or silently parked.
The responsible party must be a natural person who actually controls the entity — the IRS stopped accepting another entity in that role, so naming a parent company doesn't work. For a single-member LLC owned by one person overseas, that person is the responsible party.
The three routes, and how long each takes
Fax is the practical default. You send the completed SS-4 to the IRS fax number for international applicants and include a return fax number; the EIN typically comes back in about four business days. Without a return fax number it goes by post instead, which undoes the point.
Phone works if you're outside the US: the IRS international line takes the application over the call and issues the number during it. Hold times vary and you need the form filled in before you dial, because they read it to you.
Mail works and takes several weeks. It's the route to use only when the other two aren't available to you.
Form the company first
Apply for the EIN after the state has approved the LLC, not before. The SS-4 asks for the legal name and the formation date, and a name that doesn't match the state's record is a rejection you'll wait weeks to find out about.
It also matters that the name matches exactly — including whether it ends in LLC, L.L.C. or Limited Liability Company. Copy it from the approved filing rather than from memory.
What we charge and whether you need us
The IRS charges nothing for an EIN by any route, and if you're comfortable with the form, a fax machine or a fax service, and a four-day wait, you can do this yourself. We'd rather say that plainly than let you find out afterwards.
We charge $50 to prepare and submit the SS-4 and chase it, and it's an add-on that's off by default on our formation orders. The people it's worth it for are the ones who don't have a fax route, who've already had an application come back once, or who'd simply rather this were somebody else's four days.
Common questions
No. This is the most expensive misconception in the process. The EIN application accepts a foreign responsible party with no US taxpayer number at all.
Yes. There's no citizenship or residency requirement to be a member of an LLC in any state. The complications for foreign owners are in tax filing and banking, not formation.
About four business days is the IRS's own guidance for a complete application with a return fax number. Complete is the operative word — a missing responsible party or a name that doesn't match the state record resets the clock.
No. The responsible party has to be someone who actually controls the entity — an owner or an officer. A registered agent accepts legal mail; that isn't control, and naming one there misstates the form.
The EIN is necessary and often not sufficient. Most US banks also want identification and, frequently, an in-person visit or a US address, and their policies on non-resident owners vary a lot between banks. That's a banking question rather than a filing one, and worth asking your intended bank before you assume.
Keep reading
FastBusinessFiling is a document filing service operated by Fast Filing Group LLC. We are not a law firm or an accounting firm, and nothing here is legal or tax advice. Rules and fees change; where this page states a figure, it carries the date it was checked. For advice about your own situation, talk to a licensed attorney or CPA.