How to Get an ITIN for Your Child: Form W-7, Documents, and Filing

To get an ITIN for a child, file IRS Form W-7 along with your federal tax return and documents proving the child’s identity and foreign status. The IRS typically takes about seven weeks to process the application, stretching to nine or eleven weeks during tax season or if you apply from abroad.¹ An Individual Taxpayer Identification Number is the nine-digit number the IRS assigns to people who need to be listed on a tax return but can’t get a Social Security Number, and for many families it’s the only way to claim a child as a dependent.

When Your Child Needs an ITIN

Two conditions have to be true at the same time: you want to claim the child as a dependent, and the child isn’t eligible for an SSN.² Children who aren’t U.S. citizens and don’t have work authorization from the Department of Homeland Security generally can’t get an SSN, so the ITIN is the required alternative.

Federal tax rules also require the dependent to be a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico, and to live with you for more than half the tax year.³ If the child meets the dependency tests but lacks an SSN, the IRS won’t let you claim the child until you obtain an ITIN.

Timing matters. The ITIN must be assigned by the due date of your return, including extensions, for you to claim certain credits for that tax year.² Apply early. Waiting until April with a seven-to-eleven-week processing window is how families lose credits they otherwise qualified for.

Documents You’ll Need

Every application has to prove two things about the child: identity and foreign status. A valid passport is the only document that does both on its own.⁴ Without a passport, you’ll need at least two documents from the IRS’s accepted list, and for a child under 18, a civil birth certificate is required.

For dependents, the passport rule has a wrinkle. It counts as a standalone document only if it shows a date of entry into the United States, which also proves U.S. residency. If there’s no entry stamp, you have to add a document that proves residency:⁴

Under age 6: a U.S. medical record, U.S. school record, U.S. state ID card, or U.S. visa.
Ages 6 through 17: a U.S. school record, U.S. state ID card, U.S. driver’s license, or U.S. visa.

Children from Canada or Mexico, and dependents of U.S. military personnel stationed overseas, are exempt from the date-of-entry requirement.⁵

Other documents the IRS accepts include national identification cards (with photo, name, current address, date of birth, and expiration date), foreign driver’s licenses, U.S. visas, medical records for dependents under 6, and school records for student dependents under 24. Medical records must include the child’s name, birthdate, doctor’s name, facility address, and a care date within 12 months of the application. School records must include the student’s name, school name and address, and a term ending date within 12 months.⁴

Every document must be an original or a certified copy issued by the original agency with an official stamped seal. Notarized copies are not accepted, with a narrow exception for military families applying from an overseas or APO/FPO address.⁴

Filling Out Form W-7

Form W-7 is the ITIN application, available on the IRS website.⁶ For a child you’ll claim as a dependent, check box d (“Dependent of U.S. citizen/resident alien”) at the top. On the dotted line next to the box, write the child’s relationship to you (child, grandchild, and so on) and your full name and SSN or ITIN.⁷

Enter the child’s full legal name, foreign address, and birth information exactly as they appear on the supporting documents. Any mismatch can delay or reject the application.

A parent or legal guardian signs on behalf of the child. The form has a delegate section where you indicate your role: parent, court-appointed guardian, or power of attorney. A court-appointed guardian has to attach a copy of the court order.⁸

You must attach a completed federal income tax return to the W-7. The IRS holds the return until it assigns the ITIN, then processes both together. Applications filed without a return are rejected unless a narrow exception applies (for example, a child receiving passive investment income subject to third-party withholding, or a child who owns U.S. real property with a reported mortgage).⁷

How to Submit the Application

You have three ways to file, and the main difference is what happens to your child’s original documents.

By Mail

Send the Form W-7, your tax return, and original documents (or certified copies) to:⁷

Internal Revenue Service, ITIN Operation, P.O. Box 149342, Austin, TX 78714-9342

The catch is that a passport or other original will be out of your hands for weeks. The IRS returns documents by standard mail in a separate envelope after processing.

In Person at a Taxpayer Assistance Center

IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers can verify your child’s documents on-site and hand them back the same day. For dependents, these centers can verify passports, national identification cards, and birth certificates.⁷ Visits are by appointment only.

Through a Certifying Acceptance Agent

Certifying Acceptance Agents are authorized by the IRS to review originals, verify authenticity, and return them to you on the spot. They’re typically found at accounting firms and community organizations, and they charge a service fee that varies by provider.⁷ This route removes the risk of putting a passport in the mail.

What Happens After You File

Processing runs about seven weeks in normal periods and nine to eleven weeks during tax season (January 15 through April 30) or from overseas.¹

If the application is approved, the IRS sends a CP565 notice to your mailing address with the assigned ITIN, writes the number on your attached tax return, and forwards the return for processing.² Mailed originals come back separately by standard mail.

If it’s denied, you get a CP567 notice instead. Common reasons: invalid or incomplete documents, blank fields on the form, no tax return attached, or applying for a child who actually qualifies for an SSN.⁹ If nothing has arrived by the expected date, call the IRS at 800-829-1040 to check your status.²

What the ITIN Lets You Claim

The ITIN lets you claim your child as a dependent, which can reduce your taxable income and may affect your filing status. It also makes the child eligible for the Credit for Other Dependents, a nonrefundable credit of $500 per qualifying dependent. The credit begins to phase out at $200,000 of income, or $400,000 for married couples filing jointly.¹⁰

What it does not unlock is the Child Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit. Both require the child to have a valid Social Security Number.¹¹ The Earned Income Tax Credit is also off the table: it requires a valid SSN for you, your spouse if filing jointly, and each qualifying child.¹²

An ITIN is a tax processing number and nothing more. It doesn’t authorize work in the United States, doesn’t provide Social Security eligibility, and doesn’t change immigration status.¹³

Renewing an Expired ITIN

An ITIN doesn’t last indefinitely. If it isn’t used on a federal tax return at least once in three consecutive tax years, it expires on December 31 of that third year. ITINs assigned before 2013 that were never renewed have also expired.¹⁴

To renew, you file a new Form W-7, check the appropriate application type box, and attach a tax return unless an exception applies. The submission methods are the same three: mail to Austin, in person at a Taxpayer Assistance Center, or through a Certifying Acceptance Agent.⁷ Once the renewal goes through, the original assignment date carries over, which can preserve your credit eligibility on the return filed with the renewal.

1
Internal Revenue Service. How to Apply for an ITIN
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Internal Revenue Service. Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)
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Internal Revenue Service. Dependents
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Internal Revenue Service. ITIN Supporting Documents
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Internal Revenue Service. Revised Application Standards for ITINs
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Internal Revenue Service. About Form W-7, Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form W-7 (12/2024)
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Internal Revenue Service. Form W-7, Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number
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Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your CP567 Notice
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Internal Revenue Service. Parents: Check Eligibility for the Credit for Other Dependents
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Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit
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Internal Revenue Service. Who Qualifies for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)
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Internal Revenue Service. Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) Reminders for Tax Professionals
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Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 857, Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)