How to Get an ITIN Number: Form W-7, Documents, and Submission

To get an ITIN number, you file IRS Form W-7 along with documents proving your identity and foreign status, and in most cases you attach it to the federal tax return that requires the number. You can submit the package by mail, through an IRS-authorized Certifying Acceptance Agent, or in person at a participating IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center. The IRS assigns the nine-digit number and mails you a CP565 notice confirming it.¹

An ITIN is strictly a tax-processing number. It does not authorize you to work in the United States, does not change your immigration status, and does not function as identification outside the federal tax system.¹

Confirm You Actually Need One

An ITIN is for people who have a federal tax filing obligation but cannot get a Social Security Number. That usually means nonresident aliens who owe U.S. tax on U.S.-source income like rent, dividends, or royalties; resident aliens who must file based on presence and income; and the spouses or dependents of U.S. citizens, resident aliens, or nonresident visa holders when those spouses or dependents are claimed on a return.¹

If you’re eligible for an SSN, you can’t apply for an ITIN. The IRS expects you to pursue the SSN first and apply for an ITIN only if the Social Security Administration determines you’re ineligible.¹

Complete Form W-7

Form W-7 is the ITIN application. You can download a fillable version from IRS.gov. It asks for your full legal name (matching how it will appear on your tax return), your U.S. mailing address, your foreign address, your country of citizenship, and the reason you’re applying. Names have to match your supporting documents exactly, because mismatches are a common cause of rejection.²

Gather Your Identity and Foreign Status Documents

Every applicant has to prove two things: who they are, and that they’re a foreign national. A valid passport is the only document that does both on its own, so if you have one, that’s the simplest path. Submit the passport and you don’t need to include anything else for identification.²

Without a passport, you need at least two documents from the IRS’s list of 13, and together they have to cover both identity and foreign status. Documents that establish both include a USCIS photo ID, a U.S. visa issued by the State Department, a foreign driver’s license, a foreign military ID, a foreign national ID card (it must show name, photo, address, date of birth, and expiration), a foreign voter registration card, or a civil birth certificate issued by a foreign country. Documents that prove only identity — a U.S. driver’s license, a U.S. state ID card, or a U.S. military ID — have to be paired with something that establishes foreign status.²

Two more documents are limited to dependents: medical records for children under 6, and school records for dependents under 24 who are students. Both establish identity, and if issued by a foreign institution they also establish foreign status.²

Originals or Certified Copies Only

The IRS accepts only original documents or certified copies obtained directly from the issuing government agency. A certified copy carries the agency’s official stamp or seal confirming it’s an exact reproduction. Notarized photocopies are not accepted, with a narrow exception for dependents of U.S. military personnel.²

Extra Documentation for Dependents

If you’re applying for a dependent claimed on your return, the dependent generally has to prove U.S. residency unless they’re a Canadian or Mexican national. A passport with a U.S. entry date stamp does this on its own. If the passport has no entry stamp, add school records or medical records showing a U.S. address.

Attach Your Federal Tax Return

The most common W-7 mistake is submitting the form without a tax return. Unless you qualify for a specific exception, you have to attach the federal return the ITIN is needed for to the front of the W-7. If you’re applying for more than one ITIN on the same return, attach every W-7 to that single return and leave the SSN fields blank. The IRS assigns the numbers, then processes the return.²

Five exceptions let you apply without a return. If any of them fits, you send supporting documents in place of the return and can apply any time of year:

Exception 1 covers passive income — partnership income, interest, rental income, annuities, or other passive income subject to third-party withholding or covered by a tax treaty.
Exception 2 covers wages, scholarships, fellowships, grants, or gambling income when you’re claiming tax treaty benefits, or a taxable scholarship or fellowship without a treaty claim.
Exception 3 covers U.S. real property ownership with a mortgage subject to third-party interest reporting.
Exception 4 covers parties to a foreign person’s sale of U.S. real property when the sale is subject to withholding.
Exception 5 covers non-U.S. representatives of foreign corporations who need an ITIN to meet e-filing requirements.

If none of these fits your situation, wait until you’re ready to file and submit the W-7 with the return.²

Choose How to Submit

You have three submission options, and they differ mainly in what happens to your original documents.

By Mail

Send the completed Form W-7, your tax return or exception documentation, and your original documents or certified copies to:

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

The IRS mails your original documents back to the address on the W-7. If they haven’t arrived within 60 days, call to follow up. Use a trackable shipping method so you can confirm the package was delivered.²

Through a Certifying Acceptance Agent

A Certifying Acceptance Agent (CAA) is a person or organization the IRS has authorized to review your identity documents, verify them, and send certification to the IRS in place of the originals. You keep your documents the whole time.³ CAAs charge a fee, typically $150 to $300 per applicant, with variation by provider and higher pricing when tax preparation is bundled in. The IRS website has a directory of authorized CAAs. This is often the preferred route if you don’t want to mail a passport.

At an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center

Certain IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs) review ITIN documents in person. A staff member examines your originals during the appointment, and in most cases you leave with your documents the same day.⁴ TACs require appointments, and not every location handles ITINs. Check the IRS list of participating offices before scheduling.⁵

How Long It Takes

Outside tax season, plan on about seven weeks for the IRS to process your application. During tax season — January 15 through April 30 — or if you applied from overseas, processing generally runs nine to eleven weeks.⁶

When the IRS approves your application, it mails a CP565 notice with your ITIN and the name and date of birth on file. Keep that notice. You’ll use the ITIN on every future return, and some financial institutions ask to see the CP565 as proof of the number.¹

If nothing has arrived by the end of the expected window, call the IRS at 800-829-1040 from inside the U.S. or 267-941-1000 from abroad (not toll-free). Have your W-7 information in front of you.

Why Applications Get Rejected

If the IRS can’t approve your application, you’ll receive a CP567 notice explaining why. The frequent reasons:

You’re actually eligible for an SSN, or the reason you gave for needing an ITIN doesn’t meet IRS criteria.
Your documents weren’t originals or properly certified copies, had expired, or didn’t meet photograph requirements.
Required fields on the W-7 were blank, or a name was spelled differently than on the supporting documents.
The IRS asked for more information and didn’t hear back.

The CP567 notice spells out what to fix. You can resubmit a new, complete Form W-7 with corrected documentation.⁷

What an ITIN Does and Doesn’t Do at Tax Time

An ITIN lets you file returns and pay tax, but it limits which credits you can claim. If you or your spouse (on a joint return) uses an ITIN instead of an SSN, the household can’t claim the Earned Income Tax Credit — even if the dependents have SSNs.⁸ Federal law defines the identifier required for the EITC as a Social Security Number specifically.⁹

The Child Tax Credit requires the child to have an SSN — not an ITIN — to be a qualifying child for the credit or the additional child tax credit.¹⁰ A dependent with an ITIN may still qualify you for the Credit for Other Dependents, worth up to $500 per qualifying dependent.

If you’re required to file and don’t, the IRS charges a failure-to-file penalty of 5% of unpaid tax for each month or partial month the return is late, up to 25%.¹¹ Getting the ITIN, filing, and paying what you owe avoids that penalty.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)
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Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form W-7
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Internal Revenue Service. ITIN Acceptance Agent Program
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Internal Revenue Service. IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers Providing In-Person ITIN Document Review
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Internal Revenue Service. ITIN Supporting Documents
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Internal Revenue Service. How to Apply for an ITIN
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Internal Revenue Service. Understanding Your CP567 Notice
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Internal Revenue Service. Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) Reminders for Tax Professionals
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 32 – Earned Income
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Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit
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Internal Revenue Service. Failure to File Penalty