To apply for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), complete IRS Form W-7, attach a U.S. federal tax return, and submit the package with original or certified identity documents. You can mail it to the IRS in Austin, hand it to a Certifying Acceptance Agent, or bring it to a Taxpayer Assistance Center. The IRS issues the number once it verifies your identity and foreign status.
Who Should Apply
An ITIN is for people who have a U.S. federal tax obligation but can’t get a Social Security Number. The most common applicants are:1Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 857, Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)
- Nonresident aliens filing a U.S. return to report U.S.-source income or claim a tax treaty benefit.
- Resident aliens who owe federal income tax but don’t qualify for an SSN.
- Dependents or spouses of U.S. citizens or residents who need a TIN listed on the return.
- Foreign nationals who own U.S. real estate and whose lender needs an ITIN to file Form 1098.
If you’re a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, you already have (or can get) an SSN, and that is your TIN. You don’t apply for an ITIN.
What an ITIN Will Not Do
An ITIN is a tax-processing number and nothing more. It doesn’t authorize you to work in the United States, and it cannot be used on Form I-9 for employment eligibility. It doesn’t make you eligible for Social Security benefits, and it has no effect on your immigration status. An employer who accepts an ITIN in place of an SSN for work authorization is breaking federal law.
Fill Out Form W-7
The application itself is Form W-7, downloadable from the IRS website.2Internal Revenue Service. About Form W-7, Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number The form asks for your full legal name, current mailing address, permanent foreign address, date of birth, and country of citizenship. You’ll also check a box explaining why you’re applying, such as filing a return with U.S.-source income, claiming a treaty benefit, or appearing as a dependent on someone else’s return.
Unless you qualify for one of the exceptions described below, you must attach a completed federal income tax return to Form W-7. The IRS won’t issue the ITIN without it.3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form W-7, Application for IRS Individual Taxpayer Identification Number
Documents You Need to Include
You have to prove two things: who you are, and that you’re a foreign national. A valid passport is the only document that does both by itself. Submit an original or a certified copy from the issuing government, and you’re done on the document side.4Internal Revenue Service. ITIN Supporting Documents For dependents, note that a passport without a U.S. entry date stamp may not stand alone.
Without a passport, you’ll need two documents from the IRS’s list of 13 acceptable types. That list includes a national identification card, foreign voter’s registration card, USCIS photo ID, U.S. visa, foreign military ID, civil birth certificate, foreign driver’s license, U.S. driver’s license, and U.S. state ID card. Medical records are accepted for dependents under six, and school records for student dependents under 24.
Every document must be an original or a certified copy from the issuing agency, must be current on the date you submit Form W-7, and at least one must carry a photograph. Dependents under 14 are exempt from the photo requirement.
When You Can Skip the Tax Return
The IRS lists five numbered exceptions to the tax-return-attached rule.5Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form W-7 If one applies, you check the exception box on the W-7 and attach supporting documentation instead of a return:
- Exception 1: passive income (partnership, interest, rental, annuity, and similar) subject to third-party withholding or a tax treaty.
- Exception 2: wages, scholarships, fellowships, or gambling income under a treaty claim, or taxable scholarship income without a treaty claim.
- Exception 3: your U.S. mortgage lender needs your ITIN to file Form 1098.
- Exception 4: you’re involved in the sale of a U.S. real property interest subject to withholding.
- Exception 5: you’re a non-U.S. representative of a foreign corporation who needs an ITIN to meet electronic filing requirements.
The W-7 instructions spell out the specific documentation each exception requires.
Three Ways to Submit
Mail to the IRS in Austin
The default route is mailing your Form W-7, tax return, and original or certified documents to the IRS ITIN Operation, P.O. Box 149342, Austin, TX 78714-9342.6Internal Revenue Service. Where to File Forms Beginning With the Letter W The IRS returns original documents after processing. If you need them back within 60 days, send certified copies from the issuing government instead of originals.7Internal Revenue Service. Obtaining an ITIN From Abroad
Certifying Acceptance Agent
A Certifying Acceptance Agent (CAA) is authorized by the IRS to verify your documents in person, certify the copies, and forward the application. You keep your originals. CAAs operate inside the U.S. and abroad, which makes them the practical option for applicants living outside the country.8Internal Revenue Service. ITIN Acceptance Agents Fees vary and are not regulated by the IRS.
Taxpayer Assistance Center
Certain IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers can verify your documents in person and hand them back on the spot. Appointments are required; call 844-545-5640 to book one, and confirm the center you’re visiting handles ITIN document review, because not all of them do.9Internal Revenue Service. IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers Providing In-Person ITIN Document Review
How Long It Takes
Mail applications generally clear the IRS within seven to eleven weeks. From January through April, that window stretches. If you’re applying near a filing deadline, plan for the delay: an unissued ITIN holds up your return and any refund tied to it. Using a CAA or TAC doesn’t shorten the IRS’s internal review, but it cuts mailing time and avoids putting original documents in the postal system.
Renewing an ITIN
ITINs expire. If you don’t use yours on a federal return for three consecutive years, it deactivates on December 31 of that third year. The IRS also expires ITINs in batches based on the middle two digits of the number, announced in the fall of each year.10Internal Revenue Service. How to Renew an ITIN
Filing with an expired ITIN doesn’t carry a penalty by itself, but the IRS may strip credits tied to that number, which cuts your refund or creates a balance due, and processing slows. Renew first, then file.
Renewal uses the same Form W-7. Check the “Renew an existing ITIN” box, enter your current ITIN if you have it, and submit the same identity documents required of a new applicant. Spouses and dependents renewing to claim a tax benefit must attach the federal return along with the schedule or form for the specific credit or deduction being claimed.