On the DS-160, the “U.S. Taxpayer ID Number” field is where you enter your Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) if the IRS has issued you one. It sits next to a separate “U.S. Social Security Number” field, and the two are not interchangeable. If you have never been issued an ITIN, select “Does Not Apply” and move on. Most nonimmigrant visa applicants have no US tax ID at all, and that is the expected answer.
Where the Field Sits and What It Wants
The tax identification questions appear on the Personal Information 2 page of the DS-160, alongside your country of origin and national identification number. You will see two distinct fields:
- U.S. Social Security Number, for a nine-digit SSN issued by the Social Security Administration.
- U.S. Taxpayer ID Number, for an ITIN issued by the IRS.
The form treats these as separate questions because SSNs and ITINs come from different agencies and identify different populations. Do not enter an ITIN in the SSN field, and do not enter an SSN in the taxpayer ID field. The State Department’s DS-160 FAQ confirms that “Does Not Apply” is a valid response wherever a question does not fit your situation, though mandatory fields must have some response before the system will accept the form.1U.S. Department of State. DS-160 Frequently Asked Questions
How to Tell If You Have an ITIN
The ITIN is a nine-digit number the IRS issues to people who have US tax obligations but are not eligible for a Social Security number. It covers nonresident aliens with US-source income and the spouses and dependents who need to appear on a US tax return.2Internal Revenue Service. Taxpayer Identification Numbers for Foreign Students and Scholars
You can recognize an ITIN by its format. It always starts with the digit 9, and its middle pair of digits falls within specific ranges: 70–88, 90–92, or 94–99. If you ever received an IRS notice assigning you a number that fits that pattern, that is your ITIN, and it goes in the U.S. Taxpayer ID Number field.
If you were issued an SSN instead, put that in the Social Security Number field and leave the taxpayer ID field as “Does Not Apply.” You will not have both.
If You Don’t Have a US Tax ID
First-time visa applicants most often fall into this category. If you have never worked in the United States, never filed a US tax return, and never been assigned an SSN or ITIN, select “Does Not Apply” for both fields. There is no penalty for having no US tax ID, and its absence does not weigh against you in the visa decision. Consular officers expect most nonimmigrant applicants to leave these fields blank.
You do not need to obtain an SSN or ITIN before applying. The DS-160 asks for these numbers so the State Department can verify identity for applicants who already have them, not to screen out applicants who don’t. Entering a number you don’t actually have would be far more damaging than answering “Does Not Apply” honestly.
What If Your ITIN Has Expired
ITINs expire when they aren’t used on a federal tax return for three consecutive tax years.3Internal Revenue Service. How to Renew an ITIN An expired ITIN is still your ITIN. Enter it on the DS-160 the same way you would a current one. Expiration affects your ability to file a tax return, not your visa application. If you need the ITIN active again for tax purposes, you can renew it by submitting a new Form W-7 to the IRS.
Honest Mistakes Versus False Answers
The real risk on this field is not leaving it blank when you should have; it’s entering something that turns out to be false. Federal immigration law makes anyone who uses fraud or willfully misrepresents a material fact to obtain a visa inadmissible to the United States, and that finding can be permanent.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1182 Inadmissible Aliens A waiver exists only for a narrow group of immigrants who are spouses, sons, or daughters of US citizens or permanent residents, and only when denying the waiver would cause extreme hardship to that relative. For most nonimmigrant applicants, no waiver is available.
Visa fraud also carries criminal exposure of up to 10 years in prison for a first or second offense.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1546 Fraud and Misuse of Visas, Permits, and Other Documents Those penalties target knowingly false statements, not honest typos, but the distinction is drawn by a consular officer or federal investigator, not by the applicant. Information you give the State Department can also be cross-referenced with IRS records, so numbers that don’t match what the IRS has on file can trigger scrutiny from both agencies.
The safe rule: enter the exact number the IRS assigned you if you have one, and answer “Does Not Apply” if you don’t.
Fixing an Error After You Submit
If you notice a wrong digit or the wrong field after submitting your DS-160, how you correct it depends on timing.
- Within 30 days of submission, log back into the Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC), use the “Retrieve an Application” function with your original application ID, and edit the fields directly.
- After 30 days, if you downloaded and saved a copy of your original application, use the “Upload an Application” tab on the CEAC site to load and correct it.
- After 30 days with no saved copy, you will need to complete a new DS-160 from scratch.
If you have already scheduled your interview or paid the application fee before correcting the form, bring the confirmation pages from both the original and the corrected version to the interview. If you have not yet scheduled or paid, the corrected confirmation page on its own should be enough.
If you catch the mistake at the embassy or consulate on interview day, tell a staff member before the interview begins. Corrections at that stage are sometimes possible, though not something to rely on as a plan.