Almost everyone hits this in the same order. You form the company. You go to open a bank account. The bank asks for an EIN. You find the IRS online application, start filling it in, and it asks for the responsible party’s Social Security number. You do not have one. The form has no other path, and there is no explanation of what to do instead.
Here is what to do instead.
The short version
You do not need an SSN, and you do not need an ITIN first. You need Form SS-4 and one of three channels: phone (same call, if you have no US presence), fax (about four business days), or mail (about four weeks).
Why the online form refuses you
The IRS lists four conditions for using the online EIN assistant, and two of them are the problem. You must have the responsible party’s SSN or ITIN, and your principal place of business must be in the United States or a US territory. Miss either and the online route is closed. It is an eligibility rule, not a bug, and no amount of retrying changes it.
The paper form, though, has always contemplated exactly your situation.
Line 7b, which is the whole trick
Form SS-4 asks on line 7a for the name of the responsible party and on line 7b for that person’s SSN, ITIN or EIN. The instructions then say, in as many words:
“Enter ‘foreign’ or N/A on line 7b if the responsible party doesn’t have and is ineligible to obtain an SSN or ITIN.”
That is it. Either entry is accepted. The IRS maintains internal procedures for processing exactly this case, so a form that arrives with “foreign” on line 7b is not an exception being handled reluctantly — it is a documented path.
Use the current form. Both Form SS-4 and its instructions were revised in December 2025, and the notable change was that the fax numbers and mailing addresses moved, so an old copy can send your application to the wrong place.
One IRS page contradicts this
The IRS’s “Responsible parties and nominees” page tells applicants to list the responsible party’s SSN or ITIN, with no exception mentioned. It appears to be written for the domestic online path. The Form SS-4 instructions govern how the form is completed, and they are unambiguous. If a bank or an adviser waves that page at you, the instructions are the answer.
The three channels, and how to pick
| Channel | Who can use it | How long | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone | Only applicants with no legal residence, principal place of business, or principal office in any US state | The EIN is assigned during the call | 267-941-1099 — not toll-free — 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern, Monday to Friday |
| Fax | Anyone | Generally about four business days | 855-215-1627 from inside the US, 304-707-9471 from outside |
| Anyone | About four weeks | Internal Revenue Service, Attn: EIN International Operation, Cincinnati, OH 45999 |
The fax and mail details above are the ones for an applicant with no US legal residence, principal place of business or principal office. Domestic applicants use a different fax number and a different attention line, so check the IRS’s “Where to File Your Taxes for Form SS-4” page against your own situation.
If you qualify for it, phone is not merely faster — it is a different experience. A representative works through your completed SS-4 with you and gives you the number before you hang up. Have the form filled in first, and write the number the representative gives you in the top right corner of your copy.
If you fax, the single most common self-inflicted delay is forgetting to put your own fax number on the form. The IRS faxes the EIN back to the number you provide. Leave it off and you have chosen the four-week option by accident.
Pick one channel and stay with it
The instructions are blunt about this: use only one method per entity, or you may end up with more than one EIN for the same company. Untangling duplicate EINs is far more work than waiting. Separately, the IRS issues one EIN per responsible party per day, across every channel — so if you are forming several entities, plan on one a day.
Filling in the form without creating problems
Get the legal name exactly right
Line 1 has to match the name on the document the state approved, character for character, including the suffix. A mismatch here is what causes a bank to reject the EIN letter later, and it is tedious to correct.
Name a real person as the responsible party
The responsible party must be an individual, not a company — the only exception is for government entities. It should be someone who actually controls the business. Nominees are not permitted, and the IRS says plainly that using one puts the entity’s information at risk.
Put “foreign” or N/A on line 7b
If that person has an ITIN already, use the ITIN instead. If they do not and cannot get one, this is the line the instructions wrote for you.
Say why you are applying
Line 10. For most new companies it is “started new business”; if the only reason is the account, “banking purpose” is a listed and perfectly ordinary answer.
Add your fax number if you are faxing
This is the difference between four days and four weeks.
Consider a third-party designee
The bottom of the form lets you authorize someone to receive the EIN and answer questions about the form. The authority ends the moment the EIN is released to them. Useful if you are in a very different time zone from Cincinnati.
What you get, and how to replace it
The confirmation document is the CP 575 notice, and how you receive it depends on your channel. Phone applicants get the number verbally. Fax applicants get a cover sheet with the EIN on it — note that the IRS no longer returns your Form SS-4 annotated with the number, which older guides still promise. Mail applicants get a letter in about four weeks.
Losing it is common and survivable. The IRS will issue Letter 147C, “EIN Previously Assigned”, if you call the Business and Specialty Tax Line on 800-829-4933. Banks accept a 147C in place of the original notice.
A change worth flagging: as of mid-2026 the IRS describes the CP 575 as a digital notice available through Business Tax Account, and says it substitutes for both the old CP 575 series and Letter 147C. That is fine if you can register for an online account — which normally requires a US taxpayer identification number. If you are reading this article, you may not be able to. Treat the 147C phone route as your reliable option and keep the original confirmation somewhere you will find it in three years.
What an EIN is not
It is a tax identification number for the entity. It is not permission to work in the United States, it is not a substitute for an ITIN on your own tax return, and it does not by itself create a US tax filing obligation. It also does not guarantee a bank account — banks have their own list, and we have written up exactly what that list contains.
Sources
- Form SS-4 and its instructions, both revised December 2025 — line 7a/7b guidance, the one-method warning and the one-per-day limit.
- Where to File Your Taxes for Form SS-4 (IRS, updated 28 April 2026) — fax numbers and mailing addresses.
- Employer identification number and Apply for an EIN online (IRS, updated July and August 2026) — online eligibility conditions, the international phone line and its hours, and processing times.
- Responsible parties and nominees (IRS, updated 22 August 2026); Understanding your CP575 notice (IRS, updated 16 June 2026). All checked 9 September 2026.