How to Get an EIN Without an SSN: Form SS-4 by Fax, Step by Step

You cannot apply online, and no service can make the IRS faster. What you can do is send a complete Form SS-4 to the right fax number with the right word on line 7b. Here is the procedure as the IRS instructions describe it, with the official numbers and the real turnaround.

Updated October 18, 2026 · official sources cited at the bottom · no legal or tax guidance

What the EIN is, and why the LLC cannot work without it

The Employer Identification Number is the nine-digit number the IRS assigns to a business entity. Despite the name, you do not need employees to get one. For a US LLC owned by a non-resident, the EIN is the key that opens everything after formation: a bank asks for the IRS letter that carries it, payment processors ask for it, and the yearly federal filing (pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472) cannot be made without it.

The number itself is free. The IRS page on getting an EIN says it plainly: "You never have to pay a fee for an EIN." Any amount you pay goes to a service for preparing and sending the form, not to the IRS.

Why you cannot apply online

The IRS online EIN application is reserved for applicants whose principal business, office or agency is located in the United States. A non-resident owner running the LLC from abroad does not meet that condition, and the online tool is also built around a responsible party with an SSN or ITIN.

The instructions for Form SS-4 give the path for everyone else. An applicant with no legal residence, principal place of business, or principal office or agency in any state sends the form by fax or by mail. Fax is the faster of the two, and it is the channel this guide describes.

Step 1: form the LLC first

Form SS-4 asks for the legal name of the entity, the state where the Articles of Organization were filed, and the date the business started or was acquired. Those answers come from the filed formation document. Sending an SS-4 for an entity that does not exist yet produces a number attached to nothing, or no number at all.

Keep the stamped Articles of Organization (or the Delaware Certificate of Formation) next to you when you fill the form. The entity name on the SS-4 must match the state filing exactly, including "LLC" or "L.L.C." as written.

Step 2: fill Form SS-4 as a non-resident owner

Most of the form is ordinary: the entity's legal name, its mailing address (your registered agent address or your own foreign address), the state of formation, the type of entity, the reason for applying, and the responsible party. The responsible party is the individual who controls the entity: for a single-member LLC, that is you.

The line that trips up non-residents is 7b, which asks for the responsible party's SSN, ITIN or EIN. The IRS instructions say: "Enter 'foreign' or N/A on line 7b if the responsible party doesn't have and is ineligible to obtain an SSN or ITIN." Write the word. Do not leave the line blank, and do not write a number that is not yours.

Sign and date the form. Add a telephone number and, above all, a fax number where the IRS can send the EIN back. Without a return fax number, the IRS replies by mail, which takes about 4 weeks according to the IRS instructions.

Step 3: fax the form to the right IRS number

The IRS instructions for Form SS-4, read on October 18, 2026, give two fax numbers for an applicant with no legal residence, principal place of business, or principal office or agency in any state:

Questions by telephone from abroad go to 267-941-1099, from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday. This line does not issue EINs by itself to every caller, but it does let you check on a file that has gone quiet.

Keep the fax transmission report. It is the only proof that the form left on a given date, and it is what you will cite if the EIN has not come back after the stated turnaround.

Step 4: the turnaround the IRS states, and the one founders observe

The IRS says it will return the EIN by fax "generally within 4 business days" when a return fax number is provided, and in "about 4 weeks" by mail. Those are the official figures, and they are the ones to quote.

They are not what most non-resident files have seen in 2026. Formation services that process these applications in volume report 4 to 8 weeks for an SS-4 without an SSN. That span is not an IRS figure; it is an observation, and we label it as such: 4 business days announced by the IRS, 4 to 8 weeks observed in 2026.

Plan around the observed figure. If a bank or a marketplace is waiting for the EIN, do not promise them a date based on 4 business days.

What gets an SS-4 sent back

The IRS does not publish a list of rejection causes for faxed applications. What follows is drawn from the form's own instructions: each item is something the instructions require and that an applicant without a US presence tends to get wrong.

• Line 7b left blank. The instructions call for "foreign" or N/A. A blank line is an incomplete form.
• An entity name that does not match the state filing. The SS-4 is matched against the legal name; a missing "LLC" or a different spelling creates a mismatch.
• No signature, no date, or no telephone number. All three are required fields on the form.
• No return fax number. The form is not rejected, but the EIN comes by mail, which turns 4 business days into about 4 weeks.
• An application sent before the LLC exists. The entity's start date and state of formation come from the filed Articles; without them the form cannot be completed truthfully.
• Trying the online application. It is reserved for applicants with a principal business in the United States. A non-resident owner who attempts it loses time and gets no number.

What this costs, and what services charge for it

The EIN is free. The service is what has a price. Northwest Registered Agent charges $50 for an EIN application when the applicant has an SSN, and $200 when the applicant does not, prices displayed on October 18, 2026. doola and Firstbase include the EIN in their packages. Billionnaire includes the preparation of Form SS-4 and its fax transmission to the IRS, with tracking, in every setup: $490 in New Mexico, $590 in Wyoming, $690 in Delaware, state fees included.

What no service can do is shorten the IRS's own processing. Anyone who promises an EIN "in 48 hours" for a non-resident is promising something the IRS does not state. We quote the IRS figure and the observed figure, and nothing else.

After the EIN: what it does and does not open

With the EIN letter in hand, the LLC can file its yearly pro forma Form 1120 with Form 5472, and it can apply to a bank. Mercury, for example, asks for the EIN document from the IRS, a passport for every person with control or 25 percent or more of the company, a business address that is not a registered agent, PO box or UPS box address, and some existing or planned operations in the United States. Wise Business, for its US account, requires a physical trading address and does not accept registration agencies or mail-forwarding addresses.

The EIN is therefore necessary and not sufficient. We prepare the file; we do not promise the account. Before you start, read whether you need an LLC at all, and if you are choosing between states, our note on the real Delaware annual tax and the 3-year comparison of formation services show the full cost before the SS-4 ever leaves.

Frequently asked questions