W7 Form and ITINs for Your Business
As a business owner or accountant, you'll usually meet Form W-7 through the people you pay or claim, not for yourself. Three situations come up the most.
First, you bring on a foreign independent contractor who needs an ITIN before their US-source income and 1099 reporting are squared away. Second, you claim a foreign spouse or dependents on your own return. Third, a foreign partner or investor in your US LLC needs a tax ID for a US filing.
The practical takeaway is simple. Keep a short document checklist for each person, collect a completed W7 Form early, and you'll avoid a delayed return at filing time. Pair it with a fillable W-9 for any contractor who already holds a US tax ID. Batching this paperwork during onboarding is far faster than chasing it in April.
Required Documents for Your W7 Form
Documents trip up more W-7 packages than any other step. The IRS needs proof of two things: your identity and your foreign status. The rules below decide which documents you send.
The Passport Rule
A valid passport is the one document that proves both identity and foreign status on its own. Send a current passport (the original, or a copy certified by the issuing agency, not a notarised copy) and you've satisfied the entire document requirement in a single record. It's the cleanest path, which is why most applicants use it.
One catch worth knowing before you mail anything: for dependents, a passport only stands alone if it shows a date of entry into the United States, which you enter on line 6d. The exceptions are dependents of US military personnel stationed overseas and dependents from Canada or Mexico claimed for a tax benefit other than the credit for other dependents. Without that entry date, you're back to sending two documents.
Identity-Only Documents
Without a passport, you'll combine two documents from the IRS list. A US driver's license, a state ID, or a foreign voter registration card proves identity only. Each must be paired with a document that shows foreign status, such as a foreign birth certificate or national ID card. You'll need two records, not one.
Documents for Dependents
Dependents follow tighter rules that hinge on age. Under 6, a medical record can support the claim. Under 18, a US school record works, and so does a US driver's license, state ID, or visa. Students under 24 can still use school records. Outside those brackets, expect to provide the same identity and foreign-status proof an adult applicant would. Send originals or IRS-certified copies only, never plain photocopies.
How to Fill Out a W7 Form
To fill out Form W-7, complete five parts. Choose apply or renew and your reason (Part 1), then enter your name, mailing address, and foreign details (Parts 2 to 4). Sign at the end. Attach it to the tax return that requires it and leave that return's SSN box blank.
Here's how to get an ITIN number, step by step through the form's five parts.
- Choose whether you're applying for a new ITIN or renewing an existing one, then check your reason (boxes a through h).
- Enter your legal name and mailing address exactly as they appear on your identity documents.
- Add your birth information, country of citizenship, foreign tax ID, and US visa details where they apply.
- Attach your identity and foreign-status documents, using a valid passport when you can.
- Sign and date the form, then file it with the tax return that requires it and leave that return's SSN box blank.
Part 1: Reason and Application Type
Start by checking whether you're applying for a new ITIN or you renew an existing one. Then mark the reason that fits you (boxes a through h). Common reasons include a nonresident filing a return or a dependent of a US citizen. This single choice sets up the rest of Form W7, and the w7 instructions on the IRS page walk through each box.
Parts 2 to 4: Name, Address, and Foreign Info
Enter your legal name, your mailing address, your birth information, and your country of citizenship. Add your foreign tax ID and US visa details if they apply. Accuracy matters here, since a mismatch with your documents is a common reason for rejection. If you're wondering how to get ITIN approval on the first attempt, this is where most applications are won or lost.
Sign, Attach, and Submit
Sign and date the form. In most cases you attach the W-7 to the federal tax return that requires it. Leave the SSN or ITIN box on that return blank, so the IRS can fill in the newly assigned number. The agency assigns the ITIN and processes the return together. Want to skip the manual formatting? You can fill out your W7 online and download a clean copy in minutes.
Where to Submit Form W-7
There are three ways to submit. You can mail the package to the IRS ITIN Operation in Austin, Texas. The other options are a Certified Acceptance Agent (CAA) or an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC) by appointment.
The mail route has a real drawback: it requires your original documents or certified copies. Many applicants are nervous about mailing a passport across the country. A CAA or a TAC can verify your originals in person and return them on the spot. Your passport never goes in the mail. For most business filers helping a contractor or family member, the in-person route is worth the extra step.
ITIN Processing Time, Expiration, and Renewal
Plan for about seven weeks to get your ITIN under normal conditions. During peak filing season (January to April) or when you apply from abroad, that stretches to roughly 9 to 11 weeks. Build in a buffer if a deadline is near, especially around quarterly tax deadlines.
An ITIN also expires after three consecutive years without use on a federal return. When that happens, you don't start over with a new number. You renew it using the same Form W-7, this time checking "Renew an existing ITIN" in Part 1. The number stays yours once it's reactivated.
Common W-7 Mistakes to Avoid
Most rejections come from a handful of avoidable errors:
- Leaving the reason-for-applying box blank or checking the wrong one.
- Forgetting to sign and date the form.
- Sending uncertified photocopies instead of originals or certified copies.
- Submitting expired or mismatched documents.
- Filing a W-7 when you're actually eligible for a Social Security number (file Form SS-5 instead).
One more mix-up to avoid: an ITIN identifies a person, while an EIN identifies a business. They aren't interchangeable, and swapping one for the other will stall a filing. A generator helps here, because it flags empty required fields before you print and mail. Catching a blank now beats a seven-week wait and a rejection letter later.
Create Your W7 Form With Our Generator
Ready to skip the manual paperwork? Our W7 generator fills the current IRS form online, field by field. You get a clean, print-ready PDF you can mail or attach to a return. It's built for speed: enter the details once, review the preview, and download.
This is the fastest ITIN application online for anyone who values getting it right the first time. There's no subscription, and you preview the form free and pay only when you download. For a business owner collecting W-7s from contractors or family members, that means professional, consistent documents. No guesswork formatting a federal form by hand. If you also run payroll for employees, our paystub generator and paystub templates cover that side of your records.
Form W-7 En Español
The IRS also publishes Form W-7 (SP), the Spanish-language version of the same application. If you or the person you're helping searches for como sacar el itin number, that's the form. The documents, the mailing address, and the processing time are identical to the English version, so nothing about the process changes.
Which Version of the W7 Form Do You Need?
There is no annual Form W-7. The IRS has not reissued it since Rev. December 2024, and that single revision covers both filing seasons, so a "w7 form 2025" search and a "w7 form 2026" search return the same one-page document.
The year in that search belongs to the return, not to the form. Form W-7 has no deadline of its own, and it inherits the due date of whatever return it is attached to. A W-7 attached to a contractor's 2025 Form 1040 is due April 15, 2026. Attached to a 2026 return, it is due April 15, 2027. If the underlying return goes on extension, the package date moves with it, but the W-7 instructions never state an extended date, so work from the return's due date rather than the form's.
Two exceptions are worth planning around. Applicants who qualify under the IRS exception table file no return at all and may submit at any time. And an ITIN not included on a federal return for 3 consecutive tax years expires on December 31 of that third year, which is a calendar you track per person on your books, not per filing season.