Nonresident Alien Taxpayers: Getting an ITIN

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An Individual Taxpayer Identification Number is a nine-digit number beginning with 9 that the IRS issues to people who have to appear on a U.S. tax return but cannot get a Social Security number. It is a tax-processing number and nothing else: it does not authorize work, it does not affect immigration status, and the IRS is barred by law from sharing the application with other agencies in ordinary course. We have prepared returns for ITIN applicants for years. The first one is different from every other return we file, and this page explains why, and when it is worth paying someone else for one step of it.

Who Needs One

The IRS calls it: Form W-7, reason for applying, boxes a through h

Anyone who must be listed on a federal return and is not eligible for a Social Security number. Eligibility for an SSN is the whole test: a person who can get one — a citizen, a green-card holder, someone with work authorization — must get it instead, and the IRS will not issue an ITIN to them. The people who need an ITIN are usually one of these:

• A nonresident alien who has to file a U.S. return — for a rental property here, a sale of U.S. real estate, a business interest, or to claim a refund of tax withheld.
• A resident alien by the day count who is here on a visa that doesn’t allow work, or without status, and who files a return. Being undocumented does not exempt anyone from filing; the ITIN exists so they can.
• The spouse of a citizen or resident who is not eligible for an SSN and is filing jointly, or is being listed on a separate return.
• A dependent — a child, a parent — living in the United States, Canada or Mexico who is claimed on a return and cannot get an SSN. (A dependent living elsewhere generally can’t be claimed at all.)
• A nonresident claiming a treaty benefit, or a student, professor or researcher with a filing requirement or an exception to one.
• Someone who needs a number for a third party — a bank paying interest, a partnership issuing a K-1, a home sale subject to withholding, a mortgage — under one of the exceptions that let the W-7 be filed without a return.

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Nonresident or Resident?

The IRS calls it: Section 7701(b), the green card test and the substantial presence test

The ITIN is the same either way; the return is not. A resident alien files Form 1040 and is taxed on worldwide income like a citizen. A nonresident alien files Form 1040-NR and is taxed only on U.S.-source income, with no standard deduction (with an exception for students from India under the treaty), no joint return, and no head of household. You are a resident for tax purposes if you hold a green card at any time in the year, or if you were here at least 31 days this year and your weighted total reaches 183: all of this year’s days, plus a third of last year’s, plus a sixth of the year before. Days as a student on an F, J, M or Q visa (five years), a teacher or trainee on a J or Q (two years), or commuting from Canada or Mexico don’t count.

Two elections matter for families. A nonresident married to a citizen or resident can elect to be treated as a resident for the whole year and file jointly (§6013(g)), which brings worldwide income in but opens the joint brackets and the standard deduction; and someone who becomes a resident during the year files a dual-status return for the split year. Ask about the split year before filing; it is easy to do wrong.

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The Process

The IRS calls it: the ITIN application package

1. We prepare the return. Form 1040 or 1040-NR, complete, with the Social Security number box left blank for every applicant. If the applicant is a spouse or dependent, the return still has to be filed with the W-7 attached; the number only comes with a return (or under one of the exceptions).
2. Each applicant completes a Form W-7. One per person, with the reason box, the foreign address, the date and country of birth, the visa information if any, and the identification document’s number, issuer and expiration. A renewal is the same form with the renewal box checked.
3. The documents go with it. A valid passport is the only document that proves both identity and foreign status by itself; without one, two documents from the list below. Originals, or copies certified by the agency that issued them. Not notarized copies, except for military families and a few treaty applicants.
4. The package goes to Austin on paper. Internal Revenue Service, Austin Service Center, ITIN Operation, P.O. Box 149342, Austin, TX 78714-9342 (or Mail Stop 6090-AUSC, 3651 S. Interregional Hwy 35, Austin, TX 78741, by courier). The W-7s are stapled to the front of the return. This return cannot be e-filed. We prepare it, you sign it, and it is mailed with the documents and a tracking number.
5. The ITIN unit assigns the number, then releases the return. Expect notice CP565 (number assigned) in about seven weeks, or nine to eleven weeks from mid-January through April or from abroad; CP566 means they want more; CP567 means the application was rejected and starts over. Original documents come back separately, within about 60 days. The return is processed only after the number exists, so a refund waits for it.

If an extension or an estimated payment is due before the number arrives, we write “ITIN TO BE REQUESTED” in the number box; an ITIN isn’t needed to extend or to pay.

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The Documents

The IRS calls it: supporting documentation for Form W-7

Document	Proves foreign status	Proves identity
Passport (the only stand-alone document)	Yes	Yes
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services photo ID	Yes	Yes
Visa issued by the U.S. Department of State	Yes	Yes
National identification card (current, with photo, address, date of birth, expiration)	Yes	Yes
Foreign military ID; foreign voter registration card	Yes	Yes
U.S. or foreign driver’s license; U.S. state ID; U.S. military ID	—	Yes
Civil birth certificate (required for dependents under 18 without a passport)	If foreign	Yes
Medical records (dependents under 6); school records (dependents under 18 who are students)	If foreign	Yes

At least one document must have a photograph unless the applicant is a dependent under 14 (under 18 if a student). A dependent’s passport counts as a stand-alone document only if it shows a U.S. entry date, unless the dependent is from Canada or Mexico or a military dependent overseas; otherwise add a U.S. school record, medical record, or a lease or bank statement in the dependent’s name to prove U.S. residency.

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Why a Certifying Acceptance Agent Is Worth It

The IRS calls it: the ITIN Acceptance Agent Program, Form W-7 (COA)

There are two kinds of IRS-authorized ITIN agents, and the difference is the one that matters. An Acceptance Agent can help fill out and submit the W-7 but cannot vouch for the documents; the originals still go to Austin. A Certifying Acceptance Agent has taken the IRS’s forensic-document training, holds an agreement with the IRS, and may examine the original passport or ID, certify on Form W-7 (COA) that it is genuine, and send a copy. The passport stays in the client’s pocket. We are a tax office, not a CAA, and this is the one step we recommend buying from someone who is:

	Mailing the package yourself (or through us)	Through a Certifying Acceptance Agent
Your passport	Goes to Austin by mail, original or agency-certified copy; back in about 60 days, sometimes longer. Nobody travels in the meantime.	Examined and handed back at the appointment. The CAA sends a certified copy with the COA.
Dependents	Same: original passports or birth certificates, or certified copies, in the mail.	The CAA can certify a dependent’s passport and birth certificate. School and medical records still go to the IRS directly.
Rejections	CP566 and CP567 notices are common for a missing entry date, an expired document, a name that doesn’t match, or a wrong reason box, and each one adds weeks.	The CAA checks the package against the IRS rules before it goes, and is responsible for it under the agreement; rejections are rare.
Follow-up	Only the applicant can call the IRS about the application.	The CAA receives copies of the ITIN notices and can resolve problems with the ITIN unit.
Interview	None.	Required, in person or by video with the originals in hand.
Cost	Postage and the return.	A fee, typically a few hundred dollars per application (verify local pricing), plus the return if they prepare it.
The return itself	Either way, the first return is filed on paper with the W-7, and the wait for the number is the same.

The free alternative to a CAA is an appointment at an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center that offers ITIN service (Denver’s does; call 844-545-5640), which can authenticate every document except dependents’ school and medical records and return them on the spot. The catch is the appointment, which can be weeks out in season, and the TAC will not help complete the W-7. VITA sites with ITIN service exist as well. The IRS keeps a list of acceptance agents by state; look for “CAA” next to the name, because not every agent on it is certifying.

Our usual arrangement: we prepare the return, the client takes it with the W-7s to a CAA (or a TAC) for the document step, and the CAA mails the package. If the client would rather mail the originals, we assemble the package and send it tracked. Either way we see the CP565 and e-file every year after.

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After the Number Arrives

The IRS calls it: ITIN expiration and renewal

• Later years are e-filed. Once the ITIN exists it goes in the SSN box and the return is processed like any other.
• Use it or lose it. An ITIN not used on a federal return for three consecutive years expires on December 31 of the third year. Information returns (a 1099) don’t count as use. Renewal is a W-7 with the renewal box checked, the same documents, and no return required; the IRS also allows a family to renew together.
• A return filed with an expired number is processed, but credits that require a valid number are denied and the refund is reduced until the renewal comes through. Renew before the season, not during it.
• An SSN retires the ITIN. When the client gets work authorization and a Social Security number, write to the IRS (or call) with both numbers so the records merge, and stop using the ITIN. A prior-year return filed under the ITIN isn’t refiled.
• Spouses and dependents listed on a return need a current ITIN too; a dependent’s expired number costs the credit for that dependent.

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What an ITIN Does and Doesn’t Open

The IRS calls it: Sections 24(h)(7), 32(m), 25A(g) and 151(e)

Item	With an ITIN
Earned income credit	Never. Everyone on the return needs an SSN valid for employment.
Child tax credit ($2,200 for 2026)	Child needs an SSN; since 2025 the taxpayer (or one spouse on a joint return) needs one too (verify).
Credit for other dependents ($500)	Yes, for a dependent with an ITIN (or a child who doesn’t qualify for the CTC).
American opportunity credit	Taxpayer and student need an SSN from 2026 (verify); the lifetime learning credit is still available with an ITIN.
Premium tax credit	Available to resident aliens lawfully present; not to the undocumented.
Standard deduction, joint filing, head of household	Yes for a resident alien; a nonresident on Form 1040-NR gets none of the three unless a treaty or the §6013 election applies.
Child and dependent care credit, retirement savers credit, education deductions	Yes.
Social Security credits	None. Tax paid under an ITIN earns no benefits; an SSN later does not pick those years up.

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Colorado

The IRS calls it: nothing; this is the state side

Colorado accepts the ITIN on the DR 0104 and taxes residents the same way regardless of status. Two Colorado rules go further than federal: the Colorado child tax credit and the Colorado earned income credit are allowed to filers using an ITIN who would otherwise qualify, by statute, even though the federal versions are not (verify current year). The first-year return goes to Colorado by itself — the state does not need the W-7 — and can be e-filed once the ITIN arrives, or mailed with “applied for” and the ITIN added later.

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Questions we get

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What to bring

• Passports for every applicant, or two documents from the list for anyone without one; for a child, the passport and a school or medical record showing a U.S. address
• Visa and date of entry for each person, and the dates in and out of the country for the last three years
• Foreign address for each applicant (required on the W-7 even for someone living here)
• Income records: W-2s, 1099s, 1042-S, rental statements, closing statements on any U.S. property sale
• Any prior ITIN or IRS notice (CP565, CP566, CP567, renewal letters)
• Marriage and birth certificates if names differ across documents

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Figures reflect the 2026 tax year as currently published and are rounded for readability. Items marked (verify) are to be confirmed against IRS or Colorado DOR sources before the figures freeze in December. Written October 26, 2026.