Brio is listed by the IRS as a Certifying Acceptance Agent, which means we can authenticate your identity documents ourselves and hand them straight back. The alternative is posting your passport to Austin and waiting up to 60 days to see it again.
$175 to us. The IRS charges nothing for an ITIN and you can post Form W-7 yourself. A Certifying Acceptance Agent is authorised by the IRS to certify identity documents and submit Form W-7. It is not an agent of the IRS, and the IRS does not endorse any firm.
A tax filing number. Nothing more, whatever you have been sold.
An Individual Taxpayer Identification Number is a nine-digit number the IRS issues to people who need a US taxpayer identification number for federal tax purposes but are not eligible for a Social Security number. It goes on a US tax return. That is its entire job.
In the IRS's own words, an ITIN does not qualify you for Social Security benefits or the Earned Income Tax Credit, does not provide or change your immigration status, does not authorise you to work legally in the United States, and does not serve as identification outside the federal tax system. Anyone selling it to you as a route to a visa, a work permit or US residency is misleading you.
It is not a bank account either. Some US banks and fintechs will open a personal account for a non-resident holding an ITIN and some will not — that requirement is set by each institution, not by the IRS, and an ITIN is not identification outside the tax system. Your company's US business account is a separate question, and it turns on the company's EIN.
None of them appear on the pages trying to sell you an ITIN in five days.
Form W-7 goes by post to the IRS in Austin, in person at a Taxpayer Assistance Center offering ITIN services, or through a Certifying Acceptance Agent. From outside the US the CAA route is the only one of the three that does not leave your passport with the IRS — we see your documents, certify them and return them, rather than them sitting in Austin.
The IRS requires an interview with every applicant — primary, secondary and dependant. It can be held by video call, which is what makes this workable from abroad. The condition is that we must have your original documents, or issuing-agency certified copies, in hand at the time.
The IRS accepts 13 documents, and the passport is the only one that proves both identity and foreign status on its own. Without a passport you need at least two current documents, at least one of them bearing your photograph. Notarised copies are not accepted, and neither are copies you certify yourself.
If it is not used on a US federal tax return for three consecutive tax years, it expires on 31 December after that third year. You only need to renew it if it is going on a federal return — an ITIN used only on information returns such as a Form 1099 does not need renewing. Renewal is the same Form W-7 with “Renew an existing ITIN” ticked.
Not sure your documents will do?Send us a photograph before you buy anything. We will tell you what the IRS will accept and what it will not.
Most non-resident owners of a single-member US LLC do not. We would rather tell you here than after you have paid us.
Which side of that line your facts fall on is a question for a qualified US tax professional. What we will do is check which reason box on Form W-7 appears to apply to you before you pay — and if none does, tell you so rather than file. A Form W-7 without a reason the IRS accepts is a rejection waiting to happen.
Brio is not a law firm, a CPA firm, an enrolled agent practice or a tax adviser. The two lists above are the IRS's own triggers, not a determination about you. Whether your specific facts create a US filing obligation is a question for a qualified US tax professional. A Certifying Acceptance Agent is authorised by the IRS to certify identity documents and submit Form W-7. It is not an agent of the IRS, and the IRS does not endorse any firm.
As a Certifying Acceptance Agent, and only what a Certifying Acceptance Agent may do.
Before you pay. Form W-7 makes you choose one reason from (a) to (h), and the numbered exceptions each carry their own documentary proof. If we cannot see one that fits your facts, we will say so.
We authenticate your identity documents and hand them straight back the same day. For a primary or secondary applicant a CAA may certify every document on the IRS's list except a foreign military identification card, which has to go to the IRS directly.
By video call, with your original documents in hand at the time, and attach the signed Certificate of Accuracy the IRS requires with every CAA application.
Including the tax return it is filed with, or the exception documentation if you qualify under one. For an Exception 1(a) partnership file that now means an extract of the partnership or LLC agreement showing the partnership's name, its EIN, and your name and signature — a rule the IRS brought in on 1 June 2026 that the published W-7 instructions have not yet caught up with.
The same form with the existing number and the name it was issued under, plus supporting documentation such as a marriage certificate or court order if your name has changed since.
If the IRS rejects your application because of a mistake we made, we prepare and file it again at no charge. Where a rejection turns on your facts or your documents we will explain what the notice says and what the IRS is asking for, but no one can promise you an outcome — the decision is the IRS's alone.
Brio is not a law firm, a CPA firm, an enrolled agent practice or a tax adviser. What we do is prepare and file your Form W-7 correctly and certify your identity documents as an IRS-listed Certifying Acceptance Agent. What we do not do is advise you on your tax position. Whether your specific facts create a US filing obligation is a question for a qualified US tax professional. A Certifying Acceptance Agent is authorised by the IRS to certify identity documents and submit Form W-7. It is not an agent of the IRS, and the IRS does not endorse any firm.
And plainly: the IRS charges nothing for an ITIN. You can post Form W-7 to Austin yourself for the price of the postage. Our $175 covers checking that you have a reason the IRS accepts, preparing the W-7 and its supporting documentation, holding the interview the IRS requires, certifying your documents so your passport comes straight back to you rather than staying with the IRS, and submitting the package.
Your passport comes straight back to you.The IRS requires a CAA to have your original documents in hand at the interview, so they do reach us — but we certify them and return them the same day, instead of your passport sitting with the IRS in Texas for up to 60 days.
These are the only three ways to file a Form W-7, and the IRS charges nothing for any of them. Timing figures are the IRS's own; they are service estimates, not commitments, and we cannot influence them.
| Route | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Post Form W-7 to the IRS in Austin yourself | Free. Your original passport travels to Texas and back; the IRS says it returns posted documents to the address on line 2 within 60 days. |
| A Taxpayer Assistance Center | Free, and your documents are checked in person — but you have to be in the United States to attend one. |
| Through a Certifying Acceptance Agent | Your documents are authenticated and handed straight back, and the interview can be by video call. Brio charges $175. |
| What the IRS charges, any route | $0 |
| What the IRS says about timing | “Allow 7 weeks” to be notified — 9 to 11 weeks during filing season (15 January to 30 April) or if you applied from overseas, which covers most of our clients by definition. |
| Where the IRS had reached, as at 28 August 2026 | Working Form W-7 applications received in July 2026. |
A valid passport covers everything. As a Certifying Acceptance Agent we certify it and hand it straight back.
Not accepted, by anyone: notarised copies, copies you have certified yourself, and expired documents. If you are unsure whether what you hold will do, send us a photograph before you buy anything and we will tell you.
A free call first. We look at your facts against the reason boxes on Form W-7 and tell you which, if any, applies. If none does, you have not paid us anything.
The form, the return or exception documentation it is filed with, and the Certificate of Accuracy that goes with every CAA application.
By video call, with your originals in hand. Your passport goes back in your pocket the same day rather than into an envelope.
The IRS's timetable is the IRS's. We will tell you what it currently is, chase what can be chased, and explain any notice that arrives.
We check you qualify before you pay.If none of the IRS's reason boxes fits your facts, we will tell you so rather than file — and you will not have paid us anything.
Brio is not a law firm, a CPA firm, an enrolled agent practice or a tax adviser. The answers below are general information about how the IRS handles Form W-7 — not advice on your position. A Certifying Acceptance Agent is authorised by the IRS to certify identity documents and submit Form W-7. It is not an agent of the IRS, and the IRS does not endorse any firm.
Often, no. An ITIN requires a federal tax purpose, and owning a US LLC is not by itself one. A foreign-owned single-member LLC files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 under the company's own EIN, and Form 5472 asks for the foreign owner's US identifying number only “if any”. You genuinely need one where the IRS's triggers apply — a Form 1040-NR filing obligation, a Schedule K-1 from a partnership or multi-member LLC with section 1446 withholding, a treaty claim, or a FIRPTA disposition. Whether your facts fall into one of those is a question for a qualified US tax professional, and we check which reason box applies before you pay.
Not if you use a Certifying Acceptance Agent. Brio is listed by the IRS as a CAA, which means we can authenticate your identity documents and return them to you immediately. The IRS's other two routes — posting Form W-7 to Austin, or attending a Taxpayer Assistance Center — mean your documents leave your hands; the IRS says posted documents are returned within 60 days.
The IRS asks applicants to allow 7 weeks to be notified of the outcome, and 9 to 11 weeks during the 15 January to 30 April filing season or if you applied from overseas — which is most of our clients by definition. As at the IRS's processing-status page of 28 August 2026, it was working applications received in July 2026. Our own preparation and certification is separate and much shorter, but we will never present the two as one number, and we cannot promise you an IRS date.
No. The IRS states that an ITIN does not provide or change immigration status, does not authorise you to work legally in the US, does not qualify you for Social Security benefits or the Earned Income Tax Credit, and does not serve as identification outside the federal tax system. If someone has told you otherwise, that is a reason to walk away from them.
Yes. If an ITIN is not used on a US federal tax return for three consecutive tax years, it expires on 31 December after that third year. You only need to renew it if it is going on a federal tax return — an ITIN used only on information returns such as a Form 1099 does not need renewing, and you do not need one merely to request a filing extension or pay estimated tax. Separately, the Form W-7 instructions say that an ITIN assigned before 2013 that was never renewed needs a renewal application submitted with your US federal tax return.
They are separate applications, on separate forms, to separate IRS processes. For most non-resident founders the EIN comes first, because it belongs to the company and is what banks and payment processors actually need. The ITIN is a separate and later personal question that depends on whether you have a US federal tax filing obligation of your own.
We will check your facts against the IRS's reason boxes and tell you honestly. If the answer is that you do not need an ITIN, that is what you will hear — and it costs nothing either way.
