You can get an EIN without an SSN.

An Employer Identification Number (EIN) is the federal tax ID for your business — a Social Security number for the company, in the sense that it is how the IRS and everyone else identifies the entity itself. You need one to open a US bank account, take payments, hire employees, and file tax returns.

The important distinction: an EIN identifies a company, while an SSN identifies a person. Because the company is the one applying for the number, the company's owners do not need SSNs. That is why foreign founders — who, by definition, have no SSN — can still get an EIN. The IRS details the process on its employer ID number page.

The EIN application — IRS Form SS-4 — asks you to name a "responsible party." This is the individual who controls, manages, or directs the entity and its funds. For a single-owner LLC or a founder-led C-corp, that person is you.

The form then asks for the responsible party's identifying number. This is the step where founders without an SSN freeze. A US person writes their SSN (or an ITIN). A non-resident owner writes what identifies them instead, and applies through the international route rather than the online tool, which generally expects a US taxpayer ID for the responsible party.

What you must not do is name someone else — a US-based agent, a friend, an accountant — as the responsible party just because they have an SSN. The IRS defines the responsible party by control, not by convenience, and naming the wrong person creates problems you will have to unwind later.

Foreign applicants usually apply by fax, by mail, or by phone through the IRS's international application process, because the online assistant assumes a responsible party with a US taxpayer ID. The form itself is the same; the submission path is different. You can read the specifics on the IRS's About Form SS-4 page.

You can also have someone else submit on your behalf. The SS-4 has a "third-party designee" field for exactly this: an accountant, attorney, or formation service may complete and submit the application for you. But the designee is not the responsible party — you still are, and your details still go on the form.

This is the part of the EIN that most closely intersects with your ITIN. A non-resident who needs a personal tax ID for their own filing obligations may need an ITIN in addition to the company's EIN — they are two different numbers for two different purposes.