What does it actually take to obtain an EIN using a foreign Responsible Party?

Obtaining an EIN with a domestic Responsible Party is easy/straightforward (most of the time!), but it's when you have a foreign Responsible Party that it becomes more challenging.

Most companies you ask to help with a foreign Responsible Party EIN will tell you it takes "many weeks." After they submit your application to the IRS, you must simply wait for the IRS' letter to arrive in the mail, they tell you.

And usually the IRS' letter does take 6+ weeks to arrive.

But what those companies won't tell you is that there is almost always a way to get your EIN sooner (because it takes more work).

Here is the reality: After submitting a foreign Responsible Party EIN application (which must be done via fax), after 8 business days the IRS may issue the EIN verbally, while you wait for the letter.

Beginning 8 business days after we submit your application, we call the IRS daily until we have your EIN, which ~100% of the time is before the formal letter arrives in the mail.

The IRS is a black box, so sometimes this means we can get the EIN on day 8, but other times it's day 12 or 13.

This is what we mean when we say we provide a level of service our clients are not used to.