ITIN for a Spouse or Children: When Family Members of Non-Residents, Company Owners and US Visa Holders Can Get One

"Can my wife get an ITIN too?" "Can I claim my children in India?" "My parents stay with us six months a year, can they be dependants?" These questions come from two quite different groups of people.

The first is foreign owners of US companies, living abroad, who assume that because they have an ITIN, their family can have one as well. The second is people living and working in the USA, often on H-1B or L-1 visas, or US citizens and green card holders abroad, whose spouse, children or parents do not have Social Security Numbers.

The rules are the same for both, and they are stricter than most people expect. An ITIN is never issued simply because you are someone's family member. Each person needs their own tax reason. This guide explains when a spouse or dependant has one, what changed with the 2025 tax law, and how to decide whether applying is worth it.

Short answer: a spouse or dependant can get an ITIN only if they are filing their own US return, or if they are claimed for a specific tax benefit on someone else's return. The spouse of a non-resident company owner living abroad usually has no such reason unless they co-own the business. The non-resident spouse of a US citizen or resident can get one to file a joint return. Children and parents generally need to live in the USA (Canada and Mexico aside) to be claimed, and an ITIN does not qualify a child for the child tax credit.

The rule behind every family ITIN

The IRS issues ITINs to people who need a US taxpayer number for a federal tax purpose and cannot get an SSN. For a spouse or dependant, that purpose has to be one of two things:

1. They file their own US tax return, because they have US income or another reason to file; or
2. They are claimed for an allowable tax benefit on the return of a US citizen or resident: a joint return, head-of-household status, the credit for other dependants, education credits, the child and dependent care credit and similar.

Before 2018, almost any spouse or dependant could be listed for a personal exemption, so family ITINs were common. Personal exemptions were then reduced to zero, and the 2025 tax law made that permanent. A family member who brings no tax benefit and has no return of their own no longer has a reason to apply.

Family of a non-resident company owner living abroad

This is the situation of most of our company clients: you live in India, Pakistan, the UAE or Nigeria, you own a US LLC, and your spouse and children live with you.

A non-resident who files a US return files a 1040-NR, which is filed individually. There is no joint 1040-NR, and non-resident filers generally cannot claim a spouse or children who live abroad for any benefit. So your family's ITIN question has nothing to do with yours. It depends on whether each of them has a US tax reason of their own.

When your spouse does have a reason

• Your spouse co-owns the company. If the LLC has two members, it is usually a partnership, and your spouse is a partner in their own right. If the partnership has income effectively connected with the USA, your spouse has the same reasons to need an ITIN as any other partner: partner withholding, a personal return, possibly the partner exception. See single-member vs multi-member LLCs.
• Your spouse has US income of their own: rent from a property in their name, royalties from a US payer, or US-source work that requires a return.
• Your spouse co-owns US real estate that is being bought or sold, where withholding and reporting apply.

When your spouse does not

If your spouse has no ownership, no US income and nothing to file, there is no basis. Being married to the owner, being a director or signatory at home, or being named as a contact on the bank account is not a tax reason.

Do not add your spouse to the company just for an ITIN

We are sometimes asked whether adding a spouse as a 1% member would "solve" the ITIN question. It changes far more than that. The LLC becomes a partnership, which files a partnership return every year with statements for each partner, may have to withhold on each partner's share, and needs both partners through bank verification. Ownership is a real decision with real consequences, including at home, and should be made for real reasons. If your spouse genuinely runs part of the business, co-ownership may make sense; if not, keep it simple.

The non-resident spouse of a US citizen or resident

This is the largest group of spouse applications. It covers US citizens living abroad married to a foreign national, green card holders, and visa holders such as H-1B and L-1 workers who are tax residents of the USA, where the spouse either lives outside the USA or is in the USA on a dependent visa without work authorisation, and so has no SSN.

Three ways to file

A US citizen or resident married to a non-resident has three main options, and only one requires the spouse to have an ITIN.

The joint election is a real trade-off

The joint election often reduces tax for a single-earner family. But it has consequences people underestimate:

• The spouse's worldwide income is included. A spouse with a salary, business or investment income abroad brings all of it onto the US return. Foreign tax credits and exclusions may soften that, but it needs working through.
• It continues for later years until it is ended, and once ended, it generally cannot be made again for the same couple.
• It brings the spouse into US reporting, potentially including foreign account reporting, depending on their circumstances.

For a couple where the non-resident spouse has little or no income, the joint election is often worth it. For one where the spouse earns well at home, married filing separately may be better, and then no ITIN is needed. The decision should be made on numbers, not by default.

The H-4 spouse in the USA

A spouse in the USA on an H-4 visa without work authorisation cannot get an SSN, so needs an ITIN to appear on a joint return. If the spouse has been in the USA for most of the year, they may already be a resident alien under the substantial presence test, in which case a joint return may be possible without any election. Once an H-4 spouse obtains work authorisation and an SSN, the ITIN is no longer used.

How the application works for a spouse

A spouse's application is normally made together with the joint return, in the filing season. The spouse proves identity and foreign status in the same way as any applicant, usually with a passport. A Certifying Acceptance Agent can verify a spouse's passport, so the original does not need to be posted to the IRS.

Children

This is where most expectations are disappointed, so it is worth being precise.

The residence rule

To be claimed as a dependant, a child must generally be a US citizen, US national or US resident, or a resident of Canada or Mexico. A child who lives in India, Pakistan or the Philippines, and is not a US citizen, generally cannot be claimed, however much the parent supports them. And an ITIN application for a dependant, other than for Canada, Mexico or military families, must include proof of US residence: documents such as US school or medical records, a US visa, or for older dependants US bank or rental records.

The child tax credit needs an SSN, not an ITIN

The full child tax credit has required the child to have a Social Security Number since 2018. The 2025 tax law tightened this further: the parent claiming it, or on a joint return at least one of the spouses, must now also have an SSN. A child with an ITIN does not qualify for the child tax credit.

What a child with an ITIN can bring is the credit for other dependants, a non-refundable credit of $500, which the 2025 law made permanent. It reduces tax owed; it does not create a refund. The IRS allows an ITIN application for a dependant claimed for this credit even where the return shows no tax to reduce, but in that case the benefit is nil, so it is worth asking whether the application is worth making.

Other benefits that can justify a dependant ITIN include head-of-household status, education credits and the child and dependent care credit, each with its own conditions.

A child born in the USA

A child born in the USA is a US citizen and is entitled to an SSN, not an ITIN. Apply for the SSN.

Documents for children

A child's passport is the simplest document, because it proves identity and foreign status in one. Where a passport is used for a dependant who does not fall under the Canada, Mexico or military exceptions, it generally needs to show a US entry date, or be backed up by other US residence evidence. A Certifying Acceptance Agent can verify only a dependant's passport and birth certificate; other dependant documents must be originals or copies certified by the issuing agency.

Parents as dependants

Many visa holders support parents who spend long periods with them in the USA. A parent can be a "qualifying relative" if several tests are met, including support, the parent's income and, crucially, the same residence rule as for children: the parent must be a US citizen, national or resident, or live in Canada or Mexico.

A parent living in India and visiting for a few weeks is not a US resident for tax purposes and cannot be claimed. A parent who stays long enough in the USA to meet the substantial presence test, broadly 183 days on a weighted three-year count with at least 31 days in the current year, may become a resident alien for that year. Even then, the benefit is the $500 credit for other dependants, and the parent's own tax position, including possible US reporting of their worldwide income for that year, deserves thought before anyone applies.

When a family ITIN is worth it

Put simply:

• Worth it: a non-resident spouse with little foreign income, where joint filing saves meaningful tax; a spouse who co-owns a US business with US-taxable income; a family member with their own US income; a dependant in the USA who brings head-of-household status or a credit you would otherwise lose.
• Rarely worth it: a dependant whose only benefit is the $500 credit on a return with little or no tax; a parent who barely meets residence and whose own tax position becomes more complicated.
• Not possible: a spouse or child of a non-resident owner living abroad with no US tax reason of their own; a child or parent living outside the USA, Canada and Mexico claimed as a dependant.

Renewal for family members

Family ITINs expire like any other: if not used on a federal return for three consecutive tax years, the number expires at the end of the third year. That catches families where the joint election was made once, then dropped, then needed again. If a spouse's or dependant's ITIN has expired and is needed on this year's return, it is renewed with the return, under the same rules as a new application. A dependant's ITIN should only be renewed if the dependant is still being claimed for an allowable benefit.

Worked examples

These are illustrative examples, not client cases.

Example 1: the owner in Bangalore. He owns a Wyoming LLC with no US office or staff, and obtained an ITIN some years ago when he had a US filing to make. His wife and two children live with him in India. None of them has US income or any role in the company. Result: no basis for ITINs for his family.

Example 2: the couple who co-own an agency. A husband and wife in Lahore own a US LLC 50/50 that employs a salesperson in New York. The LLC is a partnership with effectively connected income and withholds on both partners' shares. Result: both spouses need ITINs, each as a partner in their own right.

Example 3: the H-1B engineer. An engineer in Seattle, resident for tax, is married to a spouse in the USA on an H-4 visa without work authorisation, who meets the substantial presence test. Result: they can file jointly, and the spouse needs an ITIN to do so. It is usually applied for with their first joint return.

Example 4: the US citizen in Dubai. A US citizen working in Dubai is married to a UAE-based spouse with a well-paid job. Joint filing would bring the spouse's salary onto the US return. Result: married filing separately is likely better, and no ITIN is needed. The answer could change if the spouse stopped working.

Example 5: the parents who visit. An L-1 manager's parents spend four months a year in Texas and the rest in Chennai. They do not meet the substantial presence test. Result: they cannot be claimed as dependants, and there is no basis for ITINs.

Common mistakes

• Applying for a spouse "just in case". Without a return or a benefit on someone's return, the application will be rejected.
• Expecting the child tax credit with an ITIN. It needs an SSN.
• Claiming children who live abroad. The residence rule excludes them, Canada and Mexico aside.
• Making the joint election without modelling it. It brings the spouse's worldwide income into the US return, year after year.
• Missing the US residence evidence for a dependant. A passport without a US entry date, alone, is usually not enough.

How UCB helps

We prepare ITIN applications for company owners and, where they have a genuine reason, for their spouses and dependants: checking eligibility first, preparing the application with the right supporting documents, coordinating verification of passports so originals can usually stay with the family, and following up until each letter arrives. Each ITIN application costs $249. If the application goes with a personal return, we work with the person preparing that return so that both match. If your spouse is a co-owner of your US company, an LLC with EIN and ITIN in Wyoming is $489 all-in, with a further ITIN added for the second member. See the ITIN application service and the main ITIN guide.

Wondering whether your spouse, children or parents can get an ITIN? WhatsApp us at +91 8105 199 399 or email enquiries@ucbsolutions.com with where each of you lives and what US income or filing you have, and we will tell you honestly who qualifies and whether it is worth it.