What the CP567 notice is
It is the IRS's rejection letter for Form W-7. The IRS lists three reasons it may have rejected you: your documents may be invalid; you may not qualify for an ITIN, for example because you are eligible for a Social Security Number; or the IRS asked you for more information and did not receive a reply.
The notice is not an appeal. The IRS's instruction is to review the reason, confirm you do not qualify for an SSN and do qualify for an ITIN, make sure your documents are correct, and then, in its words, "Send us a new application. Fill it out completely. Answer all the questions. Attach the correct documents."
Your documents come back
If you mailed original documents, the IRS says it will return them within 60 days from the notice date, to the mailing address on line 2 of your Form W-7. Do not send a new application until they arrive; you will need them again.
If a tax return was attached to the rejected application, the IRS says you do not need to file it again. You attach a copy of it to the new application.
Why founders' applications get rejected
- Copies that are not acceptable. The IRS accepts original documents or copies certified by the issuing agency with its official seal. It states plainly that notarized copies "will not be accepted for ITIN applications". A notary in your country cannot fix a passport copy.
- The reason for applying does not fit the situation. Form W-7 asks why you need the number, and an applicant who is not attaching a tax return must qualify for one of the exceptions in the instructions, with the supporting documents that exception requires. Which one applies is a tax question; getting the paperwork to match it is where applications fail.
- An incomplete form. Unanswered lines, a missing signature, a name that does not match the passport letter for letter, a date in the wrong format.
- Missing supporting documents for the exception claimed, or documents that expired.
- No reply to the IRS. When the IRS writes asking for more information, the clock is running. A letter that goes to an old address ends as a rejection.
The IRS's three reasons are broad. In practice, the applications we see fail for a handful of specific causes, and every one of them is avoidable.
How the IRS lets you apply
The IRS gives three routes: by mail to its Austin Service Center ITIN Operation; in person at a designated Taxpayer Assistance Center by appointment, where staff review the form and authenticate most documents; or through an Acceptance Agent, who reviews the form and authenticates documents for a fee. Whichever route, the IRS says to allow seven weeks for a decision, and nine to eleven weeks in tax season, 15 January to 30 April, or when applying from overseas. Its processing-status page, checked September 2026, shows it working through Forms W-7 received in August 2026. A rejection therefore costs you two to three months, twice.
Mail, appointment or agent: what each route does with your passport
- By mail, to the IRS Austin Service Center ITIN Operation. Form W-7 travels with your original documents or agency-certified copies, and the IRS returns them within 60 days. Your passport is out of your hands for the whole review, twice if the first application fails.
- In person at a designated IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center, by appointment. Staff review the completed form and can authenticate most supporting documents on the spot, so the originals stay with you.
- Through an Acceptance Agent, for a fee, in the United States or abroad. The agent completes and reviews the form and authenticates the documents before anything is sent.
The IRS gives three ways to file, and the choice decides where your original documents go.
Applying without a tax return
Most ITIN applications travel with a federal return. The IRS allows an application without one only when the applicant meets one of the exceptions listed in the Form W-7 instructions, and each exception has its own supporting documents. A non-US founder's situation often falls under one of them; which one is a question for the person preparing your application, and the answer decides the box you tick and the papers you attach.
Getting that pairing wrong is one of the surest routes to a CP567. The form is complete, the passport copy is certified, and the application still fails because the reason and the evidence do not match.
Getting it accepted the second time
- Wait for your documents to come back, then check every page of the notice for the stated reason.
- Fix the exact cause. Wrong copy type means originals or agency-certified copies; wrong reason box means the box, the exception and the supporting documents all change together.
- Complete every line. Name and date of birth exactly as the passport shows them, a mailing address that will still be yours in three months, a signature.
- Send the return copy if one was attached the first time.
- Keep proof of what you sent and when, and watch the mail at the address on line 2.
What we do differently
Our ITIN service exists because founders were losing seasons to paperwork. We prepare the application, check every document against the IRS's own list, match the reason and exception to your situation with your preparer where needed, file it and track it until the number arrives. If an application we prepared is rejected, we correct and refile it under the terms on our ITIN page. The IRS itself charges nothing for an ITIN; our fee is $399, once.
The ITIN is a tax number, not an approval. It is layer one of the US base, and everything above it, the company, the banking relationships, the cards, waits for it. That is why getting it right the first time matters more than the fee.
This guide describes how the US system works for non-US founders and how we build within it. It is not tax, legal or immigration advice; your CPA or attorney answers those questions for your situation.