How to Get American Credit Cards as a Canadian Part 1: ITIN

Canada is the second best place in the world to earn points and miles. But, compared to the USA, the travel hacking opportunities for us Canadians is minuscule. We all know that the holy grail of travel hacking lies in the land of the free. That is why it is very important to learn how to get American credit cards as a Canadian.

In this upcoming series, we will go step-by-step on how to get American credit cards.

How to Get American Credit Cards as a Canadian articles:

• How to Get Your ITIN Number
• Opening a bank account in the USA (so you can pay off your credit card balance)
• Getting an American mailing address
• Your First American Credit Card
• Getting a US Phone Number

As of writing this article, I just got my first American credit card. I’m now working towards qualifying for the Chase credit cards.

How to get an ITIN number as a Canadian

In order to qualify for an ITIN number as a Canadian, you must send these three documents to the IRS:

• Accurately completed W-7 form
• Supporting document – proof of identity
• A signed proof from an American company stating you will be earning income in the USA

How to fill out the W-7 form

The W-7 form is a document provided by the IRS which proves you need to get an ITIN number. You can download the W-7 form here and the official instructions on how to fill out the form is here.

Here is a guide on how to fill out the W-7 form if you feel too lazy to read the official instructions:

• At the top right corner, tick the box that says “Apply for a New ITIN“
• Under “Reason you’re submitting Form W-7“, tick box “h“. To the text box right of “Other (see instructions), type “Exception 1(d) – Royalty Income”.
• To the right of “treaty article number” type “TIAS 11087”

 

 

• At the “Name” section, put your First name, Middle name (if you have one), and Last name. Also, if you had a different name at birth, fill out the section below.
• On the “Applicant’s mailing address” section, type in your mailing address in Canada.
• At the “Birth information” section, type in your birthday, country of birth, city and state or province you were born and then tick the box of your gender.
• On the “Other information” section, type in your Country(ies) of citizenship on 6a. Then, tick the “Passport” box on 6d and fill out your passport information as shown below.

 

 

• Finally, on the “Sign Here” section, sign your name, fill out today’s address and also your phone number.

 

 

After you have filled out this form, make sure to double check it to make sure you didn’t make any mistakes. It’s a pain in the ass to have to mail it again if you mess up so make sure you accurately fill out the form the first time!

Supporting document – proof of identity

Next, we need to prove your identity to the IRS. There’s two ways to do that which I’ll explain below:

1. Send in your passport
2. Send a certified true copy of your passport

I personally went with option A and I will go into detail what happens when you send in your actual passport.

However, if you are a paranoid individual, you can also send a certified true copy of your passport. You can download the form here (you can only download the form using Windows Explorer). Fill it out and submit it at a Passport Canada Service Location.

A signed proof from an American company stating you will be earning income in the USA

In order to get an ITIN, you must have proof that you will be earning income in the USA. The easiest way to prove this is by getting a signed document from an online publishing company in the USA.

I personally went with Smashwords and my email to them looks something like this:

However, Smashwords doesn’t work anymore.

Another way of getting this signed document is through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing. I personally have not gone this route. I also heard that Amazon is not consistently giving out a signed proof that you will be earning income in the USA as frequently as they used to. But, you can still get lucky so I wouldn’t rule out this method right away. One thing you can do to increase your chances of getting that signed document is to make sure you have an e-book for sale through kindle direct publishing. And, make sure that you have a friend buy your book to show that you made a sale. Doing so increases the probability that you will get a signed document through Amazon.

More third party companies that can potentially help you get an ITIN

One reliable method that people are doing to get this much needed signed document is through a professional service in Calgary called USA Tax Resources. They charge $249.99 + GST for their service. I personally have no experience with them but I know a lot of people have successfully gotten an ITIN through their service. Give it a shot if the Amazon method doesn’t work.

After doing an online search, I found some companies offering to help you get an ITIN. The Fiverr one has good ratings so they might be worth checking out if you want to get American credit cards:

• Fiverr (click this referral link to get 20% off your first order up to $100) – theshstudio
• Platinumbooksandtax
• EIN Express

Keep in mind that I have not tried any of these companies before.

Packing and sending all your documents

After you’ve gathered the three important documents (W-7 Form, Passport, letter from Amazon) required to qualify to get an ITIN, it’s time to submit them in! This step is only for those who managed to get a supporting document from Amazon. If you are getting an ITIN through a third party, you can skip this step.

If you plan on sending your documents by regular mail, send it to this address:

Internal Revenue Service
ITIN Operation
P.O. Box 149342
Austin, TX 78714-9342

If you plan sending it by courier (UPS, DHL, FEDEX), send it to this address:

Internal Revenue Service
ITIN Operation
3651 S. Interregional, Hwy 35
Mail Stop 6090-AUSC
Austin, TX 78741-0000

Don’t forget to photocopy or scan all your documents before sending them just in case they get lost in the mail or if the IRS needs you to resend those documents again for some reason.

My own experience getting an ITIN number and timeline

When I went through the process of getting an ITIN, I personally decided to send in my actual passport. I didn’t want to wait until I get a Certified True Copy of my passport. Because I am a risk taker, sending in my passport did not bother me whatsoever. And, I also saved $45 by not getting a Certified True Copy of my passport.

I chose to send my documents by courier. I went to the UPS store which for some reason, used DHL to send in my documents. Here is the timeline of what happened during this whole process:

• I sent in all my documents on February 1, 2018
• On March 9, 2018, I called the IRS to double check the status of my ITIN. Apparently, it’s been approved as early as February 23, 2018. They also mailed out my ITIN the same day it was approved. Because my ITIN has been approved, they gave me my ITIN number over the phone so I can technically start applying for American credit cards as soon as I received the number.
• The actual ITIN document arrived by mail on March 13, 2018.
• I got my passport back in the mail on March 20, 2018 – the IRS will send it back to you separate from your ITIN document.

That’s my experience getting the ITIN.

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