ITIN
What is an ITIN, and do I need one?
A US tax number for individuals who cannot get a Social Security Number. You do not need one to get an EIN for your company.
ITIN stands for Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. It identifies a person, not a company, and exists for people who have a US tax obligation of their own but cannot obtain a Social Security Number.
The confusion worth clearing up: an ITIN is not a prerequisite for an EIN. You do not need to obtain one before applying for your company's number, and a provider telling you otherwise is selling you something you do not need yet. An applicant with neither an SSN nor an ITIN applies on paper and leaves that line blank.
Watch out: You may need an ITIN later for reasons of your own — a personal US tax return, for instance. That is a separate question from your company's EIN.