Can you get life insurance with an ITIN?
By Paulina Swietek-Gorski, Licensed Life Insurance Agent
Sometimes, yes. Whether you can buy a policy with an ITIN instead of a Social Security number depends on the insurer, the kind of policy, and your situation. There is no single answer that fits everyone, and nobody honest can promise one over the phone. What an agent can do is check with specific insurers before suggesting anything.
What insurers usually want to know
- Your immigration status and how long you have lived in the US.
- Your ties here: work, income, a home, family.
- Whether you travel often or plan to move abroad.
- Where your beneficiaries live.
- Your health, the same as for anyone else.
Each insurer weighs these differently, which is why one company can decline an application another would accept.
If your family lives abroad
Whether a beneficiary can live outside the US, and how the payout works then, depends on the insurer. Paulina checks this when the application is prepared, not after.
If you plan to move back home
Every insurer has its own terms about where you live when you buy and how a policy is serviced from abroad. If returning to Poland or another country is part of your plans, say so before you buy, and the policy can be chosen with that in mind.
How Paulina handles it
Tell her your situation in English or Polish. She checks with specific insurers which options are open to you before proposing anything, and tells you plainly if nothing fits yet.
Common questions
Can I get life insurance without a Social Security number?
Possibly. Some insurers consider applicants with an ITIN, depending on status, time in the US, and other factors. It has to be checked insurer by insurer.
Can non-US citizens buy life insurance?
Many can, including permanent residents and some visa holders. The rules depend on the insurer and on your situation.
Can my beneficiary live in Poland?
It depends on the insurer. Paulina confirms how a payout to a beneficiary abroad would work before the application goes in.
About Paulina
Paulina Swietek-Gorski is a licensed life insurance agent with Goodwill Financial, an independent, family-run insurance agency in Elmhurst, Illinois. She works with families across Chicagoland and can help clients anywhere in the country by phone or video, in English or Polish, so you can ask the hard questions in the language you think in.
A first conversation costs nothing and obligates you to nothing.