Hey people! Hope ur doing great!
So, after 7 years here I’m finally starting the process of joining a PRO. Late? Yes. Too late? Hope not.
The idea of this thread is merely leaving some kind of logbook of the process and eventual results (be them positive or negative), posting concerns and issues, and such. Needless to say, everyone is welcome to share their insights and experiences in this regard.
So… here we go, my first question: 
I decided to go with BMI, I was considering ASCAP as well but some colleagues I respect and trust recommended me the first one so I made my move.
Now: how do I get SSN or ITIN? I’m about to fill and submit a W-7 form, but the average waiting time is 6 to 8 weeks. That’s not exactly quick.
Anyway, if that’s the only way, guess I’ll have to wait.
Any suggestions? Thx in advance!
For SSN I don’t know in which country your are living, but you probably have an equivalent in your own country. In France it’s called “Securité Sociale”. And I have a number since I’m child. It’s for healthcare / and other stuff like that I can access to my number by going on my dedicated governmental account or on my health card.
Or you have your ITIN and it’s your TAX number, so basically you should have yours too, and the process to access it is also the same or in any tax letter you had received !
If you’re from EU, ITIN = EUVAT or your tax number from your country (in Poland it’s NIP which is same as EUVAT without PL at the beginning).
If you’re outside the EU, it will be your tax identification number.
Mmm, no, I’m not from EU nor from the US, and I never really heard about a local tax number (though I’m not saying there’s none). I’ll look through it and see. It’s probably on the original W-8 I submitted for Envato, Identifyy or Payoneer… well, it will take me a few days but I’ll let you know as soon as I sort that out. Thx!
Actually, @KingDog, @BenLeong, @baileyherbert, @charlie4282, is there a way to download the W-8 form I submitted in 2017? My ITIN number should be there, I guess.
Thx in advance.
Hi @WormwoodMusic! I’m not aware of any way to download the original W-8 forms, but you can access your digital tax summaries which should have the info that you need.
Go to Settings > Author Tools > Tax Information, then click “Access digital tax summaries” - you may need to enter your 2FA to access them.
There’s some more information on the digital tax summaries here.
Thanks, @BenLeong! I went through the whole process and it worked out but I couldn’t find my ITIN or SSN in the downloaded PDF. The only TIN number on the document is Envato’s, which is listed as the payer. Not mine.
Right now I got swamped by a ton of work so I’ll have to put the whole process on hold. If anyone knows of a super easy and quick way to get my ITIN, great. If not, I’m afraid I’ll have to wait till I meet a few deathlines.
Thx everyone!
b.
Do you get docs from IRS? There may be your itin.
If not, google says:
“You can call the IRS helpline at 800-829-1040 to retrieve your ITIN”
Thx, man! I really appreciate it. Yeah, I saw that too. It should be a piece of cake but it’s just that I’m behind an insane deadline by the end of the month and, well, I have a 2yr old jumping all over the studio when not at school. The whole thing is on hold for 2 weeks.
Hi @BenLeong, @KingDog! So, trying to get my ITIN number, I messed things up badly and, having enabled my 2 factor code, I totally forgot what that code is and don’t know how to reset it or check it. To sum up, right now I just can’t log in to my account.
Is there a way to disable the two-factor authentication or reset it when I’m not even being able to log in? Can you send me a factor code reset number via eMail or smthg?
Thanks a lot in advance!!!
As a non-US resident, you don’t have an ITIN nor SSN.
What you want to provide is your FTIN, the identification number issued by your country. These depend on your country of residency, for instance, for Uruguay it would be the RUT, and should be based on your ID card.
Wow, man. Thx so much for taking the time, specially to dig into what’s a RUT. Hahaha, you rock.
In Uruguay most musicians (like myself) don’t have RUTs, and we bill through a Cooperative Association. AUDEM (that’s the Association’s name) has a RUT indeed so maybe that will work.
I’ll search into it and get back here with updates.
Thx again! Right now I can’t even access my AJ account so no rushes really. 
Hi guys! Finally, I register my tracks with P.R.O., (bmi), so how do I answer the question “is this work created for film, television, theater or a music library?” yes or no? What should I choose if I download music created for aj, p5 and others?
You should choose “no”