How to Translate Your Divi Website with Weglot

How to Translate Your Divi Website with Weglot

Translating your website can be a massive undertaking. Even with the help of a WordPress translation plugin, it’s often hard to ensure that you’ve covered all your bases. Fortunately, using Weglot and Divi enables you to see your translations as you complete them, so you’ll feel confident that every text string is available in your target language.

In this article, we’ll introduce you to the Weglot WordPress translation plugin. We’ll also look at how it works with our own Divi Builder to provide a user-friendly translation process.

Let’s jump right in!

An Introduction to Weglot

Weglot is a translation plugin for WordPress. It enables you to use machine translation from Google, Microsoft, DeepL, and Yandex to automatically convert your content into any of the 108 languages it supports:

The Weglot home page.

You can then go through and make any necessary corrections to refine your website’s localization, or connect with professional translators through your Weglot dashboard. This enables you to easily access the best of both machine and human translation through one solution.

Weglot also helps you take advantage of multilingual Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices, so your content can rank well in multiple languages. It automatically creates subdirectories for each language for more effective indexing, adds hreflang tags to your header, and enables you to translate post meta data such as your titles and meta descriptions.

In short, Weglot provides all the tools you need to make a truly multilingual site in one convenient package. It’s also easy to set up. The first thing you’ll need is a Weglot account. You can click on the Try for Free button on the plugin’s home page, or check out the pricing page for all the available plans:

Weglot's plans.

Weglot is free for one language and up to 2,000 words, so you can always take it for a spin and then decide if you want to upgrade to a paid option.

Once you’ve created your account, head to your WordPress dashboard and install the free plugin:

Installing the Weglot WordPress plugin.

Then jump back over to your Weglot account and locate your API key under Settings > Setup:

Locating a Weglot API key.

Enter this key into the relevant field in the Weglot Main Configuration settings in your WordPress dashboard:

Entering the Weglot API key in WordPress.

Don’t forget to save your changes. Once the plugin is connected to your site, Weglot will use machine translation to convert your content into your target language(s) automatically.

How to Translate Your Divi Site With Weglot (In 4 Steps)

Although Weglot uses high-quality machine translation to convert your content into your target language(s), it’s still wise to review your translated content manually. This can help you spot any mistakes or incorporate more nuanced language, such as slang or localized dialects.

If you’ve built your website with Divi, you’re in luck. It integrates seamlessly with Weglot’s visual translation experience. Here’s how it works.

Step 1: Access the Weglot Visual Editor in Your Divi Website

First, you’ll need to open the Weglot visual editor on your Divi-built site. Navigate to the post or page you want to work on, and click on Weglot > Edit with visual editor in the admin bar:

Opening the Weglot visual editor.

Next, select your target language from the Language details drop-down menu:

The Weglot Language details menu.

Then you can use the Highlight qualities drop-down menu to identify translatable elements on the page. You can specify specific translation methods to focus on, or simply highlight all of them:

The Highlight qualities feature in the Weglot visual editor.

If you wish to identify translatable elements for multiple methods, they will be color-coded so you can tell them apart.

Step 2: Edit Your Translated Content

Now you’re ready to dive into translating your Divi site with Weglot. Click on the pencil icon next to any translatable element on the page to edit it:

The pencil icon in the Weglot visual editor.

In the resulting window, you can make changes to the automatic translation as you see fit:

Editing a text string.

Click on OK to save your edits. Then simply repeat this process for the other text elements on the page. Note that Weglot doesn’t limit you to translating your page’s body text. You can also update your menu items, button text, forms, footer content, and more.

Step 3: Translate Your Images

When you consider translating your website, you’ll probably think about making your text available in other languages. However, it can also be beneficial to “translate” your images.

Weglot enables you to do this by specifying different media URLs for each language. For instance, if you have a page that features culture-specific imagery, you may want to change it to match the language that’s being displayed.

In order to set up image translations, you’ll have to add them in your Weglot dashboard. Navigate to the Translations tab, and then click on the one you want to edit. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click on Add a media translation:

Adding a media translation.

In the resulting window, enter the URL for the existing image, and the one you want to replace it with:

Translating an image in Weglot.

You can find your image URLs in your WordPress Media Library. After you’ve entered them, click on Add. Your images will then change based on which language is currently being displayed.

For example, here’s our Coffee Shop layout pack in English:

The Divi Coffee Shop layout pack.

Here it is again with translated images in French:

Images translated into French.

Once you’ve added the initial media translation in your Weglot dashboard, you’ll also be able to edit your image translations in the visual editor:

Translating an image visually.

Just click on the pencil icon next to each image to start making changes.

Step 4: Check Your Translations in Your Weglot Dashboard

Finally, once you’ve finished translating your site visually, you can double-check your changes in your Weglot dashboard. Navigate to the Translations tab and select any entry from the list. You’ll then be able to see each string in English and your target language side by side:

The Weglot Translations dashboard.

If any of the translations need changes, just click on See details to the right:

Modifying a translation in the Weglot dashboard.

This will open an editor where you can tweak the string in question:

The Weglot translation editor.

You can also reopen the visual editor from here if you want to see the string in context.

Conclusion

If you built your WordPress site with Divi, you’ll know that visual editing can make creating your content a more enjoyable experience. Fortunately, you can now translate your site visually too.

In this post, we showed you how to translate your Divi site visually using Weglot in just four steps:

  1. Access the Weglot visual builder.
  2. Edit your translated content.
  3. Translate your images.
  4. Check your translations in your Weglot dashboard.

Do you have any questions about using Weglot with Divi? Leave them for us in the comments section below!

Image by VectorMine / shutterstock.com

The post How to Translate Your Divi Website with Weglot appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

Divi Meetup Network Community Update: February 2021

Divi Meetup Network Community Update: February 2021

Welcome to another Divi Community Update, fam! Just like that, February came and went. I mean, it is the shortest month of the year. ? One of my favorite parts about February is the theme of Love. ? I know. ? But clichés and consumerism aside, what an amazing theme to celebrate! Not romantic love, but love and respect for all! This is the emphasis I place in my household for Valentine’s Day*. Love and care for all humans. It truly is what makes the world go round. ♥ ?

*Also, it’s my birthday so I am biased. ?

Enough gushiness.

Check out our current stats and community updates.

The Divi Nation Meetup Network by the Numbers

  • Total Members: 10,447
  • Total Groups: 68
  • Total Events Hosted: 851
  • Total RSVPs: 7,444
  • New Members (Last 90 Days): 1,001

If you have a passion to build your local Divi community, locate a group near you here or use the button below to apply to become a local organizer.

APPLY TO BECOME A DIVI MEETUP ORGANIZER TODAY

Let’s Welcome Our New Meetup Meetup Host

Please give a warm welcome to our new host! We just onboarded a new Divi meetup organizer, and we’re thrilled to introduce you to the host.

See below for introductions (in the host’s own words) and info on their next Meetup.

Divi Sacramento, California, USA

Elizabeth Hahn

Elizabeth of Divi Sacramento

Meet the host, Elizabeth Hahn:

I started my own business about 6 years ago, and with Divi around the same time. I appreciate the ease and speed [that] I can create websites with Divi. I love working with small businesses and Non-Profits to help them grow and communicate with their clients and donors.

I’ve really enjoyed the Meetups this year – the one positive about 2020 was moving them online has helped me attend far more than I would otherwise. I’m happy to help keep the Sacramento group going strong.

Divi Sacramento has two meetups per month! Be sure to join the group and check it out!

Go to Divi Sacramento

Updates from Existing Groups

Inclusivity is a huge value for our Divi Community. It is our desire that all who come to any Divi meetup across the globe feel welcomed, wanted, and trusted. This means that our organizers must show these characteristics with their actions. Always. It brings us much joy when we see this community value affect a region.

If you have this value and desire to put it into action in your respective area, do reach out!

Let’s take a look at what our February meetups accomplished below!

Divi Brampton, Ontario, Canada

Divi Brampton feb 21

Divi Brampton

From the Host, Christina Gwira:

Attendees: 6

We had a variety of topics covered at tonight’s meetup. We spoke mostly about the creation of blog pages, blog posts, and blog archive pages within the Divi Theme Builder. We also had a guest who was not currently using Divi but was interested in trying out using the Plugin on his theme of choice. It was an interesting night for sure! We ended up going over by 30 minutes but fun and positive information was had by all in attendance.

Divi Brampton warms our hearts with their community. Visit this group soon!

Go to Divi Brampton

Divi Cape Town in South Africa

Divi Cape Town feb 21

Divi Cape Town

From the Host, Dirk Tolken:

Attendees: 6

We held a DIVI Happiness Bar Lunch Hour and discussed a wide variety of topics. Of particular interest were Theme Builder, finding design inspiration for DIVI (we punted the blog showcase) and some questions about Multi-User setups.

Dirk leads a great crew over in Cape Town. Check this wonderful community out!

Go to Divi Cape Town

Divi Chicago, Illinois, United States

Divi Chicago feb 21

Divi Chicago

From the Hosts, Joan Margau & Scott Winterroth:

Attendees: 14

How to Incorporate and Design a Blog with Divi was presented by the co-organizer of Divi Chicago, Joan Margau. Joan demonstrated how she organized her silent multiple blog posts into a meaningful display, of recent and evergreen posts in the sidebar and footer menu. This was accomplished with the Divi Blog Extras and the Divi Post Extended plugins.

The content Divi Chicago is on fire. Check them out!

Go to Divi Chicago

Divi Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, USA

Divi Dallas/Fort Worth feb 21

Divi Dallas/Fort Worth

From the Host, Tommy Lee, Kent Pilkington, & Jube Dankworth:

Attendees: 20

This month at Divi DFW, we talked about how to improve your design for mobile devices. We shared some best practices and explored global colors. We were pleased with the turnout, even though it took place in the middle of a blizzard.

Team Divi DFW is ready and building its community! Check them out!

Go to Divi Dallas/Fort Worth

Divi Washington DC, USA

Divi Washington DC feb 21

Divi Washington DC

From the Host, John Browning:

Attendees: 15

We had our largest turnout yet for our February meetup entitled “Building an eCommerce Website Using WooCommerce and the Divi Theme Builder.” We had a great time discussing all the possibilities that all the Divi WooCommerce Modules have to offer and how to place WooCommerce fields in Divi modules dynamically. Our group is making the most of Zoom meetings, which allow us to learn from Divi users from all over the US and Canada.

Divi DC is exciting! Check them out yourself!

Go to Divi Washington DC

Divi Dhaka, Bangladesh

Divi Dhaka feb 21

Divi Dhaka

Divi Dhaka feb 21

Divi Dhaka

From the Host, Md Kamal Hossain:

Attendees: 6

It was an amazing in-person meetup at DPS STS School where we have discussed the web services to design a website with dynamic & collaborated ways of real-life modern features. We enjoyed this meet up very much and offered the designing tools of Divi Page Builder.

Join Divi Dhaka’s community today!

Go to Divi Dhaka

Divi Los Angeles, California, USA

Divi Los Angeles feb 21

Divi Los Angeles

From the Host, Julius Lopez:

Attendees: 13

We had an amazing group of enthusiastic Divizens interested in learning how Divi can make our lives easier when it comes time to redesign a simple blog. The idea stemmed from a problem I was trying to solve with Divi long before Theme Builder was introduced.

This Meetup focused on demonstrating how Divi, along with the Custom Post Types UI and Advanced Custom Fields plug-ins, combined with Divi’s Dynamic Content and Theme Builder, allows us to change the way we approach a blog site that simplifies the redesign process because we forego editing blog posts with Divi. Instead, we use Divi’s Theme Builder to create a Post layout filled with modules populated with Dynamic Content.

The night was fun and it received a lot of engagement from those in attendance.

In contrast to this advanced topic, our next Meetup, on March 28, will focus on helping Divi DIY’ers get their questions answered about their own sites.

Go to Divi Los Angeles

Divi Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Divi Milwaukee feb 21

Divi Milwaukee

From the Hosts, Tracy Champagne & Phil Reinhardt:

Attendees: 11

We had a pretty good meetup with a lot of laughs. We answered questions about how to use the Divi theme and talked about some different Divi plugins that are becoming more popular.

Check this committed group out!

Go to Divi Milwaukee

Divi New York City, USA

Divi New York City feb 21

Divi New York City

From the Hosts, Patty, Jeanine, & Mickey:

Attendees: 38

Divi NYC had a full house with members of Divi Atlanta, other Divi Nation groups, and people from around the globe for our February 2021 virtual presentation on “Improving Accessibility with Divi” by Scott Winterroth.

The presentation covered a webmaster’s to-dos from basic changes to more advanced options and a list of useful tools.

“Accessibility Mindset…requires you to build a mindset that is about educating yourself and knowing where to go to get validation on what you are doing.” – Scott Winterroth

We look forward to having you at Divi NYC for a future meetup!

Go to Divi NYC

Divi Sacramento, California, USA

Divi Sacramento Feb 21

Divi Sacramento

From the Host, Rosalinda Huck:

Attendees: 13

For February, our main, topic meeting centered on plugins – how to choose them, best practices to consider, and popular Divi-compatible plugins. We had a great discussion, where members shared some of their experiences and helpful advice.

In March, [our] co-organizer, Elizabeth, will lead a discussion on CSS tips and tools. It will especially be geared for Divi users who may not have a strong design background or know much about CSS.

Go to Divi Sacramento

Divi Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Divi Salt Lake City

Divi Salt Lake City

From the Host, Dustin Olsen:

Attendees: 20

Website accessibility is becoming an increasingly important topic in the industry and understanding what it is and how to go about fixing a website for it sometimes isn’t the easiest or quickest task.

This month we had a guest speaker from Hotfire Creative, Dylan Wages, join our virtual meetup and talk about the basics of ADA, tools we can use to check our sites, and easy things we can do to help Divi become more accessible.

Next month we are doing our Q&A – You bring the questions you have about Divi+WP, and we’ll work together to find the solutions you need.

Go to Divi Salt Lake City

Divi Satkhira, Bangladesh

Divi Satkhira feb 21

Divi Satkhira

From the Host, Delower Hossain:

Attendees: 6

We kicked off 2021 with an interactive discussion about topic ideas for this year’s Meetup events. Attendees were very energetic to get the experience about live training how to design with Divi Builder and about the pricing benefits between Divi & the other builders in the market. All persons were happy to learn about Elegant Themes. Thanks to the all participants for being with us.

Visit this group in time for their next meetup!

Go to Divi Satkhira

Divi Seattle, Washington, USA

Divi Seattle feb 21

Divi Seattle

From the Hosts, Bradon Garley & Shane Griffiths:

Attendees: 30

Our community is growing! We saw many new faces this month. This event was all about speed and efficiency with Divi. We covered best practices for copying and extending module settings, when to use global modules, the benefits of style presets, and the Divi library. Lastly, we touched on Divi’s new global color palette. Using these tips can allow you to build full websites in just a fraction of the normal time.

Divi Seattle is continuing to grow a strong community! Be sure to catch a meetup!

Go to Divi Seattle

Divi Tampa, Florida, USA

Divi Tampa feb 21

Divi Tampa

From the Host, Steve Willingham:

Attendees: 3

Divi Tampa Fab February 2021!

The Divi-Tampa virtual February 2021 meetup was held on Thursday, Feb 25 at 1PM EST. We had 3 very engaged members attending, all with different levels of expertise. Nelson joined in from the Tampa area, and our most distant participant was Daniel who joined in from Ulm, Germany. During the meetup, we shared our website screens and questions about image position in the Divi Person module, and response time interpretation of the metrics determined by the GTmetrix website analysis tool.

We’re looking forward to our next virtual meetup in March, and eagerly anticipating the time when our meetups may again be in person.

Go to Divi Tampa

Want to Host Your Own Local Divi Network Meetup?

Great! We’re always on the lookout for people around the world who are passionate about Divi and building community and want to spread that enthusiasm to their local community. We take care of the monthly Meetup fees, and we provide all our hosts with tons of resources to help plan and promote their events, including help with finding a venue and coming up with topic ideas.

Starting a new Divi Meetup group is simple. Just apply by filling out this form or email eventcoordinator@elegantthemes.com. Once the form is complete, we will work together to get your group launched and linked to our Meetup Network. Easy as that!

Not sure if there’s already a Divi Meetup Group in your area? Just head to our Meetup Network page to see a map of our current locations.

Global Divi Meetup Network

Featured Image via Vector Goddess / shutterstock.com

The post Divi Meetup Network Community Update: February 2021 appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

Chrome is Testing a Follow Button for Websites

Chrome is Testing a Follow Button for Websites

Chrome Canary, the browser’s nightly build for developers, has been testing a new Follow button, as spotted on Android by the publishers of Chrome Story. The button appears on the homepage of a site, as well as in the browser menu:

Chrome Story speculates that it may be integrated with Google’s Discover feature, allowing sites to be easily added to that feed. Others speculated more broadly that Google may be building a replacement for Google Reader.

Any whisper of Google Reader being resurrected always causes a bit of a stir, as many loyal users are still in mourning for the beloved RSS reader, which was discontinued in 2013. Linking this new Follow feature with Discover may be the closest Google gets to bringing it back. A full-featured RSS reader will likely still be a better option to have full control of your feeds and how they display. However, it may be possible for developers to build tools that fetch and aggregate feeds captured by the Follow button.

Before the explosion of social media sites, RSS buttons were prominently featured on WordPress blogs. Having the ability to follow a site for new updates, without having to check back manually, was an important feature if you wanted to be found in the nascent blogosphere. RSS is still alive and well, even if following a curated list of sites isn’t the primary way people get their news today. Many internet users don’t know the first thing about subscribing to feeds but Google’s new Follow feature might make the idea more approachable.

Canary is unstable, but if want to check out features on the bleeding edge of Chrome development, you can install Canary for Android alongside your regular browser and choose when you launch it. At the time of publishing, the Follow button was not in the latest build but Google sometimes puts features in and pulls them out while they are in development. We will be following to see how this takes shape.

The Evolution of Accounting Automation

The Evolution of Accounting Automation

Featured image by Tumisu from Pixabay 

Accounting automation is a pretty recent phenomenon. Let’s take a look at the evolution of accounting technology and see how its automation has been an incredible bonus for business.

RELATED ARTICLE: 4 SIMPLE KEYS TO PROVIDING BETTER SERVICE FOR YOUR BOOKKEEPING CLIENTS

In today’s lightning-fast economy, we take it for granted that we can click a button on a website, enter our payment information, and ta-da, that deluxe widget will land on our doorstep in just a few days.

But to make that happen, there’s a lot of automation that goes on behind the scenes, especially in the accounting system. Automation in accounting is a pretty recent phenomenon. Let’s take a look at the evolution of accounting technology and see how this has been an incredible bonus for business.

Paper and Pen Were the Height of Accounting Technology for 400 Years

For almost 400 years, accountants did everything by hand, just as Luca Pacioli first described double entry bookkeeping in 1494. In the 1880s, the mechanical adding machine was invented. Then a punch card machine came along that could process census data and accounting records.

However, most accounting was performed with paper ledgers and pens. Those other innovations only helped with adding up account balances.

The First Computers Ushered in Accounting Automation in 1955

Computers didn’t come on the scene until 1955, when GE bought a Univac computer to process payroll. That task required 40 hours of solid number crunching, but that was an improvement over doing it by hand.

Then Came the Electronic Data Interchange

The next big advance in accounting automation came in the 1960s with the development of electronic data interchange (EDI) by the automotive industry to streamline payments and orders.

EDI allows for the processing of orders and invoices without human intervention. However, for years, this innovation was only available to large companies that could afford their own mainframe computers. Small business accounting was still a manual process.

QuickBooks Was Born in 1992

That changed in 1978, when Peachtree was introduced as the first accounting software for the growing desktop computing market. A few years later, in 1983, Intuit released Quicken for personal finance. When Intuit realized that people were using Quicken to track income and expenses for small businesses, they launched QuickBooks in 1992.

While these new accounting programs did make it easier to summarize and report business performance, accounting remained a largely manual process. Humans still needed to enter information from paper documents into computers.

The Internet Changed Everything

The internet changed that with an explosion of innovations that began to move accounting online in the early 2000s. At first, downloading and importing bank and credit card transactions was a big labor-saving innovation. Now, every accounting system has application program interfaces, or APIs, which automatically connect banks and other applications with accounting software to import transactions.

Another big innovation in the early 2000s was the refinement of optical character recognition (OCR) technology. OCR technology makes it possible to enter transactions simply by snapping a photo of a receipt with a smartphone or scanning a document. By now, this technology is within reach of most small businesses and is built into many of the automation tools accountants use.

Touchless Accounting Is the Wave of the Future

Now we are entering the golden age of accounting automation. Artificial intelligence, robotic process automation (RPA), and machine learning, combined with APIs, bank feeds, and cloud accounting, mean that bookkeeping can now be a largely hands-off process. New tools come on the market every day that can automate entire end-to-end processes like order to cash. This technology pulls orders from a portal, enters the order in the general ledger, and routes that information to the correct people for approval and order fulfillment.

Instead of needing a team of people who spend all day manually entering customer orders, just one or two people need to monitor the system and resolve anomalies.

What Are the Advantages for Small Businesses of Accounting Automation?

Overall, accounting automation saves time and money. Let’s look at the different ways this happens.

  • Scale up without increasing headcount. With robust automation systems and procedures in place, you can easily scale up (or down, as happened during the pandemic) with only minimal changes to headcount, if any.
  • See your financials in real time. Automation means you can update your books in almost real time, so you always know where you stand. You have a full picture of your cash flow, and you can make decisions based on your whole financial picture, not just your online bank balance.
  • Get paid faster. With a manual system you have to create an invoice, mail it out, and wait for a check to arrive by mail. But by automating the process, invoices can go out as soon as the work is completed. Online payment methods mean the payment can be in your bank account today.
RELATED ARTICLE: FOREIGN SUBSIDIARIES AND TAX RESPONSIBILITIES
  • Have improved accuracy in your numbers. Manual processes are inherently error-prone, so until you have reconciled your bank accounts, your numbers may all be suspect. Automation eliminates the majority of errors and makes reconciling a breeze when everything is there and is correct.
  • Make better use of your CPA’s brain. Accounting automation doesn’t mean that only robots will do accounting in the future. On the contrary, when your accounting is automated, your accountant will have the bandwidth to tell you what your numbers mean.
  • Solve the oncoming talent problem. According to a recent report, in less than ten years, the world may face a talent shortage of 85 million people. Baby boomers are retiring in droves, but there aren’t enough younger people to replace them. Skilled accountants are already hard to find. With automation, you won’t need to hire as many people for your back office functions. 
  • Retain your star employees. By eliminating tedious, manual data entry work, your employees will be working at a higher intellectual level. This leads to greater employee engagement. Research by Gallup shows that engaged employees stick around longer. Companies with engaged employees also are more profitable.

RELATED ARTICLE: HOW TO BECOME A BUSINESS ANALYTICS EXPERT

Accounting Automation Will Save You Time and Money

Saving time and money are always at the forefront of every small business owner’s mind. Automating your accounting will help you do both. Plus, it will give you the information you need when you need it so you can reach your goals.

The post The Evolution of Accounting Automation appeared first on Business Opportunities.

The Evolution of Accounting Automation

ITIN Loans: Best Capital Source for Minority Businesses

Featured image by Pixource from Pixabay 

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the US government announced the implementation of the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). This is a temporary identification for immigrants that allows them to file their taxes and potentially apply for ITIN loans.

ITIN holders can used these identifiers to get work contracts, obtain driving licenses (in some states), or provide a proof of residency if necessary.

Also, a person doesn’t need to live in the US to apply for an ITIN. Small business owners living in other countries may want one in order to increase investment in their organizations.

An ITIN holder must revalidate their ITIN every five years. Additionally, if you are an ITIN holder and you don’t use it for three consecutive years, it will expire and you’ll have to revalidate it. 

RELATED ARTICLE: 5 WAYS TO ACQUIRE FUNDING FOR YOUR NEW BUSINESS

What Are ITIN Loans?

The ITIN is a nine-digit number that helps foreigners process their federal tax transactions and potentially apply for loans regardless of their migratory status. An ITIN loan is a financial solution for businesses whose owner doesn’t have a SSN.

How Is the ITIN Different from the SSN?

Even though the ITIN is made for tax payment, it is not the same as the Social Security Number (SSN). They are different and independent from each other. Only US citizens can obtain a Social Security Number. Meanwhile, the ITIN is a method only for non-citizens to identify all of their tax-related transactions or to apply for a loan.

RELATED ARTICLE: ESSENTIAL ENTREPRENEUR CHECKLIST FOR NEW BUSINESSES

What Are ITIN’s Not Used For?

An ITIN will not provide you with immigration status. An ITIN is not an authorization to work in US territory. Neither does it make a person eligible for Social Security benefits. Likewise, ITIN holders do not have access to tax and public benefits as SSN holders do.

ITIN holders are not eligible for all of the tax benefits and public benefits that US citizens and other taxpayers can receive. For example, an ITIN holder is not eligible for Social Security benefits or the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Its chief benefits are for tax-paying purposes as well as ITIN loans.

How Can Someone Get an ITIN?

You can find the instructions for the application process for an ITIN number on the IRS website.

First of all, the person must download a W-7 form and fill it out. Then, add any identification document that validates your nationality, such as a driver’s license or a passport. It is best to also add the previous tax return to the application.

Finally, fax the form or take it to an IRS office. If you have questions, call the toll-free number for the IRS, 1-800-829-1040.

The ITIN process can take between eight to ten weeks, so be sure to allow plenty of time and be patient. However, the process is completely free.

Can ITIN Holders Apply for ITIN Loans?

All persons who possess an ITIN number can apply for a loan. Such a loan is meant to improve the owner’s financial situation. For example, if you hold an ITIN and you’re starting or expanding a business or buying a car or a house you could apply for an ITIN loan.

One consideration everyone should always take into account is the fact that, since you don’t need to be a citizen to get an ITIN, you will probably be asked to put more money up front for any transaction.

RELATED ARTICLE: DEVELOP A MODERN INVESTMENT STRATEGY TO RAISE CAPITAL FOR YOUR BUSINESS

How Can You Apply for ITIN Loans?

There are plenty of entities that may provide an ITIN loan. Nonetheless, the specific requirements and criteria will depend on the bank or other lender.

In order to have a higher chance of getting a loan, you will need to build a credit history first. The best way to go about this is to obtain a credit card, use it continuously, and have the bank raise your limit. Also, of course, you must make each payment on time to build up your credit organically.

In the end, both the ITIN number and loan are opportunities for economic growth for noncitizens. Whatever the migratory status of the foreigner, this identification number permits an improvement to their situation.

Conclusion

Whether it is for starting a new business or for personal use, an ITIN serves as conduit for paying taxes during the tax filing season. Even more importantly, however, it provides a way for foreigners to boost their financial situation by obtaining an ITIN loan while they are living in the US.

RELATED ARTICLE: ALTERNATIVE LENDING: SOME COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS

The post ITIN Loans: Best Capital Source for Minority Businesses appeared first on Business Opportunities.