If you are not a U.S. citizen, your period of residency in the United States must have an official starting date and ending date. The rules for determining these dates are as follows. Residency starting date under the green card test If you meet the green card test at any time during a calendar year, but do not meet the substantial presence test for that year, your residency starting date is the first day in the calendar year on which you are present in the United States as a lawful permanent resident (the date on which the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officially approved your petition to become an immigrant). If you receive your green card abroad, then the residency starting date is your first day of physical presence in the United States after you receive your green card. If you were a U.S. resident during any part of the preceding calendar year and you are a U.S. resident for any part of the current year, you will be considered a U.S. resident at the beginning of the current year. If you meet both the green card test and the substantial presence test in the same year, your residency starting date is the earlier of: The first day you are present in the United States during the year you pass the substantial presence test, or The first day you are present in the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident (green card holder). Caution! If you were a U.S. resident for any part of the current year, and you were a U.S. resident during any part of the following year, you will be taxed as a U.S. resident through the end of the current year. This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country during the current year, whether you are a U.S. resident under the substantial presence test, or whether you are a U.S. resident under the green card test. Residency starting date under the substantial presence test If you meet the substantial presence test for a calendar year, your residency starting date is generally the first day you are present in the United States during that calendar year. If you were a U.S. resident during any part of the preceding calendar year and you are a U.S. resident for any part of the current year, you will be considered a U.S. resident at the beginning of the current year. If you meet both the green card test and the substantial presence test in the same year, your residency starting date is the earlier of: The first day you are present in the United States during the year you pass the substantial presence test, or The first day you are present in the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident (green card holder). Note: Because a person who is an "exempt individual" for purposes of the substantial presence test is not considered to be "present in the United States," such an individual’s residency starting date under the substantial presence test may be later than when the “exempt individual” arrived in the United States. For an example of this situation, see Example 2 in Tax Residency Status Examples. Caution! If you were a U.S. resident for any part of the current year, and you were a U.S. resident during any part of the following year, you will be taxed as a U.S. resident through the end of the current year. This applies whether you have a closer connection to a foreign country during the current year, whether you are a U.S. resident under the substantial presence test, or whether you are a U.S. resident under the green card test. Residency starting date under the first-year choice If you do not meet either the green card test or the substantial presence test for the current year (for example, 2023) or the prior year (2022), and you did not choose to be treated as a U.S. resident for part of the prior year (2022), but you meet the substantial presence test in the following year (2024), you can attach a statement to your income tax return choosing to be treated as a U.S. resident for part of the current year (2023). To make this first-year choice, you must: Be present in the United States for at least 31 days in a row in the current year, and Be present in the United States for at least 75% of the number of days beginning with the first day of the 31-day period and ending with the last day of the current year. (For purposes of this 75% requirement, you can treat up to 5 days of absence from the United States as days of presence in the United States.) When counting the days of presence in 1 and 2 above, do not include any days in the United States as an exempt individual under any of the days of presence in the United States exceptions to the substantial presence test. If you make the first-year choice, your residency starting date for the current year is the first day of the earliest 31-day period (described in 1 above) that you use to qualify for the choice. You are then treated as a U.S. resident for the rest of the year. If you are present for more than one 31-day period and you satisfy condition 2 above for each of those periods, your residency starting date is the first day of the first 31-day period. If you are present for more than one 31-day period but you satisfy condition 2 above only for a later 31-day period, your residency starting date is the first day of the later 31-day period. Residency starting date under the terms of an income tax treaty In general, your residency starting date under the terms of an income tax treaty is the date on which you first satisfy the definition of a resident under the terms of the treaty. Generally, each treaty looks first to the domestic tax law of each country to define residency for that country. If dual residency in both countries results, then most treaties contain "tiebreaker" rules to determine a single country of residency. Residency ending date under the green card test Your last day of presence in the United States as a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. is the residency ending date under the immigration laws of the United States. However, you are still considered to be a resident of the United States for U.S. income tax purposes, until you: voluntarily turn in your green card to USCIS and renounce your U.S. immigrant status; have your immigrant status administratively revoked by USCIS; or have your immigrant status judicially revoked by a United States federal court. Caution! A lawful permanent resident (green card holder) for at least 8 of the last 15 years who ceases to be a U.S. lawful permanent resident may be subject to special reporting requirements and tax provisions. Refer to expatriation tax. Residency ending date under the substantial presence test In general, if you meet the substantial presence test, your residency ending date is your last day of presence in the United States followed by a period during which: You are not present in the United States, You have a closer connection to a foreign country than to the United States, and You are not a resident of the United States during the calendar year following that of your last day of presence in the United States. Under the general rule, the residency ending date is December 31 of the calendar year in which you left the United States. However, your residency ending date is the last day during the calendar year that you are physically present in the United States if, for the remainder of the calendar year: your tax home is in a foreign country (cf. Rev. Rul. 93-86); and you maintain a closer connection to that foreign country than to the United States (cf. Treas. Reg. § 301.7701(b)-2(d)). Note: An "exempt individual" is not considered "present in the United States" for purposes of determining the residency ending date under the substantial presence test. This rule may result in situations in which a person who was once a resident under the substantial presence test and later becomes an "exempt individual," can become a nonresident once more without ever having left the United States. See Example 6 in Tax residency status examples. Statement required to establish your residency termination date You must file a statement with the IRS to establish your residency termination date. You must sign and date this statement and include a declaration made under penalties of perjury. The statement must be attached to your income tax return. If you are not required to file an income tax return, send the statement to the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Austin, Texas 73301-0215, on or before the due date for filing your income tax return. The statement must contain the following information (as applicable): Your name, address, U.S. taxpayer identification number (if any), and U.S. visa type and number (if any). Your passport number and the name of the country that issued your passport. The tax year for which the statement applies. The last day you were present in the United States during the year. Enough facts to establish that you maintained your tax home in and had a closer connection to a foreign country following your last day of presence in the United States during the year (or, if applicable, following the abandonment or rescission of your status as a lawful permanent resident during the year). The date that your status as a lawful permanent resident was abandoned or rescinded. Enough facts (including copies of relevant documents) to establish that your status as a lawful permanent resident has been abandoned or rescinded. If you can exclude days under the de minimis presence rule (refer to Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens), state the dates you are excluding and include enough facts to establish that you maintained your tax home in, and had a closer connection to, a foreign country during the period you are excluding. Note: If you do not file the required statement, you cannot claim a closer connection to a foreign country or countries. This does not apply if you can show by clear and convincing evidence that you took reasonable actions to become aware of the requirements for filing the statement and significant steps to comply with those requirements. For additional information regarding residency beginning and ending dates refer to Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens. References/Related topics Alien tax status first year choice Nonresident spouse treated as a resident Nonresident alien students and the tax home concept Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens Note: This page contains one or more references to the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), Treasury Regulations, court cases, or other official tax guidance. References to these legal authorities are included for the convenience of those who would like to read the technical reference material. To access the applicable IRC sections, Treasury Regulations, or other official tax guidance, visit the Tax code, regulations, and official guidance page. To access any Tax Court cases filed on or after May 1, 1986, visit the Opinions Search page of the United States Tax Court.
