When do I become a US tax resident after moving to the United States?

Checked on 2026-10-25

Key facts

Two ways to become a tax resident

The green card test. The law treats you as a resident for any calendar year in which you are a lawful permanent resident at any time. The IRS says you generally have this status if USCIS has issued you Form I-551, the green card. It continues until the status is taken away or is administratively or judicially determined to have been abandoned.

The substantial presence test. If you don’t have a green card, residence depends on days. You need at least 31 days in the US in the current year. Then you add all current-year days, one third of the previous year’s days and one sixth of the days in the year before that. If the total is 183 or more, you meet the test. The IRS’s own example: 120 days in each of three years gives 120 + 40 + 20 = 180, so that person does not meet the test.

“United States” here means the 50 states and the District of Columbia, plus US territorial waters; the IRS says it does not include US territories or US airspace.

Days you don’t count

The law excludes days as an “exempt individual”. This term doesn’t mean you are exempt from tax: it covers certain diplomatic and international-organisation visa holders, teachers and trainees on J or Q visas, students on F, J, M or Q visas who substantially comply with their visa, and professional athletes at charitable sports events. The IRS says you must file Form 8843 to exclude these days (and medical-condition days); if you don’t file it on time, you can’t exclude them unless you show by clear and convincing evidence that you took reasonable steps to comply.

Passing the test but staying a nonresident

The law lets you stay a nonresident even after meeting the substantial presence test if you were in the US fewer than 183 days in the current year, kept a tax home in a foreign country and had a closer connection to that country. The IRS says you claim this on Form 8840, and that you can’t use it if you applied, or took other steps, to become a lawful permanent resident during the year (it lists forms such as I-485, I-130 and I-140 as signs of that intent).

Related questions

• The year you arrive, you are usually a resident only from your residency starting date (26 U.S.C. 7701(b)(2)(A)).
• A tax treaty can change the result: the IRS says that even a green card holder who claims foreign residency under a treaty tiebreaker rule is treated as a nonresident for figuring tax liability (Publication 519, chapter 1; 26 U.S.C. 7701(b)(6)).

This is general information, not legal advice, and Lumen is not a law firm. Rules change and offices differ: check the official sources above before you act. Found something wrong or out of date? Write to support@lumen.observer.