Your First US Tax Return After Arriving or Getting a Green Card

When does my US tax residency start?

Federal tax residency usually starts under the green card test or substantial presence test; a qualifying first-year choice can also set a start date. That date is not necessarily your moving date. A person who was not a resident in the preceding year is generally a nonresident before the starting date and a resident afterward (IRS: residency dates; IRS: first-year choice).

Substantial presence requires at least 31 days in the current year and a weighted 183 days over the current and prior two years: count all current-year days, one-third of the prior year's days, and one-sixth of the year before that. Some days do not count, including qualifying student or exchange-visitor days. A short visit before moving can therefore make the start date earlier than expected (IRS: substantial presence).

You may omit up to 10 early US days only when setting the start date if you had both a foreign tax home and a closer connection there on those days; you cannot exclude only part of an uninterrupted visit. The days still count toward substantial presence. Attach a signed statement to your return, or send it separately if no return is required, by the Form 1040-NR filing deadline; otherwise your first US day generally becomes the start date (Publication 519).

A separate closer-connection exception may keep you nonresident despite substantial presence if you spent fewer than 183 actual days in the US, kept a foreign tax home and closer connection, took no disqualifying steps toward a green card, and filed Form 8840 on time. A treaty tie-breaker may change income-tax filing while leaving other reporting duties in place (Publication 519). If you moved from Canada, see Moving from Canada to the US; if you only spend winters in the US, see Snowbirds and US residency.

Do F-1, J-1, and H-1B days count?

Qualifying F-1 student days and J-1 student, teacher, or trainee days may be excluded from substantial presence; H-1B days generally count. Visa status alone does not settle tax residency (IRS: substantial presence; Publication 519).

An eligible person excluding student or exchange-visitor days files Form 8843, even if no income tax return is required. Keep all visa dates and prior-year Forms 8843; exempt means exempt from counting days, not exempt from tax (IRS: substantial presence).

What is a dual-status return, and who files one?

A dual-status tax year has both a nonresident period and a resident period. If required to file, a new resident who remains resident at year end files Form 1040 as the return and attaches a statement for the earlier nonresident period, often prepared on Form 1040-NR. On the latest available forms, check "Other" at the top and enter "Dual Status Return" on Form 1040 and "Dual Status Stmt" on Form 1040-NR; sign the return, not the statement. Recheck the forms for the year filed. A calendar-year return is generally due April 15 of the following year (Publication 519; Form 1040; Form 1040-NR).

If you never became a resident during the year, the dual-status return is not the right form. The IRS substantial presence test and any applicable treaty come before choosing forms. A full-year joint-return election can replace dual-status income-tax treatment, with wider worldwide-income consequences. Both spouses sign the election statement and attach it to the joint return when filed; an amended election is generally due within three years of filing the original return or two years of paying tax, whichever is later (Publication 519). See Married to a nonresident.

Which income belongs in each part of the return?

Report worldwide income received during the resident period. For the nonresident period, report US-source income and any foreign-source income effectively connected with a US trade or business; a treaty or specific exemption may change tax on an item (Publication 519; Form 1040-NR instructions).

Keep pay records showing when services were performed and when income was received. A payment after the residency date for earlier foreign work can still enter the resident portion; foreign taxes may need separate credit analysis. For foreign income in later years, see Foreign income on a US return.

What is the first-year choice, and when can it help?

The first-year choice can make a late arrival a resident from a qualifying date even if neither normal residency test is met that year. It is available only if you met neither normal test in the prior or current year, did not choose partial-year residence for the prior year, and meet substantial presence in the following year (IRS: first-year choice).

You need 31 consecutive counted US days in the arrival year and presence for at least 75% of the period from the first of those days through year end. Up to five absent days can count for the second test. The resident period starts on the first day of the earliest qualifying 31-day period, and you attach the required election statement to Form 1040 (IRS: first-year choice).

Without the choice, an eligible late arrival stays nonresident for the arrival year. With it, they file as dual-status and report worldwide income from the chosen date. Compare both results, including foreign reporting, before electing. You cannot file the choice until you pass the next year's substantial presence test. If that happens after the ordinary filing deadline, file Form 4868 by that deadline for an extension, generally to October 15, and pay by the original due date the tax estimated as if you were a nonresident for the whole year. The IRS says the choice cannot be revoked without its approval (IRS: first-year choice; Publication 519).

What deductions and credits change on a dual-status return?

A dual-status filer generally cannot take the standard deduction, use head-of-household tax rates, or file a joint return without a separate resident election. Some itemized deductions remain available. The earned income credit, education credits, and credit for the elderly or disabled generally require the full-year resident joint election when otherwise eligible (IRS: dual-status restrictions; Form 1040-NR instructions).

Can I e-file a dual-status return?

The latest Publication 519 says dual-status income tax returns for tax year 2025 cannot be e-filed. Check the instructions for the year you file. If paper filing is still required, mail your signed return and nonresident-period statement to the dual-status address in the current Form 1040-NR instructions.

Do foreign accounts and assets belong on the first-year filings?

Yes, foreign accounts and assets can trigger separate reporting even when they produce no taxable income. For an ordinary part-year resident, Form 8938, if required, starts its reporting period on the US residency starting date and attaches to the income tax return. A full-year joint-return election can change that period, including for an electing nonresident spouse (Form 8938 instructions; Married to a nonresident).

FBAR is a separate calendar-year report filed electronically with FinCEN, not attached to the income tax return. A first-year residency election can make you a US resident for FBAR purposes; a joint-return spouse election alone does not. A treaty tie-breaker also does not remove FBAR residency if you meet a US residency test. Gather account statements and maximum balances for the whole calendar year so the FBAR requirement can be checked. Do not assume Form 8938's residency-date reporting period also applies to FBAR (FinCEN: FBAR; IRS: FBAR manual). The account tests and thresholds are in Foreign account reporting.

What happens to property and savings owned before arrival?

Becoming a resident does not itself sell property or turn existing savings into income. But the US generally uses an asset's cost, adjusted under the normal rules, as its tax basis; arrival does not automatically reset a purchased asset's basis to its value on the moving date. A sale after residency can therefore expose gain that built up before arrival (IRS: basis of assets; Publication 519). For property subject to Canadian departure tax, a qualifying Article XIII(7) treaty election can change US basis if the individual reports the deemed sale and attaches Form 8833 to the timely US return for the first year ending after the move (IRS: Revenue Procedure 2010-19); see Moving from Canada to the US.

Keep purchase, improvement, inheritance, and value records in the original currency, plus sale dates and exchange records. A gift or inheritance has different basis rules. Foreign mutual funds and similar holdings may have their own US reporting: see Funds bought outside the US. If you owned a company abroad, becoming a US resident can trigger Form 5471; see US owners of foreign companies (IRS: Form 5471 instructions). For a home you rent or sell after arrival, see Property abroad. Money or property received from family abroad is covered by Gifts and inheritances from abroad.

Can a student or researcher treaty exemption continue after residency?

Sometimes. Becoming a resident generally ends student, teacher, or researcher treaty relief, but a treaty can preserve an exemption through an exception to its saving clause. For example, Publication 519 says a qualifying Chinese student may keep an Article 20 scholarship exemption after becoming resident. Its example reports the scholarship on Schedule 1 and offsets the treaty-exempt amount there. The treaty's eligibility and time limit still control.

Keep the treaty article, immigration history, income slips, and earlier treaty claims. A treaty claim can change how income is shown on Form 1040 and may require disclosure; review the actual treaty before carrying an exemption forward (Publication 519).

Do I also file a state return?

Possibly. State residence and source rules are separate from federal dual status. California, for example, taxes a part-year resident's worldwide income during California residence and California-source income during nonresidence; a part-year filer with a filing requirement uses Form 540NR (California FTB).

Check the rules of every state where you lived or earned income, including the state's own start date and filing threshold. A federal residency date does not automatically set a state's date.

Example

Illustrative amounts are in US dollars. A person moved to the US on July 1, passed substantial presence that year, and had no earlier counted US days. Before July 1, they received $20,000 of wages for work performed abroad. From July 1 through December 31, they received $50,000 of US wages and $2,000 of interest from an account abroad. They also owned foreign shares bought for $10,000 that were worth $16,000 on July 1 and sold for $18,000 in October.

Their resident period starts July 1. The $50,000 wages and $2,000 interest enter the resident portion; the earlier foreign wages generally do not. The shares' arrival value does not replace their cost basis, so the illustrative gain before other adjustments is $8,000. The person files a dual-status Form 1040 with a nonresident-period statement and checks Form 8938, FBAR, and state filing separately (Publication 519; IRS: basis of assets).

Different for you?

• Your spouse remains a nonresident: a joint-return election can change the whole year's income-tax treatment. See Married to a nonresident.
• You moved from Canada: coordinate both countries' residence dates and any treaty tie-breaker in Moving from Canada to the US.
• You kept accounts abroad: check both filing systems in Foreign account reporting.
• You own foreign funds: review their separate rules in Funds bought outside the US.
• Your arrival date, election, or sale of appreciated assets changes the result: gather travel and visa records, income by receipt date, account statements, and original purchase records for cross-border tax help.