Dual-status year, first-year choice and treaties

You can be a nonresident alien and a resident alien during the same tax year. This usually happens in the year you arrive in or depart from the United States. Publication 519 covers dual-status years in detail.

Under the substantial presence test, your residency starting date is generally the first day you are present in the United States during that calendar year. You can exclude up to 10 days of presence when determining the starting date if you had a closer connection to a foreign country and your tax home was there. Those days still count toward the test itself.

The residency ending date is December 31 unless an earlier date applies. Under the substantial presence test, the earlier date is the last day of the year you are physically present in the United States, if you qualify. Up to 10 days may be excluded here too. Claiming residency in another country under a treaty tie-breaker may also lead to an earlier ending date.

If you do not meet the substantial presence test for a year but meet it for the following year, you can choose to be treated as a resident for part of the first year. To make the choice you must:

• Be present in the United States for at least 31 days in a row in that first year.
• Be present for at least 75% of the days from the first day of that 31-day period through December 31 of that year, where up to 5 days of absence count as presence.
• Meet the substantial presence test for the following year.

You make the choice by attaching a statement with the required facts to Form 1040 or 1040-SR. If you have not yet met the test for the following year when your return is due, the return due date can be extended with Form 4868. Once made, the choice cannot be revoked without IRS approval.

If you are a dual resident and a tax treaty tie-breaker rule treats you as a resident of the other country, you can claim treaty benefits. You are treated as a nonresident alien when figuring U.S. income tax, but as a U.S. resident for other purposes. To claim the benefits, file Form 1040-NR with Form 8833 attached and compute your tax as a nonresident.

Updated: November 4, 2026