[Individual]Who are you, U.S. Citizen, Resident Alien or Nonresident Alien?(Jan-10-2011, 98 days)

US Citizenship is a status given to a legal member of the United States.

Resident alien is an alien who has passed the green card test or the substantial presence test.

Nonresident alien is an alien who has not passed either of those two tests.

The most difficult part is to identify whether you are Resident alien or Nonresident alien. Here I am going to explain the green card test and substantial presence test.

Green card test:

If you are a Lawful Permanent Resident of the United States at any time during the calendar year, you are a resident. You generally have this status if the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Service) has issued you an alien registration card, Form I-551.

Substantial Presence Test:

You must be physically present in the United States on at least:

1. 31 days during 2010, and

2. 183 days during the 3-year period that include 2010, 2009, 2008,

counting:

a. All the days you were present in 2010, and

b. 1/3 of the days you were present in 2009, and

c. 1/6 of the days you were present in 2008

How to count your days of Presence in the US?

If you fall into any of the following categories, please notice the special rules to count your days of presence in the US.

Categories	Do not count	Count
A. Students and their immediate family members	The days you are temporarily in the U.S. on an F, J, M or Q visa for the first 5 calendar years.	After 5 years when you didn't count your days of presence, you should start to count your days of presence. (It means you may claim as resident alien after 5 years of residency )
B. Teacher or trainee and their immediate family members	The days you are temporarily in the U.S. under a J or Q visa.	If you haven't counted your days for any part of 2 of the 6 preceding calendar years, you should count. (It means you may claim as resident alien after 2 years of residency) If a foreign employer paid all your compensation for the preceding 6 years and the current year, the limit of 2 years is increased to 3 years.
C. Commuters from Canada or Mexico	The days on which you commute to work in the U.S., if you regularly commute those days equal more than 75% of the workdays during the working period.
D. Transit between two places outside U.S.	The days you are in the U.S. for less than 24 hours
E. Crew Members	The days you are temporarily present in the U.S. as a regular crew member of a foreign vessel, except you also engage in any trade or business on those days.
F. Professional athletes	They days you compete in a charitable sports event in U.S.
G. Medical Condition	The days you intend to leave, but could not leave the U.S. because of a medical condition

Notice that you must file Form 8840 to exclude your days of presence, if you belong to either of category A, B, F or G.

PSQ

Source: http://www.irs.gov