Tax filing for work visa holders
Your first U.S. filing years are the ones most likely to go wrong — and the ones most preparers treat as ordinary. We do not.
You are in the right place if…
First year in the U.S.
Part-year, dual-status, or the first-year choice election.
Established on a work visa
Filing as a resident but still holding accounts and assets back home.
Leaving or changing status
Departure-year returns and the residency questions that follow.
Everything in the fee
- Residency determinationSPT
- Resident return preparation1040
- Dual-status and part-year returns1040 / 1040-NR
- Foreign account reportingFinCEN 114
- Foreign asset statement8938
- Foreign tax credit1116
- Treaty position claims8833
- ITIN for spouse and childrenW-7
The three things that catch visa holders out
Residency is a test, not a status. Whether you file as a resident or a non-resident is decided by the substantial presence test and the elections available to you — not by which visa you hold. Get this wrong in your first year and everything downstream is wrong with it.
Accounts back home have to be reported. If your combined foreign balances crossed $10,000 at any point in the year, an FBAR is due — savings accounts, provident funds, LIC policies, demat accounts and anything you hold jointly with a parent all count toward that total.
Your spouse may need an ITIN. Filing jointly usually produces a better outcome than filing separately, but if your spouse has no Social Security Number you need an ITIN first, and the application has to travel with the return.
Already filed a year incorrectly?
It is fixable. Amended returns, late FBARs and the streamlined offshore procedures all exist precisely for people who did not know. See the catch-up options.