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Level 2
April 5, 2026
Solved

Claim as a dependent a resident alien using the Substantial Presence Test.

  • April 5, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 353 views

I think I can claim as a dependent a person that meets all the requirements, but I am not sure about the resident alien section.     

As I understand it, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, a resident alien is an individual who is not a U.S. citizen but has a Green card or meets Substantial Presence Test.

He doesn’t have a green card but seems to meet the Substantial Presence Test as he has been in the US continually for more than 10 years and has been living at my house for 4 years.

He is here legally on Asylum, has paid taxes in previous years and has a work permit.

TurboTax doesn’t seem to be straight forward on this.  When I am on the page “Who do I support”, I choose “other”.

Next on the page “Tell us about this person”,  the citizenship status has an option of “legal resident”.

Under the “learn more” it never says resident alien.  I am just assuming this is just a flaw in TurboTax?

Best answer by MaryK4

Yes, you can indicate he is a legal resident.  Since he meets the Substantial Presence Test, he is a resident alien for tax purposes, and you can proceed with the "legal resident" selection in TurboTax.

1 reply

MaryK4
MaryK4Answer
Level 15
April 5, 2026

Yes, you can indicate he is a legal resident.  Since he meets the Substantial Presence Test, he is a resident alien for tax purposes, and you can proceed with the "legal resident" selection in TurboTax.

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