Under the "Green Card Test" the residency start date defined by IRS at https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/residency-starting-and-ending-dates is as follows:
"Residency Starting Date Under the Green Card Test
If you meet the green card test at any time during a calendar year, but do not meet the substantial presence test for that year, your residency starting date is the first day in the calendar year on which you are present in the United States as a lawful permanent resident (the date on which the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) officially approved your petition to become an immigrant)."
My mother's Green Card was approved by USCIS several years ago. She has been to US many times since then. She was not present in US in 2023. However, according to the above she is considered as US Resident under the Residency Starting Date under the Green Card Test.
Furthermore, at the same IRS link above, there is a definition for Residency Ending Date under the Green Card Test, which states the following:
"Residency Ending Date Under the Green Card Test
Your last day of presence in the United States as a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. is the residency ending date under the immigration laws of the United States.
However, you are still considered to be a resident of the United States for U.S. income tax purposes, until you:
- voluntarily turn in your green card to USCIS and renounce your U.S. immigrant status;
- have your immigrant status administratively revoked by USCIS; or
- have your immigrant status judicially revoked by a United States federal court."
None of these ending conditions apply to my mother. So, again, according to these definitions for starting and ending dates under the Green Card test, she should still qualify as a dependent.
