Hello, I'm turning to this forum in hopes that someone can help me: I am a Dutch citizen and I was in the US for 18 years on an F1 visa, getting various degrees. I became a tax resident in 2012 and I left the country on July 20, 2025 after I completed a postdoc on OPT. I returned to the Netherlands, where I had no income at all for the remainder of 2025. I completed paperwork with the IRS before departure to show I did not have any tax liability before leaving. In November 2025 I returned for a 2.5 week visit, and in December 2025 I was back for a 6-day conference.
My question is whether I can legally be a tax resident the whole year instead of a dual status individual. Based on my presence in previous years, I calculated that I meet the SPT for 2025. Pub 519 seems to suggest that there is a choice (i.e not declare that I want residency to end earlier). It is obviously fiscally advantageous to remain a tax resident since I could use the standard deduction and I wouldn't have any income in the Netherlands to include. However, I don't want to do the wrong thing here. TIA
