Health Insurance Penalty Exemption for F-1 and F-2 Visa Holders

[abongyogi]

Hello,

My husband and I arrived in California in 2017, and we stayed on F-1 and F-2 visas until we received our green card in May 2024. From March 2024, we started earning income in the U.S., but we lived without health insurance for the entire year of 2024.

I have the following questions:

1. For the period between January and April 2024, before we received our green card in May, are we still eligible for the health insurance penalty exemption during this time?
2. Is the health insurance mandate exemption only available to F-1 and F-2 visa holders who have been in the U.S. for less than five years?

Thank you for your help and clarification!

[Vanessa A]

No.  The only exemptions that have to do with citizenship are Certain non-citizens who are not lawfully present and Citizens living abroad or residents of another state.  You were not unlawfully present in the US and you were not a resident of another state, so the exemptions do not apply to your situation. 

If you arrived in 2017 on an F-1 visa, and have not left the country since then, you would have passed your 5 years of exemption and the substantial presence test, so you would be considered a US Resident for tax purposes after the date you met the substantial presence test.