Can I claim the Other Dependents Credit for my 20 year old dependent son doing his undergrad at an out-of-state university?

[bostonfella]

Both of us are resident aliens and I moved to this country earlier in 2019

[StephenL1 · Accepted solution]

Yes, you may claim the credit for a qualifying dependent as a resident alien.  Your son staying at the university does not affect his ability to be claimed as a dependent as long as he meets all other support requirements.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p5307.pdf

[bostonfella]

I found out that I was using a layman's definition of 'resident alien'. After going through the IRS section on the Green Card Test and the Substantial Presence Test, I have come to the conclusion that he does not qualify as a resident alien because:

He is an F-visa holder who has been in the country since September 2015, which means that he has been in the country for less than 5 calendar years, which in turn means that he cannot yet start counting the 183 days for the 183 day test, which means that he fails the Substantial Presence Test, which means that he does not qualify to be termed a resident alien, and therefore means that I cannot claim the Other Dependents Credit.

Is my understanding correct?