J-1 visa holder entered USA in 2014, resident in 2016. Spouse is a J-2 also entered USA in 2014, have EAD and taxable income for 2016. Does J-2 spouse also resident?

[bine22 · Accepted solution]

If your J1 visa is a nonstudent J1 visa, then you are a nonresident alien for the first 2 calendar years. AFter that you use th substantial presence test to determine residency (as you seem the have done). The same applies to any visa dependents of that J1 visa. So if she meets the SPT for 2016, she is a resident alien as well.

[JohnR1]

Assuming that you still have J-1 visa status, have not changed to another visa status and have not been issued a U.S. green card, you actually are still considered a nonresident for U.S. federal tax purposes, as would your wife, on a J-2 visa:

Please note that J-1 visa holders who substantially comply with the requirements of that visa, and who do not exceed the duration of their specific Visitor Exchange Program, are exempt from the Substantial Presence Test used to determine eligibility for being a resident alien for U.S. income tax purposes: this means that you are considered a nonresident alien.

As a nonresident alien you will need to file a Form 1040NR or Form 1040NR-EZ to report any U.S.-source income you have. TurboTax does not support Form 1040NR or Form 1040NR-EZ, so you will not be able to use TurboTax for your specific tax situation.

You may want to check out Sprintax, a partner of TurboTax, who are specifically geared towards international student nonresident aliens with 1040NR filing requirements - for more information visit https://www.sprintax.com/non-resident-alien-tax-1040nr-turbotax.html

For more information about nonresident alien status versus resident alien status, please see IRS Publication 519, US Tax Guide for Aliens:

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p519.pdf

[bine22]

A J1 visa holder is not a nonresident forever.  The exemption from the SPT is limited to 2 calendar years for nonstudents. Please update your posts.