J2 and F1, am I Resident?

[MightyOwl326]

Hi,

I arrived in the US for the first time back in 2012 with a J-2 visa. At that time I was a dependent on my father's J-1 visa and he was a visiting scholar. I stayed in the US for a month.

In 2016, I arrived in the US again with my F-1 visa until now.

For my 2020 tax filing, am I a Resident Alien or Non Resident Alien? Sprint ax said I am RA now, but isn't there a 6 year look back rule for the non-student J visa?

[DanaB27]

The 6 year lookback rule does not apply in your case. You are a resident in 2020 since you had been exempt in 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 and met the Substantial Presence Test in 2020.  Please see IRS Alien Residency Examples Example 10 for additional information. 

[MightyOwl326]

Hi, thank you for your reply! I'm still slightly confused.

Since my dad's J1 visa back in 2012 was non-student as visiting professor, wouldn't that make my J2 visa also non-student, therefore fall into the category with 6 year look back rule?

As of 2020, I have been exempt for 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. Because my J2 visa was 8 years ago, so I should still have one year left as a exempt individual?

sorry for the long question, I'm trying to figure out which part I understood incorrectly.

[LinaJ2020]

The 6 year look back rule applies when you first enter with a F-1 visa and then return the US with a J-1 visa. Not the the other way around.  

You are a resident in 2020.  When you first entered with the J-visa then F, you fall into the five-year life time exempt category for the F-1 visa.  So, you count 2012 ( while you were on J-visa), 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 for the years that you do not count days.   Starting from January 1, 2020, if you stayed in the US for more than 183 days, you are a US resident.  

@MightyOwl326

[Phonon]

Hi,

I came to US in 2011 with F1 visa and then switched to J1 in 2019. I think I am exempt again in 2021 because of the 6 year look back rule.. Q: what if I have a spouse with J2 visa? I read something like if your sparse is RA you can chose to fill the forms as RA. Does that only apply if you are married to US citizen or GC holder?

[LoganathanB]

Yes. If, at the end of your tax year, you are married and one spouse is a U.S. citizen or a U.S. resident(includes resident aliens) and the other is not, you can choose to treat the nonresident spouse as a U.S. resident for tax purposes.

For more information click on the link below.

Non-resident spouse

[bjiducjd]

Hi, I have the same situation but a longer period betweeen J2 and F1. My entries are below: J2 2007-2008 (10 month), F1(2018-2019), F1(2021-now). According to the six year look back rule, am I a nra or ra for the year 2022? Thanks!

[ErnieS0]

You would be a resident for 2022. You used your five exempt years (2007, 2008, 2018, 2019, 2021).

The rule for F and J students is a five-year lifetime limit, so one must look back to January 1,
1985 to see if there have been any years as an exempt individual to determine the current year
substantial presence test results. 

See Tax Expert DanaB27's chart in the answers above.

You can discuss your situation with TurboTax partner Sprintax.com, who handles non-resident tax returns.

[bjiducjd]

Thanks for your quick reply! So the 6-year look back rule does not apply to my conditions, correct?
And one of my employer withheld based on NRA and thus the W-2 exported from intuit does not have FICA withheld. Can I still use this w-2 to input info into TurboTax?

thanks!

[DaveF1006]

Yes, according to this, the six-year rule applies for persons in F, J, M or Q visa status. It stipulates that you must have at least two calendar years of NRA for tax purposes status during the prior six calendar year period from the current year. 

You qualify because you were a NRA 2018-2021 so you will qualify to be exempt from FICA taxes in 2022. You may use this W2 for this year.

@bjiducjd 

[Mariak45]

What is this 6 years back rule?