Exempt individual

Four groups can be exempt individuals. Students on F, J, M or Q visas, and teachers and trainees on J or Q visas, are the most common. Diplomats and other foreign government-related individuals qualify, as do professional athletes at a charitable sports event. A spouse or unmarried child under 21 in your household can share the status on a dependent visa, such as an F-2 or J-2. A student who works without authorization, or takes less than a full course load, can lose the status.

A student gets 5 exempt calendar years, and any part of a year counts as a full one, even if you arrive in December. Years spent as a J or Q teacher or trainee count toward the 5. From the sixth calendar year the days count, unless you prove you do not plan to stay permanently. A teacher or trainee is generally not exempt this year if they were exempt in 2 or more of the previous 6 years. Foreign government-related individuals have no time limit.

Exempt days also stay out of the next two years’ counts. The substantial presence test would otherwise count a third of last year’s days and a sixth of the days from the year before that. To leave the days out, file Form 8843 for every exempt year if you are a student, teacher, trainee or athlete. You need one even in a year with no income. Attach it to your Form 1040-NR, or mail it alone if you file no return. Diplomats and most others on A or G visas do not need to file it.

The word exempt refers only to the day count, and it gives no exemption from US tax. Pay from a campus job, for example, still goes on Form 1040-NR. A separate rule spares nonresident F, J, M and Q visa holders from FICA on work tied to their visa’s purpose.