Nonresident returns
We prepare Form 1040-NR, the nonresident alien tax return, for students and scholars as well as workers. We attach Form 8843 where it is due and claim any treaty exemption you qualify for.
Visa holders
Valim’s US tax consultants are licensed CPAs who prepare returns for H-1B and other visa holders, and for new residents.
Visa holders, international students and new green card holders can hire Valim, a US CPA firm with ex-Big Four leadership, for a fixed fee. We prepare your Form 1040-NR as a nonresident, your arrival-year return (often dual-status) and your resident returns. Individual returns start at $195, and Tax advisory adds planning around your move.
Updated · Sources
Valim for visa holders
- $195
- is the lowest fee for any individual return.
- 50
- states are covered, whichever one your job brings you to.
- <1 week
- after your last document arrives, most returns are filed.
We handle the US side of your move, from the first return to accounts back home.
The year you arrive
We find the day your residency started and prepare the return that year needs. We compare the elections that change how that year is filed, and what each means for later years.
Accounts back home
Once you are a resident alien, we file an FBAR for each year your accounts back home pass its threshold. We add Form 8938 where it applies, and Form 8621 for foreign funds such as Indian mutual funds.
Tax paid at home
Your home country may tax income the US taxes too, such as rent from a flat you own there. We claim the foreign tax credit for it on Form 1116.
Planning the move
We plan your move before US residency starts. That can mean selling property back home while the gain is still outside US tax.
Your accountant back home
Your home country’s return stays with your accountant there. We prepare the US return and work with them on the figures both returns share.
What happens between your quote and your filed return?
- 01
A price before any work
The instant quote turns your answers into a fixed fee, which holds for 7 days. No work is billed hourly.
- 02
A licensed CPA signs
We built automation that reads any Form 1042-S and your W-2. A licensed US CPA prepares and signs your return, and you message them in one portal.
- 03
Your notices, answered
When an IRS or state notice arrives about a return we prepared, we write the reply within your fee.
A nonresident US tax return is priced like any other individual return.
Individual return filing
From $195
The plan covers returns of any complexity, and you can ask your CPA questions at any point in the year.
Tax advisory
Priced in your quote
Your CPA works as your personal tax advisor all year. Talk to them before a big decision, such as selling property back home before your US residency starts.
Your visa and your days in the US set which US tax rules apply to you.
Your tax residency
A foreign national becomes a resident alien through the green card test, the substantial presence test or the first-year choice, unless an exception applies.
The nonresident return
A nonresident alien who worked in the US generally files Form 1040-NR, even when a treaty exempts the pay.
The US-India tax treaty
Under Article 21(2), students from India can claim the standard deduction on Form 1040-NR, which other nonresident aliens cannot.
Exchange visitors on a J-1
A J-1 researcher’s days usually stay out of the residency count for 2 calendar years, and a student’s for 5.
Professionals on a TN
Days commuted from a home in Canada or Mexico stay out of the day count only if you commute on over 75% of your workdays.
Transfers on an L-1
An L-1 transferee’s pay for work done in the US is generally US income, even when the parent company abroad still pays it.
Contractors on an O-1
An O-1 contractor who is a nonresident alien generally owes no self-employment tax, and pays it after becoming a resident alien.
Investors on an E-2
An E-2 investor who is still a nonresident alien cannot own S corporation stock.
Moving from Canada
Canada taxes most of your gains as you leave, and a treaty election can set your US cost at that value.
Moving from the UK
Once you live in the US, only the US taxes your UK State Pension, under Article 17(3).
Moving from Australia
A treaty election under Article 13(5) can stop the US taxing a gain Australia already taxed when you left.
Moving from Singapore
With no US-Singapore income tax treaty, a new US resident gets no tie-breaker and no treaty rates.
Moving from South Korea
Most Korean funds are PFICs, so each usually needs its own Form 8621 every year.
Moving from the Philippines
SSS benefits stay taxable only in the Philippines, even after you become a US citizen.
Moving from Mexico
No IRS guidance says how an Afore is taxed, so its US treatment stays unsettled.
Moving from Brazil
Leaving Brazil takes two filings with Receita Federal, and without the first you stay resident for 12 months.
Moving from India
Interest on an NRE (non-resident external) account can be tax-free in India, but the US taxes it once you are a resident alien.
Moving from Switzerland
Swiss source tax on a pillar 2 payout comes back only if you are a US resident when it is paid.
Moving from Poland
The 1974 treaty has no pension article, so Poland and the US can both tax a ZUS pension.
Moving from South Africa
South Africa’s exit tax treats most of what you own as sold the day before your residence ends.
“My CPA did not know complex cross-border rules. Thank you for your expertise.”
Learn which return your year in the US needs before you file it.
Visa holders and students raise these questions before their first US return.
Am I a resident or nonresident for tax on an H-1B?
An H-1B holder usually becomes a resident alien for tax, because every H-1B day counts toward the substantial presence test. Arrive by July 2 with no earlier US days, and you usually pass it in your first year. That year is then dual-status, nonresident before your start date and resident after. With fewer than 183 days here that year, the closer connection exception can keep you nonresident. A green card application pending or filed for you that year rules it out.
Can I use TurboTax for my first year in the US?
TurboTax works for your first year only if it supports the return that year needs. That return is often not a regular Form 1040. A nonresident files Form 1040-NR, and it can be e-filed. A year that starts nonresident and ends resident usually needs a dual-status return, which the IRS bars from e-filing for tax year 2025. With a US citizen or resident spouse, you can sometimes elect a joint return for the whole year instead.
Do I need to report my bank accounts in India?
Yes, once you are a US resident alien, whether or not the accounts earn taxable income. You file an FBAR once your foreign accounts, NRE and NRO included, total more than $10,000 at any point in the year. Form 8938 may also be due with your return, at higher thresholds. Nonresident aliens, such as F-1 students in their exempt years, generally file neither. A nonresident who elects to file jointly as a resident may still need Form 8938.
Are my Indian mutual funds a problem for US tax?
Usually, yes, once you are a US resident. US tax rules generally treat an Indian mutual fund as a passive foreign investment company (PFIC). Without an election, gains and excess distributions (payouts well above the fund’s recent average) are spread over the years you held the fund. The part spread to earlier years is taxed at each year’s top rate, plus interest. You usually file a Form 8621 for each fund every year.
Should international students use Sprintax or a tax preparer?
Software that supports Form 1040-NR can be enough for a simple student return. An international student files Form 8843 for each exempt year, even with no US income. Form 1040-NR follows once you have taxable US income, such as wages or a taxable scholarship. A preparer is worth paying when you claim a treaty exemption or become a resident partway through the year.
How much does a nonresident or first-year return cost?
At Valim, a nonresident or first-year return is priced as an individual return, from $195, with the fee fixed before work starts. We also plan around your move, and the return is still included. Accounts and holdings back home add to the fee, and the instant quote counts them.
Is there a 7-year tax exemption for new immigrants?
No, the US has no tax holiday for new immigrants. A resident alien is taxed on worldwide income from the first day of residency. The 7 years people cite usually comes from India’s “not ordinarily resident” status, and one of its tests looks back 7 years. That status limits Indian tax on foreign income, and it changes nothing about your US tax.
Sources
- 26 U.S.C. § 7701, Definitions (resident alien and nonresident alien)
- 26 C.F.R. § 301.7701(b)-3, Days of presence that are excluded for purposes of section 7701(b)
- IRS, Publication 519 (2025), U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens
- 26 U.S.C. § 6013, Joint returns of income tax by husband and wife
- 26 C.F.R. § 1.6012-1, Individuals required to make returns of income
- IRS, Instructions for Form 1040-NR (2025)
- IRS, Form 8843 (2025), Statement for Exempt Individuals
- 31 C.F.R. § 1010.350, Reports of foreign financial accounts
- IRS, Instructions for Form 8938
- 26 U.S.C. § 1291, Interest on tax deferral (PFICs)
- 26 U.S.C. § 1297, Passive foreign investment company
- IRS, Instructions for Form 8621
- Treas. Reg. § 1.1-1, Income tax on individuals
- 26 U.S.C. § 872, Gross income (nonresident alien individuals)
- 26 U.S.C. § 901, Taxes of foreign countries and of possessions of United States
- US-India income tax convention (IRS text)
- Income Tax Department of India, Non-resident FAQ (NRE interest and residential status)
- 26 U.S.C. § 3121, Definitions (employment for FICA)
- 26 U.S.C. § 861, Income from sources within the United States
- 26 U.S.C. § 1402, Definitions (self-employment income)
- 26 U.S.C. § 1361, S corporation defined
Reviewed and updated September 2026. General information, not advice for your situation.