Citizen or Residence Test for Dependents

To meet the citizen or resident test, a person must be a U.S. citizen or resident, or a resident of Canada or Mexico, for some part of the calendar year in which your tax year begins.

Children's Place of Residence

Children usually are citizens or residents of the country of their parents.

If you were a U.S. citizen when your child was born, the child may be a U.S. citizen although the other parent was a nonresident alien and the child was born in a foreign country. If so, and the other dependency tests are met, you can take the exemption. It does not matter if the child lives abroad with the nonresident alien parent.

If you are a U.S. citizen who has legally adopted a child who is not a U.S. citizen or resident, and the other dependency tests are met, you can take the exemption if your home is the child's main home and the child is a member of your household for your entire tax year.

Foreign Student's Place of Residence

Foreign students brought to this country under a qualified international education exchange program and placed in American homes for a temporary period generally are not U.S. residents and do not meet the citizen or resident test. You cannot claim an exemption for them. However, if you provided a home for a foreign student, you may be able to take a charitable contribution deduction. See Expenses Paid for Student Living With You in Publication 526 Charitable Contributions on the IRS site or in the knowledge base under Charitable Contributions.

Please note that you must have a valid social security number for all members of your household to e-file with our program.