First of all, if you want to confirm whether you are a tax resident, you need to have two tests:

One is the green card test,

The other is the actual residence test.

1. Green card test: If you do not meet the actual residence test in the year you receive your green card, then you have two options. One option is to start from the first day you obtain legal resident status. Counted as a tax resident. Of course, if you get a green card that year, you can also choose to become a tax resident and file taxes throughout that year.

2. Actual residence test: If you do not get a green card and become a permanent resident. So the way to test whether you are a tax resident is to calculate the number of days you stay in the United States. As long as you meet the following two conditions at the same time, you are a tax resident:

1) You stayed in the United States for at least 31 days in the current year;

2) You have been in the United States for the past three years (including the current year) The number of days in the United States exceeds 183 days according to the following calculation:

I. The total number of days in the current year, plus

II. The number of days in the previous year multiplied by one-third, plus

III. The number of days in the first two years is multiplied by one-sixth.

3. To give two examples, Mr. Wang, who does not have a green card, lived in the United States for 120 days in 2017 and 60 days in 2016 (multiplied by one-third equals 20 days) , he stayed in the United States for 180 days in 2015 (multiplied by one-sixth equals 30 days), so according to the calculation of the actual residence test, Mr. Wang stayed in the United States for 12230***170 days in the past three years, which does not meet the 183-day condition. Therefore, Mr. Wang can only be counted as a non-resident in the 2017 tax return. When filing taxes, he needs to use the 1040NR non-resident tax form.

What if Mr. Wang got his green card in 2017? Mr. Wang logged in to get his green card in September and became a permanent resident of the United States. Continuing with the above example, according to the actual residence test, Mr. Wang was a non-resident that year, but since he obtained his green card in 2017, he can choose two ways to file taxes:

1) He can choose to become dual status , use dual status to file taxes. Before you become a green card resident in September, you will be counted as a non-resident. After you become a green card resident in September, you will be treated as a tax resident. This operation is very complicated and requires a professional accountant to help you handle it.

2) Since Mr. Wang has obtained a green card, he can also choose to file taxes as a tax resident throughout the year. The processing in this case is relatively simple. But if Mr. Wang has a lot of assets in China, he also needs professional accountants to plan them carefully. After all, once you get your green card, you will have to bear the obligation to file taxes on your global income in the United States.

So, it is a good thing to get a green card and be able to enter and leave the United States freely, but it will give you a headache just thinking about the US tax system for global tax filing. It is not easy to get a green card, and it is not easy to become a green card flier who files taxes legally.