PROTECT · VOLUME 1 OF 3 · FOUNDATIONSLife on a US Visa shelf
Arriving and Working on a Visa
The first book for anyone living and working in the US on a visa. It explains how the IRS decides whether you are taxed as a resident or a nonresident, how to count your days and survive the first year, what happens to Social Security and Medicare, how to read a nonresident paycheck, how to open accounts and build credit from zero, which retirement and health accounts make sense if you might leave, and which forms to file.
Chapters8
Reading time45 min
Worked examples14
Updated2026-10-01
What you will be able to do
- Work out whether you are a resident or nonresident alien for tax this year, and when that is likely to change.
- Count your days for the substantial presence test, know when your student or scholar exemption ends, and file Form 8843 when it is required.
- Recognise a dual-status first year and judge whether the first-year choice or a joint return is worth considering.
- Check that your paycheck's withholding, Social Security and Medicare match your status, and fill in Form W-4 correctly as a nonresident.
- Choose your accounts, build a US credit history, and decide how to use a 401(k), IRA or HSA if you might leave the US.
Contents
8 CHAPTERS · ABOUT 45 MIN- 01Your Tax Status Is Not Your Visa Why the IRS sorts visa holders into resident and nonresident aliens by its own tests, the green card and substantial presence tests, and what each status changes about the income taxed, the form filed and the deductions allowed.6 min2 computed
- 02Counting Days: the Substantial Presence Test and Form 8843 How to count days of presence, which days never count, how long F, J, M and Q students and J-1 scholars stay exempt, when Form 8843 is due even with no income, and the closer connection exception.6 min2 computed
- 03Your First Year: Dual Status and the First-Year Choice When residency starts, the restrictions on a dual-status return, the first-year choice for people who arrive late in the year, and the full-year resident choice that lets a married couple file jointly.6 min2 computed
- 04Social Security and Medicare: Who Pays and When It Starts Who owes FICA on a visa, why F-1 and J-1 nonresident students are exempt and the exact point the exemption ends, how to recover tax withheld by mistake, and what US credits and totalization agreements are worth if you leave.6 min1 computed
- 05Your Paycheck: Withholding and the W-4 for Nonresidents How gross pay becomes take-home pay on a visa, the special Form W-4 instructions for nonresident aliens, why employers add to a nonresident's wages before withholding, treaty exemptions on Form 8233, and how a 401(k) changes the tax.5 min2 computed
- 06Bank Accounts, an SSN or ITIN, and Credit from Zero Who can get a Social Security number and when, what an ITIN is for, opening a bank account without US history, building a credit file from nothing, and sizing a cash cushion around a visa grace period.6 min2 computed
- 07401(k), IRA and HSA When You Might Leave Which retirement and health accounts you can use on a visa, the 2026 limits, what the employer match is worth, and what withholding, the early-withdrawal tax and your home country do to the money if you leave.5 min1 computed
- 08Filing Your Return: Form 1040 or 1040-NR, and State Taxes Which federal form each tax status files, the April and June deadlines, what a nonresident return allows, the FBAR and Form 8938 duties that come with residency, joint filing, and how state income tax follows its own rules.6 min2 computed
CALCULATORS USED IN THIS BOOK