Can I claim my international student partner as a dependent on my tax return?

This is actually a common question with international students. Based on the information you've provided, you *may* be able to claim your girlfriend as a qualifying relative dependent, but there are several tests she needs to meet: 1. She must have lived with you the entire year (which sounds like she did) 2. Her gross income must be less than $4,800 for 2024 (for 2025 filing) 3. You must provide more than half of her total support for the year 4. She can't be filing a joint return with someone else The citizenship test is where your situation gets tricky. Generally, your dependent must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, U.S. resident alien, or a resident of Canada or Mexico. If your girlfriend meets the "substantial presence test" by being physically present in the U.S. for at least 183 days during the year, she may qualify as a resident alien for tax purposes, even though she's on a student visa. Having an SSN is good, as you need a valid taxpayer ID number to claim someone.

After reading your situation, I thought I'd share my experience. I was in a similar situation last year with my partner who's an international student. I spent hours going through IRS publications and still felt lost until I found this AI tax assistant at https://taxr.ai that really helped me figure out my specific situation. I uploaded our visa documents and income information, and it walked me through exactly which tests my partner met and didn't meet for dependency status. It confirmed what the previous commenter said about the income threshold but also showed me some education credits I could claim since I was paying for some of her qualified education expenses. Might be worth checking out if you're still confused.

Just wanted to follow up about my experience with the taxr.ai service mentioned earlier. I decided to give it a try with my boyfriend's J-1 visa situation, and I'm actually impressed. It identified a tax treaty between his country (Brazil) and the US that I had no idea about, which meant some of his income was exempt from US taxation. The document analysis feature saved me tons of time - I uploaded his DS-2019, I-94, and last year's tax return, and it immediately flagged inconsistencies in how we'd been reporting his status. Would definitely recommend for anyone dealing with international student tax situations!

If you're still struggling with the IRS's rules on this, you might want to try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I was in a similar situation with my spouse who was on an F-1 visa, and the IRS kept giving me conflicting information every time I called (when I could actually get through). Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes when I had been trying for weeks. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The agent I spoke with confirmed exactly what rules applied to our situation and helped me understand how the "exempt individual" rules worked for F-1 students. Saved me from potentially making a mistake on my return.

I need to eat my words from my previous comment. After my accountant suggested I try Claimyr for a complicated amended return issue that had been hanging over my head for months, I reluctantly gave it a shot. It actually worked exactly as advertised. I got connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes when I had previously spent over 4 hours on multiple days trying to get through. The agent was able to look up my case and provide the exact guidance I needed on my international dependent situation. Sometimes being proven wrong is a good thing!

Something no one has mentioned yet - check if there's a tax treaty between the US and Canada that might affect your situation. Many countries have treaties with the US that can impact how international students are taxed. Some tax treaties have specific provisions for students that might override the regular dependent rules. Your girlfriend should also check if she's required to file Form 8843 (Statement for Exempt Individuals with a Medical Condition) which most international students need to file even if they don't have income.

The other commenters have great points, but I want to add that you might want to look into whether you qualify for the "Other Dependent" credit which is part of the Credit for Other Dependents. Even if she doesn't qualify as a full dependent due to her income, you might still be eligible for a partial credit if you're providing significant support.