How to fill out W-4 when spouse is going through Adjustment of Status - Non-Resident Alien question

The Non-Resident Alien question on your W-4 can definitely be tricky when you're in the immigration process. Based on what you've shared, your husband likely qualifies as a resident alien for tax purposes under the substantial presence test. The test generally counts days as follows: all days in current year (2023), 1/3 of days from previous year (2022), and 1/6 of days from two years ago (2021). If the total is 183 days or more AND your husband was in the US for at least 31 days in 2023, he passes the test and is considered a resident alien. In your case, that would be: all days since July 2023 (approximately 150+ days) + about 17 days from 2022 (50÷3) + 0 days from 2021. This appears to exceed the 183-day threshold, especially since you mentioned he's been here continuously since July. Therefore, answering "No" to the "Are you or your spouse a Non-Resident Alien" question would likely be correct. However, there are some exceptions to the substantial presence test that might apply depending on your specific situation.

Just wanted to share my experience because I just went through something similar! I found this awesome tool at https://taxr.ai that helped me figure out my spouse's status when I was filling out my W-4. My situation was almost identical - US citizen married to someone without a green card yet. The tool analyzed our situation and confirmed that the substantial presence test was the key factor, not the actual immigration status. It saved me hours of research and confusion! You basically just upload your documents or describe your situation and it gives you a detailed analysis with references to the exact IRS rules that apply to you.

Just wanted to update after trying the taxr.ai site that was recommended. It was actually super helpful for my F-1 visa spouse situation! I described our visa status, time in the US, and whether we were claiming treaty benefits, and it gave me a clear explanation about how the substantial presence test applies differently to students on F visas. Turns out my wife is exempt from counting days for the first 5 calendar years she's here as a student, which completely changes how we should answer the W-4 question. Would have definitely gotten this wrong without the specific guidance. Really recommend it if you're dealing with any immigration/tax crossover issues!

I see everyone talking about the substantial presence test, but honestly in my experience the IRS is impossible to reach if you have questions about this stuff. I wasted DAYS trying to call them about a similar situation with my spouse. But then I found this service called Claimyr at https://claimyr.com and they got me talking to an actual IRS agent in less than 15 minutes! You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c but basically they use some technology to navigate the IRS phone system and hold your place in line. When they reach an agent, they call you to connect. The agent was able to confirm exactly how I should fill out my W-4 with my spouse's weird residency situation. Way better than guessing or trying to interpret the rules myself.

Ok I have to admit I tried the Claimyr service after posting my skeptical comment. I seriously didn't believe it would work, but I was desperate after spending THREE HOURS on hold with the IRS yesterday trying to get clarity on this exact non-resident alien question for my spouse. Anyway, I tried it this morning and I was literally talking to an IRS rep within 20 minutes. The agent confirmed that since my spouse had been here over 183 days when counting the weighted formula, I should answer "No" to the non-resident alien question on my W-4. I'm still shocked it actually worked. Totally worth it just to get a definitive answer from the actual IRS rather than hoping I interpreted the rules correctly. If you're stuck on tax questions, especially complicated ones involving immigration status, it's way better than guessing.

Something important to consider - if your spouse is from a country that has a tax treaty with the US, they might be able to choose their tax residency status. My wife is from Canada, and we discovered she could choose to be treated as either a resident or non-resident alien for her first year here, whichever was more advantageous. You might want to check if your spouse's country has a tax treaty with the US that would allow this kind of election. It could potentially save you money depending on your situation.

Don't overlook the "first year choice" election the IRS allows! If your spouse wasn't a resident alien for any part of 2022 but meets the substantial presence test for 2023, you can treat them as a resident alien for the ENTIRE year of 2023, even for the parts of the year before they met the test. This could be really helpful for your W-4 and might give you more favorable tax treatment depending on your situation. You'll need to file a statement with your tax return if you make this election.

This is such a helpful thread! I'm dealing with a similar situation but with a twist - my spouse came here on a K-1 fiancé visa in late 2023, we got married in December, and now he's adjusting status to permanent resident. From reading all these responses, it sounds like the substantial presence test would still apply to determine his tax residency status, even though he entered on a different type of visa. He's been here about 4 months total in 2023, so probably doesn't meet the 183-day threshold for this year. But I'm curious about that "first year choice" election that @Zara Perez mentioned - would that apply to K-1 visa holders who get married and adjust status? It seems like it could be really beneficial for couples in our situation where someone arrives late in the year but will clearly be a resident going forward. Has anyone else navigated the W-4 question with a K-1 to adjustment of status timeline? I want to make sure I'm filling out my work forms correctly!

I went through this exact situation last year with my husband who was adjusting status from a tourist visa overstay (don't judge - we got married and filed everything properly!). The substantial presence test calculations can be really confusing, especially when you're trying to figure out partial years. One thing that helped me was keeping a detailed calendar of exactly which days my husband was physically present in the US. The IRS counts ANY part of a day as a full day for the substantial presence test, so even if someone arrives late at night or leaves early in the morning, those count as full days. For your situation with your husband arriving permanently in July 2023, make sure you're counting ALL days from July through December 31st, plus the brief January visit. That should put you well over the threshold when combined with the weighted days from 2022. Also, just a heads up - when you eventually file your 2023 tax return, you might want to consider making the "dual-status" election if it would be more beneficial. This lets you treat part of 2023 as non-resident (January through July) and part as resident (July onwards). Sometimes this can be better than treating the entire year as resident, depending on your income situations. The good news is that once someone meets the substantial presence test, the W-4 question becomes much clearer for future years!