The term nonresident alien of the United States refers to any foreign national who does not have lawful permanent residence or the substantial presence requirement.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the federal agency in charge of collecting taxes in the United States. For the payment of taxes, the IRS has different categories and processes for taxpayers. For foreign taxpayers, the United States Tax Law classifies them into two types: residents and non-residents.
In the case of resident foreigners, they must include in their declaration the income generated in the United States and that generated abroad. However, resident foreigners only have to pay taxes if they have been in the country for more than six months during the last fiscal year.
People with a Green Card, or legal permanent residence, are considered in the category of resident aliens. In this way they must send their 1040 form before April 15 of each year. It is important for residents to pay their taxes, as it can be an important factor in obtaining US citizenship.
On the other hand, non-resident aliens, that is, people with a non-immigrant visa or undocumented immigrants, do not have to pay taxes in all cases. This requires that they spend a minimum of 183 days in the United States during a fiscal year, that is, six months. In case of complying with this rule, it is necessary that they obtain a personal taxpayer identification number or ITIN, and submit their tax payment through form 1040nr.
Taxpayers classified as non-resident aliens include foreigners who operated or operate a business in the United States during the fiscal year; or foreigners who did not operate a business but who obtained income from the United States. For example, foreigners with visas type "F", "J", "M" or "Q".
