How to Fill Out Form 8843: Parts, Filing, and Missed Deadlines

To fill out Form 8843, complete Part I with your personal and visa details, then complete only the one additional part that matches your exempt category — students use Part III, teachers and trainees use Part II, professional athletes at charitable events use Part IV, and anyone stuck in the U.S. by a medical condition uses Part V. Most filers finish the form in under 30 minutes once they have their passport, visa records, and travel dates in front of them.

What to Gather Before You Start

Pull together your passport, your visa documentation or I-94 arrival/departure record, and a list of every date you entered and left the United States during the current tax year and the two years before it. If you traveled more than once or twice, check your I-94 history on the CBP website before you write anything down.

Students need the name, address, and phone number of the school they attended, plus the name and contact information of their academic program director. Teachers and trainees need the same details for their sponsoring institution or employer. Both categories require a signed certification from the director or another institutional official, so request that signature well before the filing deadline.

You do not need a Social Security Number or ITIN to file. The form has a space for a U.S. taxpayer identification number; if you have never been issued one, leave it blank.¹

Part I: General Information

Write your full legal name and address at the top exactly as they appear on your passport. Enter your U.S. taxpayer identification number in the box provided if you have one.

Line 1a asks for your nonimmigrant visa type (F-1, J-1, J-2, and so on) and the date of your most recent entry into the U.S. under that visa. Line 1b asks for your current nonimmigrant status as of the last day of the tax year. For most filers, 1b matches 1a. If your status changed during the year, enter the date of the change and the previous status.¹

Line 2 is your country of citizenship. Lines 3a and 3b are the country that issued your passport and the passport number itself.

Line 4a asks for the actual number of days you were physically present in the United States during the current tax year and each of the two preceding tax years. For a 2025 filing, enter days for 2025, 2024, and 2023. If you were not present at all in one of those years, enter zero. Line 4b asks how many of the current year’s days you are claiming as excludable.¹ The three-year window matters because the Substantial Presence Test looks back that far; filing this form is how you keep those days out of the count.²

Complete Only the Part That Matches Your Category

After Part I, skip to the one part that matches why you were in the U.S. Do not fill out parts that don’t apply.

Part II: Teachers and Trainees (Lines 5–8)

This section is for J or Q visa holders present as a teacher or trainee rather than a student. Provide the name, address, and phone number of the institution or employer that administered your program, along with the name and contact details of the program director, who must sign a certification that you complied with your visa requirements.¹

Line 8 asks whether you were exempt as a teacher, trainee, or student for any part of two of the six preceding calendar years. If yes, you generally cannot claim the teacher or trainee exemption this year. A narrow exception exists: if a foreign employer paid all of your compensation during the current year and during each prior year you were present as a teacher or trainee, and you were exempt for three or fewer of the six prior years, you may still qualify. Attach a statement explaining how you meet those conditions.¹

Part III: Students (Lines 9–14)

Use this section if you were in the U.S. on an F, J, M, or Q visa as a student. Enter the school’s name, address, and phone number, and the name and contact details of your academic program director. The director or another institutional official must sign a certification confirming that you are complying with your visa terms and are not a lawful permanent resident.¹

Line 12 asks whether you have been exempt as a teacher, trainee, or student for any part of more than five calendar years. Even one day of U.S. presence in a calendar year counts toward that five-year clock. If you check “Yes,” attach a written statement explaining that you do not intend to permanently reside in the United States and that you are still complying with your visa. Without that statement, the IRS will not accept the exemption beyond five years.³

Part IV: Professional Athletes (Lines 15–16)

If you competed in a qualifying charitable sports event, enter the event name, the dates of competition, and the name and employer identification number of the tax-exempt organization that benefited. Attach a separate statement confirming that all net proceeds were donated to that organization.⁴

Part V: Medical Condition (Lines 17–18)

Use Part V only if you planned to leave the U.S. but a medical condition that developed while you were here physically prevented your departure. Line 17 asks you to describe the condition, the date you intended to leave, and the date you actually left. You cannot use this section if you came to the U.S. specifically for medical treatment, if the condition existed before your arrival and you knew about it, or if you recovered enough to leave but stayed beyond a reasonable time to arrange travel.¹

Line 18 is a physician’s certification. Your doctor must sign a statement confirming you were unable to leave on the intended date because of the medical condition and that there was no indication it was preexisting. Include the physician’s name, address, and phone number.¹

Spouses and Dependents File Their Own Forms

Every nonresident individual in exempt status who spent any time in the U.S. during the tax year needs a separate Form 8843. That includes spouses on F-2 or J-2 visas and dependent children of any age, even infants. You cannot combine family members onto one form. If a child is too young to sign, a parent signs on their behalf with the notation “By [your signature], parent for minor child.”⁵

Where and When to File

If you had U.S. source income and are filing Form 1040-NR, attach Form 8843 to that return. The 1040-NR is due April 15 when your income included wages subject to U.S. withholding, and June 15 when your income was not subject to withholding and you had no U.S. office or place of business.⁶ Form 8843 can be e-filed when it is submitted with a 1040-NR.⁷

If you had no U.S. income and are filing Form 8843 by itself, the deadline is June 15 of the year following the tax year. A standalone Form 8843 cannot be e-filed. Mail the paper form to:

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service Center
Austin, TX 73301-0215¹

Use that address only when Form 8843 is the only document you are mailing. If you are attaching it to a 1040-NR, use the address in the 1040-NR instructions, which varies depending on whether you are including a payment.

If You Missed the Deadline

There is no monetary penalty for failing to file Form 8843.⁸ The consequence is different: without a filed form, you cannot exclude your days of U.S. presence from the Substantial Presence Test, and if the unexcluded days push your weighted total to 183 or more the IRS can treat you as a U.S. resident, making your worldwide income taxable in the United States.¹

If you missed the deadline, the form instructions allow you to still claim the exclusion if you can show by clear and convincing evidence that you took reasonable steps to learn about the filing requirements and made significant efforts to comply. Attach a written explanation of why the form is late and send it to the Austin address as soon as possible.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Form 8843 – Statement for Exempt Individuals and Individuals With a Medical Condition
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Internal Revenue Service. Substantial Presence Test
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Internal Revenue Service. Exempt Individual – Who Is a Student
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Internal Revenue Service. Foreign Professional Athletes in the U.S. Competing in a Charitable Sports Event
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Internal Revenue Service. Completing Form 8843
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Internal Revenue Service. Taxation of Nonresident Aliens
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Internal Revenue Service. Completing Form 8843
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Internal Revenue Service. Completing Form 8843