Form 8840: Closer Connection Exception — Fill Online

What is Form 8840?

Form 8840 is how a foreign national who spends a good part of the year in the United States claims the closer connection exception to the substantial presence test. Without it, someone who counts enough days over three years — all of this year's days, a third of last year's and a sixth of the year before's, adding up to 183 — is treated as a US resident for tax and taxed on their worldwide income.

The exception works only if you were in the US fewer than 183 days in 2025, kept your tax home in a foreign country all year, and had a closer connection to that country than to the US. Holding a green card, or having applied or taken steps to apply for one, rules it out. The form's Part IV asks where your home, family, car, belongings, bank, driver's license, voter registration, documents, income and health coverage are, to show where your life is centred.

FileIt walks you through each question, checks the eligibility rules, prints your answers into the IRS's own 2025 PDF and keeps a copy in your vault. You attach it to your Form 1040-NR or mail it by itself — FileIt never files anything with the IRS.

Who fills it: An alien individual who meets the substantial presence test but claims a closer connection to a foreign country.
Sent to: Attached to Form 1040-NR, or by itself to the IRS, Austin, TX 73301-0215.
Deadline: The Form 1040-NR due date for 2025, including extensions.
Signatures: You sign only when you file it by itself.
Edition: 2025 (a new form each tax year)
Agency: Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Department of the Treasury

Who needs to fill out Form 8840?

Canadian and other foreign snowbirds who winter in the US for up to about six months each year.
Foreign retirees with a second home in the US who keep their main home, family and ties abroad.
Business visitors whose days over three years add up to the substantial presence threshold.
Anyone who passes the substantial presence test but was in the US fewer than 183 days in 2025 and kept their tax home abroad all year.

When to use Form 8840

Every year that your weighted days reach the substantial presence test — a 2025 form for 2025.
With your Form 1040-NR if you have to file one, or on its own if you don't have a US return to file.
Not if you were in the US 183 days or more in 2025, hold a green card, or applied (or took steps to apply) for one.
Not to exclude days as a student, teacher, trainee or for a medical condition: that's Form 8843.

What you need before you start

Your name, any SSN or ITIN, and your visa type (or status, such as VWP) and date of entry.
Your citizenships, passport countries and passport numbers.
The number of days you were in the US in 2025, 2024 and 2023.
Where your tax home was all year, and the country you're more closely connected to (two countries only if you moved your tax home during 2025).
Where your home, family, cars, belongings, banks, licenses, voter registration, documents, investments and health coverage are.
If filing by itself: your addresses abroad and in the US.

What’s on Form 8840

The 2025 edition has 4 pages. FileIt asks for it in 6 parts, and it is signed by Taxpayer (signs when filing by itself):

Your detailsThe individual (alien filer)
Filing by itself: addresses and signatureTaxpayer (signs when filing by itself)
Part I: General informationThe individual (alien filer)
Part II: Closer connection to one foreign countryThe individual (alien filer)
Part III: Closer connection to two foreign countriesThe individual (alien filer)
Part IV: Significant contacts with the foreign country or countriesThe individual (alien filer)

How to fill out Form 8840, step by step

1 Heading: Year and identity

Most people file for calendar year 2025; a fiscal year is rare for individuals. Enter your name and any US taxpayer ID. Fill in the two address boxes only if you file the form by itself.

2 Part I: General information

Line 1 is your visa type and entry date, or your immigration status if you had no visa — for the Visa Waiver Program, "VWP" and the country. Lines 2–4 cover citizenship and passports, line 5 your days in the US over the three years, and line 6 whether you took any step toward a green card in 2025. A "Yes" on line 6 means you can't use this form.

3 Part II or Part III: The foreign country

Complete one, not both. Part II names your tax home and the country you were more closely connected to. Part III is for someone who moved their tax home from one foreign country to another during 2025, and asks about residence taxation and returns in both. FileIt shows the right part from your answer.

4 Part IV: Significant contacts

Lines 14 to 30 ask where your permanent home, family, cars, belongings, banks, business activities, driver's licenses and voter registration are, what you list as your residence, which W-8 or W-9 forms you've completed, where your documents, income and investments are, and whether a foreign national health plan covers you. Answer each one plainly; attach a statement if you want to say more.

5 Signature

Sign only when the form goes in by itself. With Form 1040-NR, your return's signature covers it.

Common mistakes to avoid

Filing late: without a timely Form 8840 you can lose the exception and be treated as a US resident, unless you can show clear and convincing evidence of reasonable efforts to comply.
Filing it after spending 183 days or more in the US in 2025, or while a green card application is in progress.
Filling in both Part II and Part III.
Leaving Part IV answers vague; the IRS weighs these contacts to decide where your closer connection is.
One form for a couple: each person files their own Form 8840.
Reusing a prior year's form instead of the 2025 edition.

After you fill it out

If you file Form 1040-NR, attach Form 8840 to it and mail them by the due date, including extensions, to the address in the return's instructions.

If you don't have to file a return, sign the form and mail it by itself to the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center, Austin, TX 73301-0215 by the Form 1040-NR due date.

FileIt keeps the completed statement in your vault. Set a yearly reminder: you'll need a fresh Form 8840 for each year your days reach the substantial presence test.

Fill out Form 8840 online with FileIt

Pick the person. Choose someone from People and FileIt fills in their name, date of birth, address and other details it already knows.
Answer plain-language questions. One part of the form at a time, with the official help text beside each question — 56 fields in all. Your answers save as you go.
Check the live preview. Watch your answers land on the real Internal Revenue Service (IRS) form, and let FileIt do any worksheet arithmetic.
Generate the official PDF. FileIt prints your answers into the agency’s own PDF and files it in that person’s folder in your vault. Sign it, or send it for e-signature.

FileIt fills the form — it never files or submits anything for you. Deliver the finished form to whoever asked for it, the way the form’s instructions say.

Start Form 8840 now — it’s free

Form 8840: frequently asked questions

Do I need to file Form 8840 every year?

Yes, for every year in which you meet the substantial presence test and want to claim the closer connection exception. Each year has its own edition of the form.

What's the 183-day rule here?

Two different numbers matter. The substantial presence test adds all of this year's days, a third of last year's and a sixth of the year before's; reaching 183 (with at least 31 days this year) makes you a resident. The closer connection exception then needs fewer than 183 actual days in the current year.

Can a green card holder use Form 8840?

No. Lawful permanent residents can't, and neither can anyone who applied for, took steps toward, or had a pending application for permanent residence during the year.

Do I sign Form 8840?

Only when you file it by itself. When you attach it to Form 1040-NR, you don't sign the form separately.

My spouse and I both winter in the US. Do we file one form?

No. The instructions say each alien individual files a separate Form 8840.

Can I fill out Form 8840 online?

With FileIt you answer guided questions and your answers are printed into the official IRS PDF, which you then mail with your return or on its own.

Official sources

Blank form (PDF), published by Internal Revenue Service (IRS): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8840.pdf
Official instructions and guidance: https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-8840
Edition shown on this page: 2025 (tax-year form, created 4/28/25) (checked 2026-10-19).

FileIt is not affiliated with or endorsed by Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or any government. This page explains the form in general terms and is not legal, tax or immigration advice. Always read the official instructions, and check that you are using the edition the recipient accepts. Page last reviewed 2026-10-19.