Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Edition 2025 (tax-year form, created 6/5/25) 4 pages

Form 8843 (2025) — Statement for Exempt Individuals and Individuals With a Medical Condition

The IRS statement international students, scholars, trainees and their families file to exclude their days in the U.S. from the substantial presence test.

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Form 8843 · Statement for Exempt Individuals and Individuals With a Medical Condition
The official Internal Revenue Service (IRS) form, edition 2025 (tax-year form, created 6/5/25) — blank
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What is Form 8843?

Form 8843 explains to the IRS why days you spent in the United States shouldn't count toward the substantial presence test, the day-count test that decides whether a foreign national is taxed as a U.S. resident. It is for alien individuals who were exempt individuals — teachers or trainees on a J or Q visa, students on an F, J, M or Q visa, professional athletes competing in charitable sports events — or who couldn't leave because of a medical condition that arose while they were in the U.S.

Each exempt person files their own Form 8843, even with no U.S. income at all, which includes spouses and children on F-2 or J-2 visas. If you file Form 1040-NR, you attach it to the return. If you don't have to file a return, you mail it by itself to the IRS in Austin, Texas, by the 1040-NR due date. The form warns that if you don't file it on time you may not be able to exclude days as a professional athlete or because of a medical condition, which could make you a U.S. resident for tax purposes.

FileIt walks you through Part I and only the parts that apply to you, checks that the days you exclude don't exceed your days of presence, and prints everything into the IRS's own PDF — including non-English names and addresses, which it draws in a font that can show them. The finished form is saved in your vault. You mail it or attach it to your return yourself; FileIt never sends anything to the IRS.

Who files
Each alien individual excluding days of presence: F, J, M or Q students, J or Q teachers and trainees, and their dependants; athletes at charitable events; people kept in the U.S. by a medical condition.
Filed with
Form 1040-NR, or on its own when you have no return to file.
Mail it alone to
Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center, Austin, TX 73301-0215 (as printed in the instructions).
When
By the due date (including extensions) for filing Form 1040-NR.
Signatures
You sign only when filing it by itself. Your physician signs line 18 for a medical exclusion.
Edition
2025 (for calendar year 2025)

Who needs to fill out Form 8843?

  • International students on F-1, J-1, M-1 or Q-1 visas who are excluding their days of U.S. presence as students.
  • Spouses and children on F-2, J-2 or M-2 visas, even if they had no U.S. income.
  • Teachers, researchers and trainees on a J or Q visa (other than as students).
  • Professional athletes who competed in a charitable sports event in the U.S.
  • Anyone who intended to leave the U.S. but couldn't because of a medical condition or problem that arose while they were there.
  • Not needed by holders of other A or G visas (foreign government-related individuals), except A-3 and G-5, who must count all their days.

When to use Form 8843

  • Every year you are in the U.S. as an exempt individual and exclude days of presence, not just the first.
  • With your Form 1040-NR, if you have U.S. income and file a return.
  • By itself, if you have no return to file, by the 1040-NR due date.
  • For a medical exclusion, after your physician can complete line 18.

What you need before you start

  • Your passport(s) and U.S. visa, and the date of your most recent entry (from your I-94 record at i94.cbp.dhs.gov).
  • Your current nonimmigrant status, and the date and previous status if it changed (your Form I-797 shows the approval date).
  • The number of days you were physically present in the U.S. in 2025, 2024 and 2023.
  • Your SSN or ITIN, if you have one (not required to file Form 8843).
  • Students: the name, address and phone number of your school and of your program director (often the international student office).
  • Teachers and trainees: the institution or program director's details.
  • The visa type you held in each year from 2019 to 2024, if any.
  • Your address in your home country and in the U.S., if filing the form by itself.

What’s on Form 8843

The 2025 edition has 4 pages. FileIt asks for it in 8 parts, and it is signed by The individual (alien filer) and Physician or other medical official:

  1. Your details
  2. Filing by itself: your addressesThe individual (alien filer)
  3. Part I: General informationThe individual (alien filer)
  4. Part II: Teachers and trainees (J or Q visa)The individual (alien filer)
  5. Part III: Students (F, J, M or Q visa)The individual (alien filer)
  6. Part IV: Professional athletesThe individual (alien filer)
  7. Part V: Medical condition or medical problemThe individual (alien filer)
  8. Line 18: Physician's statementPhysician or other medical official

How to fill out Form 8843, step by step

1 Heading and addresses

Enter your name and, if you have one, your SSN or ITIN. Fill in your addresses in your country of residence and in the U.S. only if you are filing Form 8843 by itself, not with a tax return. The fiscal-year boxes in the heading are for the rare filer who doesn't use the calendar year.

2 Part I: General information

Line 1a is your visa type (for example F-1 or J-2) and the date you most recently entered the U.S. Line 1b is your nonimmigrant status on the last day of the year, plus the date of change and previous status if you changed status inside the U.S. Lines 2 and 3 are your citizenship(s), passport country(ies) and passport number(s). Line 4a is the actual number of days you were present in 2025, 2024 and 2023, and line 4b the days in 2025 you exclude.

3 Part II: Teachers and trainees

Line 5 is the institution where you taught, line 6 the director of your program (Q visa holders complete only lines 6 to 8). Line 7 lists your J or Q visa for each year from 2019 to 2024. Line 8 asks whether you were exempt as a teacher, trainee or student in any part of 2 of the 6 prior years; if yes, you can exclude days only under the Exception in the instructions, which requires proof that a foreign employer paid you.

4 Part III: Students

Line 9 is the school you attended, line 10 the director of your academic or specialized program. Line 11 lists your F, J, M or Q visa for each year from 2019 to 2024. Line 12 asks whether you were exempt for any part of more than 5 calendar years; if yes, attach a statement showing you don't intend to reside permanently in the U.S. Lines 13 and 14 ask about steps toward a green card during 2025.

5 Part IV: Professional athletes

List the charitable sports event(s) and dates (line 15) and the charities that benefited, with their EINs (line 16), and attach a statement verifying that all net proceeds went to them.

6 Part V: Medical condition

Describe the condition that prevented you from leaving (line 17a), the date you intended to leave (17b) and the date you actually left (17c). Your physician or other medical official completes and signs line 18. The instructions list cases where no days can be excluded, such as coming to the U.S. for treatment or a condition you knew about before arriving.

7 Sign (only if filing by itself)

When you mail Form 8843 on its own, sign and date it under penalties of perjury. When it is attached to Form 1040-NR, the return's signature covers it.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Not filing because you had no income. Form 8843 is about days of presence, not income, so dependants on F-2 or J-2 visas file too.
  • Filing one form for the whole family. Each person files their own.
  • Excluding more days than you were present in 2025.
  • Leaving out the visa history on lines 7 or 11, which is how the IRS applies the 2-of-6 and 5-year rules.
  • Answering Yes to line 12 without attaching the required statement.
  • Forgetting to sign when mailing the form by itself.
  • Sending it with an unrelated form. Filed alone, it goes to the Austin address in the instructions.

After you fill it out

If you're filing Form 1040-NR, attach Form 8843 to it and mail the return to the address in the return's instructions.

If you have no return to file, sign and date the form and mail it to Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center, Austin, TX 73301-0215, by the 1040-NR due date. Keep proof of mailing.

Attach any statements the form asks for (a change of visa type, the line 8 Exception or line 12 facts, the Part IV proceeds statement).

FileIt keeps a copy in your vault. You'll need a new Form 8843 for each year you remain an exempt individual.

Fill out Form 8843 online with FileIt

  1. Pick the person. Choose someone from People and FileIt fills in their name, date of birth, address and other details it already knows.
  2. Answer plain-language questions. One part of the form at a time, with the official help text beside each question — 48 fields in all. Your answers save as you go.
  3. Check the live preview. Watch your answers land on the real Internal Revenue Service (IRS) form, and let FileIt do any worksheet arithmetic.
  4. 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.

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Form 8843: frequently asked questions

Do I need to file Form 8843 if I had no income?

Yes, if you are an exempt individual excluding days of presence. The form isn't about income: it records why your days in the U.S. don't count toward the substantial presence test. Students and scholars with no income, and their F-2 or J-2 dependants, file it on its own.

Where do I mail Form 8843?

With your Form 1040-NR if you file one. Otherwise, by itself to the Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center, Austin, TX 73301-0215, as the instructions say.

What is the deadline for Form 8843?

The due date, including extensions, for filing Form 1040-NR for the year. Check the current 1040-NR instructions for the date.

Do I need an SSN or ITIN to file Form 8843?

No. The form asks for your U.S. taxpayer identification number only "if any".

Can I file Form 8843 electronically?

Filed by itself, Form 8843 is mailed on paper to the Austin address in the instructions. With a Form 1040-NR, it goes with the return. FileIt fills it in and gives you the official PDF to print, sign and mail.

Which parts do I fill in as an F-1 student?

Part I and Part III, and the signature if you file it by itself. Teachers and trainees complete Parts I and II; athletes Parts I and IV; medical exclusions Parts I and V.

Official sources

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 2026-09-28.

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