Length of stay in the U.S.
Posted date : Sep 10, 2025.
We are longtime CSA members and Canadian citizens who winter in the Palm Springs area and have done so for the last 13 years. We usually go down around the middle of October and come back at the end of March. That is 5.5 months, which adds up to 168 calendar days, which is under the B-2 Visa 182-day limit. We complete and file 8840s every year. However, when we use your “Substantial Presence Test” calculator which, as you know, prorates the days over a three-year period, we come out in excess of 182 days and technically are non-compliant with IRS policy. Is it your advice that we should base our calculations on the “Substantial Presence Test” and basically forget the 182-day limits as detailed in the B-2 Visa Immigration policy? If so, then to be compliant, we really can only be in the U.S. for four months per year. It almost seems like we have a test for the IRS and one for Customs and Immigration and they don’t coincide very well.
Ray Renaud
Osoyoos, BC
Ed.: You are filing the 8840 Closer Connection Form because you meet the substantial presence test calculation that deems you as taxable on your worldwide income as a resident alien of the United States. By filing the form, you are opting to be treated as a non-resident alien of the United States, despite meeting the substantial presence test. Filing the form deems you as compliant. Visiting the United States for no longer than 182 days in a 12-month period deems you as compliant with U.S. immigration policy. Two different sets of rules for two different branches of government.
