What is the "Green Card Test"?

The "green card test" is another U.S. residency status test that is used to determine whether a non-U.S. citizen will be treated as a resident alien for U.S. tax purposes. An individual will be treated as a U.S. permanent resident alien for tax purposes if he is a lawful permanent resident alien at any time during a calendar year. The individual will be deemed to have obtained this status if he

• has been granted lawful permanent residence status in the U.S. and
• has been issued or will receive an alien registration card (also known as a green card) by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).

It is important to realize that although the individual will be treated as a U.S. permanent resident alien for the entire year, the withholding agent must wait to treat him as such until he has met the test (an official INS document).