Hi,
I am a Green card holder. My brother is in US on a F1 visa. He came to US in Aug 2006.
I provided him assistance for his education and paid for his accommodation on campus.

I wanted to claim him as a dependent. He met all the rules for 'relative dependent'
- Not a qualifying child
- He is a close relative (brother)
- His income is not above 3300
- I have paid more than half of his support for 2006

But one other criteria that is mentioned in Pub #501 that he needs to be a US Citizen or US Resident alient.

My brother is here on F1 visa from Asia. So is he a resident alient or a non-resident alien?

Need a quick response to finish the tax return. Please help!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SeekingInfo

Hi,
I am a Green card holder. My brother is in US on a F1 visa. He came to US in Aug 2006.
I provided him assistance for his education and payed for his accomodation on campus.

I wanted to claim him as a dependent. He met all the rules for 'relative dependent'
- Not a qualifying child
- He is a close relative (brother)
- His income is not above 3300
- I have paid more than half of his support for 2006

But one other criteria that is mentioned in Pub #501 that he needs to be a US Citizen or US Resident alient.

My brother is here on F1 visa from Asia. So is he a resident alient or a non-resident alien?

Need a quick response to finish the tax return. Please help!

---

Any help on this can a F1 visa person be claimed as a dependent if he is US less than 180 days in a year? Hope to hear from someone at the earliest.

Sorry, you CANNOT claim your brother as a dependent, as he is a non-resident alien.

He must be a resident to be claimed.

This is a case of "qualifying relative". The definition for qualifying relative is a little vague when it comes to residency. Some websites claim the person has to be a resident alien, some claim he must have been resident for "some" part of the year. Confusing !

A dependent must be a U.S. citizen or resident. On F1 you are exempt from residency.

A dependent can be your qualifying child or qualifying relative. Read: Your U.S. Tax Return: Requirements for claiming a dependent