Hi Experts,

I have a question regarding claiming the child tax credit for my child in my 2018 taxes. Following is my situation

• We are not US citizens, I am on H1b visa and my wife and Kid are in H4
• My wife and Kid both have valid ITINS and we filed jointly claiming my kid as dependent for 2017 taxes
• My wife and I made an election under 6013G to treat non-resident spouse as a resident in 2015 when she was out of the country for a substantial period of time

2018 tax scenario:

• My wife and kid stayed with me in USA - 59 days in 2016, 344 days in 2017 and 120 days (4 months) in 2018. They both left to India in May this year.
• My kid is 3 yrs old and resident alien based on substantial presence test for 2018.

My main question is, one of the conditions for the child tax credit is "lived with you for more than half of the year". My kid stayed with me for 4 months in the USA and remaining months with my wife in India. I am not sure whether staying with my wife in India will be considered for this condition.
Appreciate your answers and thanks in advance. Let me know if you need more information

Note that it says "Lived with you for more than half of the year" and NOT "Lived with you in the United States for mre than half of the year".

Since you are filing jointly, the child DID live with his mother for more than half of the year, so you can honestly answer YES to that question.

Note that the child tax credit you will receive will only be for $500 as "Other Dependent". To get the $2,000, the child must have a social Security Number.

Thanks a lot for your answers. I assume I need to claim my kid as dependent as well to receive this credit correct?

Yes, that IS correct!