The concept of "U.S. residence" is of critical importance to both U.S. immigration law and U.S. tax law, but the meaning of U.S. residence (and the correlative consequences of not being a U.S. resident) under each area of law can be significantly different. These differences present both potential traps for the unwary and potential planning opportunities for the informed.
Residence From an Immigration Perspective. On the immigration side, a distinction is made between U.S. permanent residents and legal non-immigrants. A U.S. permanent resident (i.e., a holder of a U.S. "green card") is treated as a legal immigrant and has the ability to reside in the United States without restriction for an unlimited time period. On the other hand, legal non-immigrants or non-residents, in many cases, have restrictions on the amount of time they can reside and/or work in the United States and must conform to other conditions associated with non-immigrant status.
