United States · 6 rules · 3 calculators · 4 answers
How many days can you spend in the US?
It depends on who you are. If you’re not a US citizen or green card holder, at least 31 days this year and 183 over three years — all of this year’s days, a third of last year’s and a sixth of the year before’s — meet the substantial presence test and make you a US resident for tax. A US citizen abroad needs 330 full days outside the US in 12 months for the foreign earned income exclusion. A green card holder away for more than a year risks the status without a re-entry permit, and naturalization needs 913 days in the US in the 5 years before you file.
Tax residency
US tax: the substantial presence test and the FEIE
How many days can you spend in the US before you’re resident for tax? If you’re not a citizen or green card holder, fewer than 31 this year, or fewer than 183 weighted days over three years, keep you short of the substantial presence test. Days outside the US count the other way: a US citizen abroad needs 330 full days of them in 12 months to exclude foreign earned income.
- FEIE: physical presence vs bona fide residencetests: physical presence or bona fide residence2
- Physical presence test calculatorfull days abroad in 12 months Calculator330
- Substantial presence testweighted days over 3 years Calculator183
- Snowbirds: days in the USa visitor’s usual stay in the US Calculator6 mo
Residence permits
Green card holders: trips abroad
Trips of less than a year usually don’t affect permanent resident status; more than a year away can mean you’ve abandoned it, unless you have a re-entry permit.
Citizenship
US citizenship: 913 days in 5 years
To naturalize, you need 30 months — 913 days — in the US in the 5 years before you file Form N-400, or 548 days in 3 years if you’re married to a US citizen.
Day calculators for the US
United States: questions and answers.
How many days can I spend in the US without being a tax resident?
If you’re not a US citizen or green card holder, the substantial presence test makes you resident at 31 days this year and 183 over three years, counting all of this year’s days, a third of last year’s and a sixth of the year before’s. Stay under either and the test isn’t met; even past it, some exceptions can keep you a nonresident.
How many days can a US citizen living abroad spend in the US?
For the foreign earned income exclusion’s physical presence test, at most about 35 days touching the US in the 12 months you pick — 365 less the 330 full days abroad it needs. A day spent any part of in the US doesn’t count as abroad.
Can I keep my green card if I live abroad?
Trips of less than a year usually don’t affect permanent resident status, but more than a year away can mean you’ve abandoned it, unless you have a re-entry permit. For naturalization, an absence of more than 6 months is presumed to break your continuous residence.
How many days in the US do I need for citizenship?
913 — 30 months — in the 5 years before you file Form N-400, or 548 in 3 years if you’re married to a US citizen. The days you leave and come back count as days in the US.
How many days can you spend in the US? FlySee counts them for you.
Track days in every country and know the date you can stay until.
- Logs the days you’re in the US, automatically — any part of a day is a day
- Counts your full days outside the US toward 330 in any 12 months
- Shows the date you’ll reach 330 full days abroad
- Logs every day you’re outside the US, automatically, and rebuilds past trips from your photos
- Exports your trips with dates — PDF, Excel or CSV — for your tax preparer
- Free to download
- free trial
- no account
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Sources
Physical presence test calculator
- IRS — Foreign earned income exclusion: physical presence test (updated March 14, 2026)
- IRS — Instructions for Form 2555 (2025)
- IRS — Form 2555 (2025), Part III: physical presence test
- IRS — Publication 54 (2025), Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad: extension of time to meet tests
- IRS — Figuring the foreign earned income exclusion (updated March 14, 2026)
Substantial presence test
- IRS — Substantial presence test (updated March 14, 2026)
- IRS — Closer connection exception to the substantial presence test
- IRS — Publication 519 (2025), U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens: exempt individuals, dual-status aliens, tax treaties, when to file
- IRS — Form 8840 (2025), Closer Connection Exception Statement for Aliens: when and where to file
- IRS — Form 8843 (2025), Statement for Exempt Individuals and Individuals With a Medical Condition: when and where to file
Snowbirds: days in the US
- Government of Canada — United States travel advice (entry, stay and registration)
- USCIS — Alien Registration Requirement
- IRS — Substantial presence test
- IRS — Closer connection exception to the substantial presence test
- Government of Ontario — OHIP coverage while outside Canada
- British Columbia — Medicare Protection Act, section 1: who is a resident
- British Columbia — Medical and Health Care Services Regulation, section 3.1: vacation absence for 7 months
- Government of Alberta — AHCIP coverage outside Alberta
FlySee counts days; it doesn’t give tax advice. Whether you’re resident is for you and your adviser.
FlySee counts days; it doesn’t give immigration advice. Whether you qualify is for you and your adviser.