Foreign earned income exclusion: physical presence vs bona fide residence
To claim the foreign earned income exclusion, a US citizen or resident alien living abroad meets one of two tests: physical presence — 330 full days in foreign countries in any 12 months in a row — or bona fide residence — living abroad for an uninterrupted period that includes an entire tax year.
Physical presence vs bona fide residence
| Physical presence test | Bona fide residence test | |
|---|---|---|
| Who | US citizens and resident aliens | US citizens, and resident aliens who are citizens or nationals of a country with a US income tax treaty |
| What counts | Days: 330 full days in foreign countries | Facts: your intention, your activities abroad, whether you paid tax there |
| Period | Any 12 months in a row — periods can start on any day and overlap | An uninterrupted period that includes an entire tax year |
| Trips to the US | Each day touching the US isn’t a full day abroad | Brief or temporary trips are fine |
| On Form 2555 | Part III | Part II |
The physical presence test
You meet it if you’re physically present in a foreign country or countries for 330 full days during any period of 12 months in a row.
- A full day is 24 hours in a row, beginning and ending at midnight.
- The 12 months can begin on any day of the month, and periods can overlap — so you can pick the one that works best.
- The days don’t have to be in a row, and why you’re abroad doesn’t matter: vacation days count.
- Travel over international waters or airspace doesn’t count toward the 330 days.
- Leaving because of war, civil unrest or similar conditions can waive the time requirement, if you can show you’d reasonably have met it.
Work out your date with the physical presence test calculator.
The bona fide residence test
You meet it if you’re a bona fide resident of a foreign country for an uninterrupted period that includes an entire tax year. It isn’t a day count: the IRS looks at the facts — why you’re there, what you do there, and whether you paid taxes to that country.
If you tell the authorities of that country that you’re not a resident there, and they treat you as a non-resident for tax, you aren’t a bona fide resident. If they haven’t decided yet, you aren’t considered one either.
What counts as a foreign country
Any territory under the sovereignty of a government other than the United States. US territories — Puerto Rico, Guam and the others — aren’t foreign countries for the exclusion, and nor is the Antarctic region.
How FlySee counts it
FlySee counts the physical presence test only: full days — midnight to midnight — outside the US, toward 330 in any 365 days, and the date you’ll reach it. A day you spend any part of in the US or a US territory isn’t a full day abroad, and neither is a day in Antarctica. It counts over 365 days, never a leap year’s 366, so its date is never early. Bona fide residence isn’t a day count, so FlySee doesn’t count it.