Departing Aliens and the Sailing or Departure Permit
Before leaving the United States, you must come to an IRS office to
file Form 1040-C or Form 2063. These forms must be filed to get a
certificate of compliance or clearance (known as a sailing or
departure permit) from the Internal Revenue Service. However, see the
discussion, later, under Aliens not required to obtain sailing or
departure permits.
A certificate of compliance certifies that you have satisfied the
U.S. income tax laws. This is not your final tax return.
If you are required to file a U.S. income tax return for the year,
file Form 1040NR or Form 1040NR-EZ after the end of the year. You have
to file this form whether or not you owe more tax or are entitled to a
refund of tax paid. Treat the tax you paid with Form 1040-C as a
credit against the tax on your income tax return.
When to get a sailing or departure permit.
You should apply for your sailing or departure permit at least 2
weeks before you plan to leave the United States. The clearance,
however, may not be issued more than 30 days before you leave. If both
you and your spouse are aliens and are leaving together, both of you
must go to the IRS office.
What is needed to get a sailing or departure permit.
Please be prepared to give your planned date of departure and bring
the following records with you if they apply.
- Your passport and alien registration card or visa.
- Copies of your U.S. income tax returns filed for the past 2
years. If you were in the United States for less than 2 years, bring
copies of the income tax returns you filed in that period.
- Receipts for income taxes paid on these returns.
- Receipts, bank records, canceled checks, and other documents
that prove your deductions, business expenses, and dependents claimed
on the returns.
- A statement from each employer you worked for this year,
showing wages paid and tax withheld from January 1 of the current year
to the date of departure if you were an employee. If you are
self-employed, you must bring a statement of income and expenses up to
the date you plan to leave.
- Proof of estimated tax payments for the past year and this
year.
- Documents showing any gain or loss from the sale of personal
property, including capital assets and merchandise.
- Documents relating to scholarships or fellowship grants,
including verification of the grantor, source, and purpose of the
grant.
- Documents indicating you qualify for any special tax treaty
benefits claimed.
Aliens not required to obtain sailing or departure permits.
If you are included in one of the following categories, you do not
have to get a sailing or departure permit before leaving the United
States.
- Representatives of foreign governments with diplomatic
passports, whether accredited to the United States or other
countries, members of their households, and servants accompanying
them.
- Employees of international organizations and foreign
governments (other than diplomatic representatives covered
under category 1) who received no income from sources in the United
States and whose pay for official services to the foreign government
or international organization is exempt from income under U.S. tax
law. This exception also applies to members of their households if
they had no income from sources in the United States.
- Alien students, industrial trainees, or exchange
visitors, including their spouses and children, who come to the
United States on "F-1," "F-2," "H-3," "H-4,"
"J-1," "J-2," or "Q" visas only and who receive no
income from sources within the United States while in the United
States under those visas other than:
- Allowances to cover expenses incident to study or training
in the United States, such as expenses for travel, maintenance, and
tuition,
- The value of any services or food and lodging connected with
this study or training,
- Income from employment authorized by the Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS), or
- Certain interest income that is not effectively connected
with a U.S. trade or business.
- Alien students, including their spouses and
children, who come to the United States on an "M-1" or "M-2"
visa only and who receive no income from U.S. sources while in the
United States on those visas, other than:
- Income from employment authorized by the Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS), or
- Certain interest income that is not effectively connected
with a U.S. trade or business.
- The following aliens, if they have received no taxable
income from U.S. sources during the current tax year (up to and
including the date they leave) or during the previous tax year.
- Alien military trainees who come to the United
States for training under the sponsorship of the Department of Defense
and who leave the United States on official military travel
orders.
- Alien visitors for business on a "B-1" visa,
or both a "B-1" and a "B-2" visa, who do not remain in the
United States or a U.S. possession for more than 90 days during the
tax year,
- Alien visitors for pleasure on a "B-2"
visa,
- Aliens in transit through the United States or
any of its possessions on a "C-1" visa, or under a contract, such
as a bond agreement between a transportation line and the Attorney
General, and
- Aliens who enter the United States on a border-crossing
identification card, or for whom a passport, visa, and
border-crossing identification card is not required. These aliens must
be visitors for pleasure, visitors for business who do not remain in
the United States or a U.S. possession for more than 90 days during
the tax year, or visitors in transit through the United States or any
of its possessions.
- Alien residents of Canada or Mexico who
frequently commute between that country and the United States to work,
and whose wages are subject to the withholding of U.S. tax.
If you are in one of these categories and are exempt from getting a
sailing or departure permit, you must be able to support your claim
for exemption with evidence (identification, etc.) showing that you
are entitled to the exemption.
Exceptions.
If you are an alien in category (1) or (2), above, and you filed
the waiver under section 247(b) of the Immigration and Nationality Act
to keep your immigrant status, you must get a sailing or departure
permit.
If you are an alien in category (1) or (2), and your income is
exempt from U.S. tax because of an income tax treaty, or an
international agreement, you do not lose this tax exemption by signing
the section 247(b) waiver. But you must get a sailing or departure
permit even though your income is exempt.
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