The leaving-United States checklist
These are the evidence categories the IRS weighs, in the order it will look for them. Download the same list as a one-page PDF — no email needed.
Download the free checklist (PDF) ↓
Your new country
- Lease or proof of housingNames, address, dates and the living arrangement.
- New driver's licenceIf issued and applicable to your situation.
- Residence or immigration documentThe visa or permit that applies to your status — and whether it is permanent.
- Local bank statementEvidence of an account in your new country.
United States
- Five years of filed returns and FBARsYou cannot certify compliance on Form 8854 without them. Confirm every return, FBAR and Form 8938 for the five years before your expatriation date is on file.
- Consular appointment or Form I-407Citizens: book the renunciation interview abroad and gather DS-4079, DS-4080 and DS-4081 and the $450 fee. Green-card holders: file Form I-407 with USCIS and keep the receipt.
- Retirement accounts and deferred compensationList every IRA, 401(k), pension, 529 and HSA with balances as at the day before expatriation; give Form W-8CE to payors of eligible deferred compensation.
- Social Security and MedicareGive the SSA your foreign address and answer its questionnaires; understand that Medicare generally does not cover care outside the US.
- State ties, banks and brokeragesChange your driver's license, voter registration and mailing address; ask each bank and brokerage what it will do with a non-US address before you leave, and update to Form W-8BEN once you are a nonresident.
Keeping a US bank or brokerage account does not by itself keep you a US taxpayer. Once you are a nonresident, US-source dividends and other income from what you keep are reported on Form 1040-NR, and the account should hold a Form W-8BEN rather than a W-9. See the IRS dual-status rules ↗
You prepare here.
You file with the IRS — and act with State or USCIS.
Unlike most countries, the United States has a formal act that ends your status, and a formal statement that reports it. Four things have to happen, in order, and they have deadlines. This app does not connect to IRS Online Account, BSA E-Filing, USCIS or the State Department.
1. Perform the expatriating act
Citizens: take the oath of renunciation in person before a US consular officer abroad and pay the $450 fee; your expatriation date is the date of the oath, once the Department approves the Certificate of Loss of Nationality. Green-card holders: file Form I-407; your date is the date you file it. Non-citizens without a green card: leave, and keep proof of your last day of presence.
2. File the dual-status return with Form 8854
File Form 1040-NR (or 1040) marked 'Dual-Status Return' for the year of expatriation, attach the initial Form 8854, and mail a copy of Form 8854 to the IRS in Austin. Due by the return's due date including extensions — 15 June automatically if you are abroad, 15 October with Form 4868. A missed Form 8854 carries a $10,000 penalty.
3. File the final FBAR and Form 8938
FinCEN Form 114 is due 15 April with an automatic extension to 15 October for any year your foreign accounts exceeded $10,000 in aggregate; Form 8938 goes with the return above the thresholds for those living abroad ($200,000 single / $400,000 joint at year end).
4. Keep filing where a tail remains
File Form 8854 every year you have deferred mark-to-market tax, eligible deferred compensation or a nongrantor-trust interest. File Form 1040-NR in any later year with US-source income. Keep the file: the IRS can revisit the net-worth and compliance tests long after you leave.
IRS: expatriation tax and Form 8854 ↗
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