{"id":14342,"date":"2021-06-18T07:27:31","date_gmt":"2012-07-11T13:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wcginc.com\/kb-legacy\/are-there-exceptions-to-the-bona-fide-residence-or-physical-presence-tests\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T08:26:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T08:26:17","slug":"are-there-exceptions-to-the-bona-fide-residence-or-physical-presence-tests","status":"publish","type":"epkb_post_type_4","link":"https:\/\/wcginc.com\/kb-legacy\/are-there-exceptions-to-the-bona-fide-residence-or-physical-presence-tests\/","title":{"rendered":"Are there exceptions to the bona fide residence or physical presence tests?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jason Watson<\/a> (Google+<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The only exception or waiver to the time requirements is if you have to leave due to civil unrest, war or similar adverse conditions. You must demonstrate that you reasonably could have expected to meet the minimum time requirements if the adverse conditions had not occurred. Each year the IRS publishes a list of countries<\/a> that qualify, and it is typically very few. In 2013 and 2014, the only restricted travel country was Cuba (and there was a special exception for certain civilians working at the Guantanamo Bay naval base).<\/p>\n

The bona fide residence test<\/a> is arguably looser in terms of time requirements- Yes, a full tax year must be encompassed. But the number of days spent in the United States can exceed 35 (365 minus 330) without jeopardizing your status. The physical presence test<\/a> is more stringent- there are no exceptions for medical issues, funerals, divorce troubles, sick parents or other scenarios- the IRS simply doesn\u2019t want to hear about it, nor make a bunch of ad doc decisions on the physical presence test.<\/p>\n

However, the fourth element of the bona fide residence test is the hardest to meet- \u201cYou cannot have any future plans of returning to the United States.\u201d See What is the bona fide residence test?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The only exception or waiver to the time requirements is if you have to leave due to civil unrest, war or similar adverse conditions. You must demonstrate that you reasonably could have expected to meet the minimum time requirements if the adverse […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":4238,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"epkb_post_type_4_category":[145],"epkb_post_type_4_tag":[],"class_list":["post-14342","epkb_post_type_4","type-epkb_post_type_4","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","epkb_post_type_4_category-expat-faqs"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nExceptions To Physical Presence Tests - WCG CPAs & Advisors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The only exception or waiver to the time requirements is if you have to leave due to civil unrest, war or similar adverse conditions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wcginc.com\/kb-legacy\/are-there-exceptions-to-the-bona-fide-residence-or-physical-presence-tests\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are there exceptions to the bona fide residence or physical presence tests?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The only exception or waiver to the time requirements is if you have to leave due to civil unrest, war or similar adverse conditions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wcginc.com\/kb-legacy\/are-there-exceptions-to-the-bona-fide-residence-or-physical-presence-tests\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WCG CPAs & Advisors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-27T08:26:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wcginc.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/3000X3000_2-scaled-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Exceptions To Physical Presence Tests - 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