The Form W-4

International Student and Scholar Services | The Form W-4

Before completing the form W-4, you need to determine your residency status for tax purposes.  It is important to keep in mind that residency status for tax purposes is different than residency status under immigration law (see discussion, charts and exercises below).  If you are a resident for tax purposes, you may complete the W-2 in the same manner as United States citizens.  However, if you are a nonresident for tax purposes, you must follow the following specific rules in completing the form:

1. You must check the ìsingleî box on the W-4, even if you are married,
2. You may claim only one withholding allowance, even though you may have dependents, unless you are from Canada, Mexico, Japan, the Republic of Korea or are a student from India; and
3. You must request that your employer withhold an additional amount from your paycheck:

The W-4 does not need to be updated each year, but you should update it if your tax residency status changes.