The immigrating Non Resident Alien must prepare for a tax life as a Resident Alien. This means taking advantage of all of the tax deductions and tax investment incentives offered by the U.S. Tax Code. It may actually mean leaving certain of the taxpayer’s foreign investments in place. This is also the subject of a separate article on the Taxation of Immigrating to the United States.

An immigrant coming to America for longer than a certain time period will become a Resident Alien for U.S. income taxes at some point in time. In doing so, they are subjecting themselves to a potential U.S. tax income on their annual worldwide income, an estate tax on their deaths on their worldwide assets and a tax on gifts of their worldwide wealth.