FileAbroad

Green card holder abroad consultation

Living Abroad With a Green Card? Map Your U.S. Tax Status Before You File—or End It.

Living abroad or holding an expired physical card does not, by itself, settle your U.S. tax status. The answer can depend on the lawful-permanent-resident timeline, any formal abandonment or treaty position, U.S. presence, prior returns, and long-term-resident rules. In a paid consultation, I organize those facts into a year-by-year tax and filing map, identify the records and specialist questions that remain, and route the next step without giving immigration advice.

Start My Green Card Tax Intake

Send a free inquiry first. I review it personally and explain whether a paid assessment is appropriate before you book or pay.

30 minutes · $100 · directly with Chip

The consultation

What we'll review

The consultation focuses on the facts that determine what needs further attention.

Green-card and presence timeline

When lawful permanent residence began, the years and dates you were present in or outside the United States, the card records you hold, and any formal status event that needs documentation.

Tax status and returns by year

How resident, nonresident, dual-status, or unresolved treatment may affect each year and whether Forms 1040, 1040-NR, 8833, 8854, or another return position requires further analysis.

Worldwide income and international reporting

Foreign and U.S. income, taxes, accounts, assets, pensions, entities, trusts, property, FBARs, and information returns that may affect the filing scope while status is mapped.

Treaty and foreign-residence facts

The foreign-country residence, treaty, disclosure, and saving-clause questions that may require a separate treaty analysis before any nonresident position is taken.

Long-term-resident and next-path screen

The preliminary 8-of-15-year count, five-year filing history, status objective, and whether the next step belongs in annual filing, catch-up, treaty, state, immigration, or expatriation work.

After the call

What you leave with

By the end of the consultation, you'll have a clear map of the issues that need attention and the next practical step.

  • A year-by-year U.S. tax-status and filing issue map, with unresolved assumptions labeled rather than guessed.
  • A prioritized record list covering status dates, returns, foreign tax, income, accounts, assets, and any treaty or long-term-resident questions.
  • Clear routing to annual preparation, treaty review, prior-year compliance, state analysis, expatriation planning, immigration counsel, or another specialist.
  • If FileAbroad can accept tax preparation, the next written scope is defined separately before preparation begins.

You are not required to hire FileAbroad for preparation after the consultation.

Scope

What the consultation does not include

The consultation is a review and scoping session. It does not include preparation or filing of a tax return, FBAR, information return, amended return, or Streamlined submission.

It also does not create an open-ended support engagement. Additional research, document review, preparation, or follow-up work is included only when it is specifically agreed or purchased.

FileAbroad does not provide legal advice or tax litigation services.

Current pricing

Optional $100 scope assessment

30-Minute Expat Tax Scope Assessment

$100

Focused review of your filing situation with a written list of the years and forms that need attention, a document checklist, key scope flags, and an exact preparation quote when FileAbroad can accept the work.

Preparation is priced separately. A paid assessment is offered when substantive review is needed; it is not required for every preparation engagement. Straightforward tax-year-2025 federal expat returns start at $575, and standalone current-year FBAR preparation starts at $100. Prior-year, delinquent, amended, entity, trust, partnership, PFIC, Streamlined, and other complex international work is quoted after review.

See preparation services and pricing

The process

How the paid assessment works

  1. 1

    Start the intake.

    Tell me the broad facts of your situation without uploading sensitive tax documents through the public form.

  2. 2

    I review the inquiry.

    I personally review the intake to determine whether a FileAbroad consultation appears appropriate.

  3. 3

    Book the consultation.

    If the situation fits, you'll receive the scheduling and payment link for the $100 30-minute consultation.

  4. 4

    We review the situation together.

    We use the call to identify the relevant filing questions, missing information, and next practical step.

  5. 5

    Preparation is separate.

    If FileAbroad can accept preparation work, you receive the written scope and price before preparation begins.

Before you book

Questions we'll use to map your green-card tax position

When did you receive lawful permanent resident status, when were you physically present in the United States, and what current, expired, surrendered, or formally terminated status records do you have?
Did you file Form I-407, receive an administrative or judicial order, claim treaty-country residence, or take any other step that may affect the date U.S. tax residency began or ended?
Which U.S. and foreign returns, FBARs, Forms 8938, Forms 8833, Forms 8854, or other international forms were filed for each relevant year?
What worldwide income, foreign taxes, accounts, investments, pensions, businesses, trusts, property, or U.S. state connections need to be included in the filing map?
Is your goal to continue annual compliance, resolve an expired-card or status question, correct prior filings, analyze a treaty position, or prepare for a possible end to long-term residency?
Do I need a paid assessment before hiring FileAbroad?

Not for every engagement. Start with a brief intake to discuss needs, timing, process, and pricing. Straightforward preparation can proceed directly to an accepted written scope. A paid assessment is offered when substantive review is needed, with the fee explained before you decide.

What should I send before the consultation?

Start with the public intake and describe the broad facts of your situation. Do not send Social Security numbers, tax returns, bank statements, or other sensitive tax documents through the public intake form. If documents are needed later, I will provide secure upload instructions.

Will you tell me exactly what I need to file?

The consultation is designed to identify the filing issues that need attention and the information required to determine the next step. Some questions can be resolved during the call; others may require records, additional research, or preparation work outside the consultation.

Do I have to hire FileAbroad afterward?

No. The consultation stands on its own. If FileAbroad can accept preparation work, you can decide whether to proceed after the scope and price are confirmed.

Can you review documents during the consultation?

Limited document review may be possible when agreed in advance, but the consultation is not a substitute for a full document review or tax-preparation engagement.

Related paths

If this is not the right starting point

Green card holders abroad guide

Review the tax-status, worldwide-income, account-reporting, treaty, and abandonment framework first.

Expat tax filing service

Use the annual filing service when current-year resident-alien preparation is already the accepted scope.

Renunciation and long-term-resident consultation

Use this path when termination may require Form 8854, covered-expatriate, valuation, or exit-tax analysis.

Tax treaty consultation

Use this path when treaty residence, a tie-breaker, saving clause, or Form 8833 is the central issue.

Late expat returns consultation

Map missing U.S. returns or information filings before selecting any corrective procedure.

Foreign accounts consultation

Classify current FBAR, Form 8938, ownership, authority, value, and foreign-income questions separately.

State tax termination consultation

Review former-state domicile, statutory residence, remaining ties, and state-source income as a distinct workstream.

Start here

Tell me what's going on.

You don't need to know which form, filing procedure, or service you need. Start with the broad facts, and I'll review whether intake or a paid assessment is the appropriate next step.

Start My Green Card Tax Intake

Prefer email? info@fileabroad.com

Do not send sensitive tax documents through the public intake form or ordinary email.