Financial Advisor and CPA for Visa Holders and New US Residents
A flat-fee CPA and Financial Planner team that gives you personalized, holistic advice across your taxes and financial plan. We plan your arrival year, home-country accounts and US equity, and file your return.
What we handle when you’re new to the US
Your visa decides whether you can work here. The days you spend here decide how the US taxes you, and the two don’t change on the same date.
- 01
The substantial presence test
On an H-1B, L-1 or O-1 you’re a US tax resident in a year you’re here at least 31 days and 183 days over three years, counting all of this year’s days, a third of last year’s and a sixth of the year before. A green card makes you a resident from your first day here as a permanent resident.
- 02
The dual-status arrival year
The year you arrive you’re usually a nonresident until your residency start date and a resident after it. A dual-status return taxes US income before that date and worldwide income after it, with no standard deduction and, unless you make an election, no joint return.
- 03
The first-year choice
Arrive late in the year and you may not meet the test until next year. You can choose to be a resident from the start of 31 days in a row here, if you were here 75% of the days from then to year-end. You can only choose once you meet next year’s test, so the return often goes on extension.
- 04
Accounts back home
Once you’re a US tax resident, foreign accounts that together top $10,000 need an FBAR, and Form 8938 applies above $50,000 at year-end or $75,000 at any time, or $100,000 and $150,000 on a joint return. A savings account you left at home still counts.
- 05
Funds bought at home
Most foreign mutual funds and ETFs are passive foreign investment companies (PFICs). Sold while you’re a US resident without an election, a gain is spread over your holding period and taxed at each year’s top rate plus interest. Your CPA files Form 8621 and weighs selling before your residency starts.
- 06
Equity from your US employer
RSUs are taxed as wages when they vest, and employers usually withhold 22%, often short of the real tax. A grant that vests partly for work done abroad can also be taxed by your home country, and the foreign tax credit settles the overlap. See equity compensation planning.
How Nino helps people new to the US
Your first US years mix two tax systems, accounts in two countries and a residency date that sets everything else. On Plus and Premier your CPA files the FBAR, Form 8938 and PFIC forms with your return; on Essential they’re an add-on. Nino does not give immigration advice: visa and green card questions stay with your immigration attorney.
Book a free consultation-
A plan in your first two weeks
Your CPA and Financial Planner build a tax and financial plan from your arrival date, your accounts in both countries and your US pay, then revisit it every quarter.
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Your arrival-year return
Your CPA works out your residency start date, prepares the dual-status or full-year return, and files nothing until you approve it.
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Accounts in one view
Nino’s AI software connects accounts read-only, so you can see balances in one place and ask what a vest or a transfer home does to your taxes.
What should you decide in your first US year?
Four choices that are easier to make before your residency date than after it.
Whether to file as a resident for the full year
If you’re married to a US citizen or resident at year-end, you can elect to be treated as residents for the whole year and file jointly. Both spouses are then taxed on worldwide income for the full year, so compare it with a dual-status return first.
Whether a tax treaty applies
A treaty between the US and your home country can change how pensions, some wages and other income are taxed. Claiming one to lower US tax generally means disclosing it on Form 8833, and most treaties keep the US’s right to tax its own residents, with listed exceptions.
What to do with a pension at home
A home-country pension or provident fund can be a reportable foreign account, and the US may not treat its growth as tax-deferred the way your home country does; that depends on the plan and any treaty. Review it before your first resident return.
How much to save in US accounts
A 401(k) and IRA grow tax-deferred here, but what happens if you later move home depends on that country’s rules. The 2026 IRA limit is $7,500, or $8,600 at 50 or older. See 401(k) limits for 2026.
Pick your plan
Every Advisor plan includes a CPA and Financial Planner team, federal and state tax filing, and our Ultra software.
Essential
- Everything in Ultra software, plus:
- A dedicated CPA and Financial Planner team for you
- Single-filer return, quarterly taxes included
- Retirement & equity planning
- Quarterly advisor access
- Rentals
- 0
- K-1s
- 0
- States
- 1
- Brokerage
- 3
Plus
Most Popular- Everything in Essential, plus:
- A dedicated CPA and Financial Planner team for you and your spouse
- Married filing jointly return, international coverage included
- One coordinated plan for both of you
- Quarterly and ad hoc advisor access
- Rentals
- 2
- K-1s
- 5
- States
- 3
- Brokerage
- 5
Premier
- Everything in Plus, plus:
- Business bookkeeping and tax filings, priced by complexity
- Joint or single return, complex international coverage
- Advanced equity & estate planning
- Priority advisor access
- Rentals
- 5
- K-1s
- 10
- States
- 5
- Brokerage
- 10
Software plans starting from $20 a month
Our AI financial assistant on its own, with a 7-day free trial.
Guides for people new to the US
Read up on these decisions, or run your own numbers.
RSU Tax Withholding
RSUs are taxed like salary. Here is why a vest loses so many shares to withholding, why it can still leave you owing in April, and how sell-to-cover works.
Read guideRSU Tax Planning
Project every vest for the year, model a few stock prices, and compare employer withholding to your household's tax before each vest, not in April.
Read guide401(k) Contribution Limits for 2026
The 2026 employee limit is $24,500. See age-based catch-ups, employer contribution limits, and the Roth catch-up rule.
Read guideWhat Is Taxable Income?
Taxable income is income after eligible adjustments and deductions. See how it differs from gross income, AGI, and the tax you owe.
Read guideRSU Tax Calculator
Compare estimated RSU tax with a simplified federal withholding calculation.
Open calculatorState Income Tax Calculators
Estimate take-home pay after federal, FICA, and state income tax, for all 50 states.
Open calculator
More people we work with
See how our CPA and Financial Planner team helps people in situations like yours.