How to fill out Form 8802 (residency certification), line by line
Form 8802 is the IRS application for Form 6166, a letter certifying U.S. residency for a requested period. Use this walkthrough to connect your applicant type, return history, requested years, purpose, statements, and certificate counts before submitting the application. If you need another document, browse the available government form instructions.
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What Form 8802 requests, and how to start the right route
Form 8802 requests Form 6166, an IRS letter that can support an income-tax-treaty benefit or a foreign VAT exemption by certifying U.S. tax residency for the requested period. It is not proof that you paid U.S. taxes for a foreign tax credit. It also does not establish that you are the beneficial owner of income or meet a treaty’s limitation-on-benefits rule; those are separate treaty questions.
Identify the applicant type. Individuals, pass-through entities, trusts, estates, plans, exempt organizations, disregarded entities, and nominees can have different attachment and signature rules.
Identify the certification calendar year or years and the return period that supports IRS verification.
Decide whether the request is for an income-tax treaty, VAT, or another specified purpose before completing line 9.
Residency certification has a limited role
The IRS generally issues Form 6166 when it can verify an appropriate filed return, the most recent return required when the certification-year return is not yet due, or sufficient documentation for an applicant who was not required to file. Completing Form 8802 does not decide whether a particular person qualifies for treaty benefits.
File, pay, and submit Form 8802 on the correct timetable
Plan to submit the application with full user-fee payment at least 45 days before you need Form 6166. The IRS says it will contact applicants after 30 days if processing will be delayed. For a current-year certification, the IRS cannot accept a request postmarked before December 1 of the preceding year; it will return an earlier request.
User fee per Form 8802 application
Applicant | Fee | Fee is not based on |
|---|---|---|
Individual applicant | $85 | Countries or tax years requested |
Nonindividual applicant | $185 | Forms 6166 requested |
Fiscally transparent entity | $185 | Underlying persons covered under one EIN application |
The fee is nonrefundable, and processing does not begin until it is paid. A custodian pays the applicable $85 or $185 fee for each account-holder TIN. The number of certificates requested on the page 3 worksheet does not itself multiply the fee. The IRS encourages an applicant to include all requests on one appropriate Form 8802 to avoid separate application charges, while individual and nonindividual applicants use separate applications.
Pay.gov payment does not submit the application
With e-payment, Pay.gov requires an uploaded Form 8802 copy to validate payment. More than one application may be combined in one PDF, but the upload must be under 15MB. The upload does not submit the application for IRS processing. After payment, enter either the Agency Tracking ID or Pay.gov ID in the electronic-payment-confirmation field at the top of page 1, then separately submit Form 8802 and all attachments.
Check or money order: include payment, Form 8802, and attachments. Mail them to Internal Revenue Service, US Residency Certification, Philadelphia, PA 19255-0625. Private delivery goes to Internal Revenue Service, 2970 Market Street, BLN# 3-E08.123, Philadelphia, PA 19104-5016.
E-payment: after entering the confirmation number, mail the application and attachments to Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Philadelphia, PA 19255-0625, or use the same Market Street private-delivery address.
Fax is available only after e-payment. You may fax up to 10 Forms 8802, including attachments, with no more than 100 pages total and a cover sheet stating the page count. Use 877-824-9110 within the United States or 304-707-9792 inside or outside the United States.
E-payment checkpoint
An e-paid Form 8802 without its electronic payment confirmation number will not be processed.
Page 1: applicant identity, delivery choices, and applicant type
Identity and addresses: match IRS records and separate residence from delivery
In the unnumbered fields, enter the applicant name and TIN exactly as shown on the return supporting certification. If no return was required, use the name and TIN shown on IRS or previously supplied documentation. If the supporting return was joint, enter the spouse’s name and TIN exactly as shown on that return. Check the separate-certification box when a separate Form 6166 is needed for the spouse.
Use line 1 only if the applicant name and TIN should appear differently on Form 6166 than in the fields above. If a name changed, file Form 8802 and any disclosure authorization under the new name, attach name-change documentation, and ensure IRS records have been updated. The IRS will not issue certification until the name change is updated in its database.
Line 2 is the applicant’s address during the certification calendar year, including country and ZIP or postal code. It is not simply the delivery address. Use line 3a for delivery of Form 6166 and related correspondence; if line 3a is blank, the IRS mails Form 6166 to the line 2 address.
Line 2 has a specific address rule
Do not enter a P.O. box number or a C/O address on line 2. The IRS says certification may be denied when either appears in the certification-year address field.
Use line 3b when the IRS should communicate with a knowledgeable third-party appointee about processing. On a signed and dated application, the line 3b entry is written authorization for that communication. If Form 6166 should go to the appointee, complete line 3a too. Form 8821 or Form 2848 may be required where applicable, but Form 8821 authorizes tax-information disclosure only: it does not authorize the person to sign Form 8802 or represent you before the IRS. Attach a list for additional appointees.
Line 4: choose the applicant type before gathering attachments
Check the precise line 4 category that describes the applicant. Individual choices include U.S. citizen, green card holder, other resident alien, dual-status resident, partial-year Form 2555 filer, and sole proprietor. Some selections require proof or dates. For example, a recent green card holder without a filed return may need Form I-551 evidence, while certain other resident aliens without a filed return may need Form I-94 information. Dual-status and partial-year Form 2555 filers enter YYYYMMDD residence-period dates.
For entities, line 4 does more than label the applicant. Partnerships, S corporations, disregarded entities, certain trusts, and nominees are not always certified as treaty residents in their own right. The request can depend on eligible partners, shareholders, owners, beneficiaries, or principals and their required information and authorizations. Select the exact box and use the matching IRS Line 4 instruction subsection rather than applying rules from another entity type.
The limited 3-year procedure is available only to estates, employee benefit plans or trusts, and exempt organizations, provided its conditions are met and there is no material change of fact. It still requires a Form 8802 and the applicable user fee each year.
Page 2: connect the filing history, certification year, purpose, and required statements
Lines 5 and 6: the return-filing route
Repeat the applicant name in the page 2 header. On line 5, answer whether the applicant was required to file a U.S. tax form for the tax period supporting certification. If Yes, check the form filed, go to line 7, and do not complete line 6. If No, check the applicable category—or enter the statutory exemption under Other—attach the explanation or proof required by IRS Table 1, and complete line 6.
Line 6 applies only after line 5 No. It asks whether the applicant’s parent, parent organization, or owner was required to file. If Yes, identify the form and provide that party’s name, address, and TIN. If No, attach proof of that party’s income and an explanation of why it was not required to file. A domestic disregarded entity provides owner information through this route. A foreign disregarded entity also needs the Form 8858 filed with the U.S. owner’s return; the IRS cannot certify it if the owner did not identify it on Form 8858.
Lines 7 and 8: certification year versus supporting tax period
Line 7 and line 8 answer different questions. On line 7, generally enter the four-digit calendar year or years for which you want Form 6166. On line 8, enter the tax period IRS will use to verify the request in YYYYMM format. For a current-year request, or a year whose return is not yet required, line 8 is the latest return required to have been filed as of the application date, including extensions. It is not necessarily the year on line 7.
Date-format exceptions
A dual-status alien enters the YYYYMMDD beginning and ending dates of the U.S. residence period for each requested year on line 7, rather than only a four-digit year. Fiscal-year taxpayers still enter a calendar year on line 7, but use the applicable fiscal-year ending year and month on line 8.
Lines 9 and 10: purpose and required statements
Line 9 is mandatory. Check income tax for a treaty-related request, VAT and the relevant NAICS code for a VAT request, or Other and specify the purpose. An income-tax-treaty request for a nontreaty country is returned for correction. For VAT, the IRS uses the NAICS code reported on the application; if it does not match the return, Form 6166 states that the applicant represents the code on Form 8802.
Use line 10 for the applicable penalties-of-perjury statement and other required information. A current-year request, or a request for a year whose return is not yet required, needs the applicant-type-specific Table 2 statement on line 10 or as an attachment. VAT also requires a statement that the business activity and NAICS code have not changed since the last filed return. Use the exact IRS Table 2 wording for your route. A separately submitted attachment must be signed and dated by someone with authority to sign Form 8802.
Under the 3-year procedure, year 1 contains the full signed application and required statement. In years 2 and 3, file a new Form 8802 for the current year, attach the year 1 package, and use the prescribed attached-year-1 notation on line 10 instead of a new penalties-of-perjury statement. A new signature is not required for those later applications when the procedure’s conditions are met.
Signatures: use the applicant type to identify the authorized signer
The application is not complete and valid without the signature and date of a person with authority for the applicant type. An individual signs personally; both spouses sign a joint application. Depending on the applicant, the signer may be an authorized partner, corporate officer, fiduciary, personal representative, plan or organization officer, or authorized governmental officer. Use IRS Table 3 for the exact category. Form 8802 may be digitally signed, but Forms 2848 and 8821 may not be digitally signed. A third-party representative who signs must attach evidence of authority, such as Form 2848. A daytime phone number can let the IRS resolve questions without mailing a letter.
How the page 2 completion route fits together
Line 4 applicant type
sets route → 2
Line 5 filing required?
No → 3
Yes → 4
Line 6 parent or owner
after completion → 4
Lines 7–8 years and period
when triggered → 5
Line 10 statement
complete application → 6
Authorized signature
Worksheet lines 11 and 12: request certificates by country and check the final package
On page 3, repeat the applicant name, TIN, appointee name if applicable, and the same calendar year or years shown on line 7. The worksheet requests the number of Form 6166 certificates needed for each country; it does not calculate the user fee.
On line 11, enter the number of certifications needed beside each country. Use the blank spaces at the bottom of column D for an unlisted country.
If one country needs certifications for more than one calendar year, enter one combined country total on line 11. Attach a statement identifying the country, each year, and the number needed for that year; its total must agree with line 11.
Add the country amounts in columns A, B, C, and D. Add those four column totals and enter the final result on line 12.
Line 12 is the total number of Forms 6166 requested, not a fee calculation. A higher certificate count can require the multi-year worksheet attachment, but it does not itself multiply the fee for one applicable Form 8802 application.
Use the payment route that matches your submission method. If you e-paid, put the payment confirmation number at the top of page 1.
Make sure the applicant type, return-filing route, requested year, supporting tax period, and stated purpose are complete and consistent.
Include the required Table 1 proof, Table 2 statements, applicant-type attachments, and authorization documents for your route.
Have an authorized person sign and date the application; both spouses sign a joint application.
Confirm that worksheet years match line 7, country totals are complete, and line 12 equals the four line 11 column totals.
Sources and how this page was made
This guide explains the official sources listed below in plain language. Displayed amounts, limits, percentages, and timing rules come from that material.
Source revision reflected in this guide: Form: 2018; Instructions: 2024.