Qualifying Child Test
Published on September 25, 2025
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Qualifying Child Test for Americans Living Overseas
Being a US expat doesn’t mean you lose the ability to claim your children on your US tax return. The IRS still lets you list a child as a dependent if they meet the Qualifying Child tests.
Three things matter most: the residency test, the citizen or resident test, and your child’s SSN. These determine whether you get the additional child tax credit or nothing at all.
What is a Qualifying Child?
A Qualifying Child is the IRS term for a child who can be claimed as a dependent on your tax return. It sounds simple: your child should count. However, the IRS requires them to meet specific rules on age, relationship, residency, support, and joint filing.
What are the five core tests for a Qualifying Child?
Here are the five main tests. Your child has to pass all five to qualify:
- Relationship test: The child has to be yours in some way: biological, adopted, a stepchild, or even a foster child placed with you. Close relatives like siblings, nieces, nephews, or grandchildren also count.
- Age test:
- Under 19 at the end of the year or
- Under 24 at year-end if a full-time student for at least 5 months, or
- Any age if permanently and totally disabled.
- Residency test: The child must live with you and share your home for over half the year. There are a few exceptions, such as time spent away for school, medical care, or military service.
- Support test: To count as a dependent, the child can’t be covering more than half of their own living costs.
- Joint return test: A child can’t file a joint tax return with their spouse, unless they’re only doing it to get a refund of taxes paid.
Passing the five tests isn’t enough. Every dependent, whether a Qualifying Child or not, must also pass the citizen or resident test. This extra rule is especially relevant for expat parents, since it determines whether a child living outside the US can even be claimed in the first place
The citizen or resident test: Does my child qualify abroad?
Your child automatically qualifies if they’re a US citizen, even if they’ve never set foot in the States. If they’re not, the IRS also accepts:
- US nationals
- Green Card holders or resident aliens
- Kids who are residents of Canada or Mexico
But if your child is not a US citizen and lives in any other country (say Australia or the UK), they fail the “citizen or resident test”. They cannot be claimed as a dependent unless they also happen to be a US resident alien under IRS rules (which is rare for children living abroad).
You could get $1,700 in Child Tax Credit. Try our free calculator.
Can I claim my child if they live in the US while I’m abroad?
In most cases, no. If your child lives in the US while you’re abroad, they usually won’t meet the residency test with you.
The residency test requires the child to live with you for more than half the year. If you’re abroad and your child lives in the US with the other parent (or grandparents), they’re not living with you. That means you can’t claim them as a Qualifying Child.
That said, the residency test may still be met by the person the child actually lives with in the US, for example, a spouse, the custodial parent, or a relative.
What if my child is temporarily away from me (residency test rules)?
Temporary absences don’t actually break the residency rule. The IRS says your child is still treated as “living with you” if they’re away temporarily for:
- School
- Medical care
- Vacation
- Military service
- Juvenile detention
For example, if you live in the UK and your teenager spends a semester in the US with grandparents, the IRS still considers that time as living with you.
Special rules for separated or divorced parents (Form 8332)
In divorce or separation cases, the custodial parent—the parent the child spends most of the year with—has the automatic right to claim them.
However, there’s a workaround: if the child lives with the custodial parent and the noncustodial parent wants to claim the Child Tax Credit, the custodial parent can sign Form 8332, releasing their claim and letting the noncustodial parent claim the dependency and the Child Tax Credit.
Here’s the catch: the noncustodial parent can only claim the dependency exemption and the child tax credit (CTC). So, the custodial parent still keeps:
- Head of Household filing status
- Earned Income Tax Credit
- Child and Dependent Care Credit
That division often surprises parents, especially expats juggling custody across borders.
Important: A child cannot be claimed by more than one taxpayer on a US tax return.
What if more than one person claims the same child?
When more than one person tries to claim the same child, the IRS applies specific tie-breaker rules in this order:
- Parent vs. non-parent
- A parent always has priority over a non-parent (like a grandparent or relative).
- Both parents can claim
- If the child lived longer with one parent → that parent claims.
- If the child lived equally with both parents → the parent with the higher adjusted gross income (AGI) claims.
- No parent qualifies
- The non-parent with the highest AGI may claim.
Does adoption affect the Qualifying Child test?
Adopted children are treated the same as biological children. Once legally adopted, or even legally placed for adoption, they count as your child for IRS purposes.
The key is that your home must have been their main home for more than half of the year (or more than half of the time since placement if adopted mid-year).
The same rule also covers foster children placed with you by a court or authorized agency, even if the adoption or placement took place abroad.
Tax credits you can claim with a Qualifying Child
Here are some of the valuable tax credits that you can claim with a Qualifying Child:
- Child Tax Credit (CTC): Up to US$2,000 per qualifying child under 17. For US expats, you may also claim the additional child tax credit (ACTC), the refundable portion (US$1,700 in 2025), given that your child has an SSN issued before the tax deadline.
- Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC): Only available if you (and your child) have valid SSNs and the child lives with you in the same household for more than half the year. Expats often miss this because foreign-earned income exclusions can reduce “earned income” too low.
- Credit for Other Dependents (ODC): Worth US$500 if your child doesn’t qualify for the CTC (for example, over 17, or doesn’t have an SSN).
FAQs
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Can I claim my child as a dependent if we live abroad?
Yes. If your child is a US citizen (or US resident alien, or a resident of Canada or Mexico) and meets the IRS qualifying child tests, you can claim them even if you live outside the US.
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Does my child need a Social Security Number to qualify for the Child Tax Credit?
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What tax credits can expats claim with a Qualifying Child?
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Can foster children qualify as dependents for US expats?
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What is the kidnapped child rule for the residency test?
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