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April 07, 2005
Officialese
It's US tax filing time, which means that it is time for my annual confrontation with the bizarre question 12 on form 8843 [88kb pdf]:
Were you present in the United States as a teacher, trainee or student for any part of more than 5 calendar years?
Take ANY period of time shorter than 5 years. Say, 20 minutes during 2004. That is a part of the 10 year block between 1996 and 2006, which is more than 5 calendar years. So it looks to me as if, if I have ever been to the US at all (as a teacher, trainee or student), I should answer 'yes' to that question.
But this cannot be what they really mean, otherwise they would have asked "have you ever been present in the United States as a teacher, trainee or student?" And even we aliens know that it is best not to upset the IRS. So I have to figure out what they meant to ask. And it is kind of difficult to express, which is probably why it turned out so badly on the form. But I think it is this:
Have there been 6 or more calendar years in which you were present in the United States as a teacher, trainee or student for part of the year?
Not elegant, perhaps, but at least it asks the right question.
Posted by logican at April 7, 2005 02:40 PM
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