Do F-1 students file an FBAR? Foreign bank accounts and US taxes

When do I start filing an FBAR?

You start filing an FBAR in the first year you are a resident alien for tax, if your foreign accounts pass $10,000 combined. For most F-1 students that is the sixth calendar year in the US, if they spend at least 183 days here that year.

A sixth-year student who qualifies for the Form 8843 line 12 exception stays a nonresident alien and files no FBAR. The exception is for students who do not intend to live in the US permanently (your sixth year on F-1).

The first-year choice also makes you a US person for the FBAR. A tax treaty claim to be treated as a resident of your home country does not change your FBAR status (IRM 4.26.16). If 2026 is a dual-status year for you, ask a tax professional whether your FBAR must cover the whole year or only your resident months (F-1 to H-1B).

How does the $10,000 FBAR test work?

As a resident alien, you file an FBAR if the highest values of all your foreign accounts during the year, added together in US dollars, come to more than $10,000. The $10,000 is for all accounts combined, not for each account (IRS FBAR page).

1. List every account outside the US that you own or can sign on, such as an NRE account, an NRO account or a fixed deposit. An account you hold jointly with a parent counts too (IRS FBAR practice unit).
2. Find the highest balance of each account during 2026. FinCEN says you may rely on your periodic statements if they fairly show the highest value (FinCEN filing instructions).
3. Convert each balance to US dollars at the Treasury's reporting rate of exchange for December 31, 2026 (same instructions).
4. Add the converted amounts. If the total is more than $10,000, you file an FBAR for 2026.

When and how do I file the FBAR for 2026?

File the 2026 FBAR online with FinCEN by Thursday, April 15, 2027. If you miss that date, an automatic extension gives you until Friday, October 15, 2027. You do not need to ask for it (FinCEN).

The FBAR is FinCEN Form 114. You file it through FinCEN's BSA E-Filing System, not with your tax return (FinCEN). Do not mail it with Form 1040 or Form 1040-NR.

Form 1040 also asks about foreign accounts, on line 7a of Schedule B (2025 form). You check "Yes" if, at any time in the year, you owned or had another financial interest in a foreign account, or could sign on one. The instructions say to check "Yes" even if you do not have to file an FBAR (Schedule B instructions).

Do I also need Form 8938 (FATCA)?

As a resident alien, you need Form 8938 only if your foreign assets are far above the FBAR's $10,000. An unmarried resident living in the US files it if their specified foreign financial assets were worth more than $50,000 on December 31. A total over $75,000 at any time in the year also means filing it (Instructions for Form 8938).

Form 8938 is the IRS form for FATCA reporting, filed with your income tax return. It comes from a different law than the FBAR, so filing one does not take care of the other (IRS comparison). The IRS lists its filers as "U.S citizens, resident aliens, and certain non-resident aliens". This guide does not cover the nonresident cases.

What if I was a resident alien and missed an FBAR?

If you missed an FBAR as a resident alien, file it now through FinCEN's BSA E-Filing System with a statement explaining why it is late (Taxpayer Advocate Service). Years when you were a nonresident alien need no fix, because no FBAR was due for them.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent organization within the IRS, says there is no penalty for a late FBAR if all of these are true:

1. You reported, and paid tax on, the income from those accounts on your tax returns.
2. You are not under a civil examination or a criminal investigation.
3. The IRS has not already contacted you about the missing FBARs, or about an audit or missing returns for those years.

With the late FBAR, you pick a reason for filing late and include a statement explaining it. If you also left foreign interest off a resident year's Form 1040, the Taxpayer Advocate Service points to other IRS programs instead, such as the streamlined filing compliance procedures. Talk to a tax professional before you file anything.

What to do next

1. Work out whether you were a nonresident alien or a resident alien for 2026. The substantial presence test and your sixth year on F-1 show how.
2. As a nonresident alien, you file no FBAR, and home-country interest stays off Form 1040-NR. File Form 8843, plus Form 1040-NR if you had US income that is taxed, such as wages. With wages, the 2026 Form 1040-NR is due Thursday, April 15, 2027; without wages, Tuesday, June 15, 2027 (tax deadlines for 2027).
3. As a resident alien, list every foreign account and find each one's highest 2026 balance. Convert the balances at the Treasury rate for December 31, 2026. Then add them up.
4. If the total is more than $10,000, file the FBAR online with FinCEN by Thursday, April 15, 2027. The automatic extension runs to Friday, October 15, 2027.
5. As a resident alien, also report your foreign interest on Form 1040, answer the foreign account question on Schedule B (line 7a on the 2025 form), and check the Form 8938 amounts.

F1TaxReturn prepares Form 1040-NR and Form 8843 for free once the IRS publishes the final 2026 forms. You print and sign them, then mail them. It does not prepare Form 1040, the FBAR or Form 8938.