Claiming AOTC (Form 8863) for graduate school if foreign citizen

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
April 15, 2021
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Hello,

I paid graduate school expenses for my spouse, when she started school in the second half of 2020. We're not US citizens — she moved to the US in Jan 2020 and we are joint filing as resident aliens.

Her undergraduate, completed in 2017, was in her home country, and not in a school managed by any US program. Since she never claimed, or was eligible for American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) during her 4-year undergraduate, does the "4 years of postsecondary education before 2020" apply in her situation? We do not qualify for Lifetime Learning Credit based on MAGI.

Thank you.

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Best answer by MinhT1

Your spouse does not qualify for the AOTC as she has already completed four years of post-secondary education. The four years apply also to the time she studied outside the US.

MinhT1Answer

Your spouse does not qualify for the AOTC as she has already completed four years of post-secondary education. The four years apply also to the time she studied outside the US.

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