Bona fide Foreign Resident Law & Legal Definition

The bona fide residence test classifies any resident who lives in any foreign country or countries for an uninterrupted period that includes an entire tax year as a Bona Fide Foreign Resident in accordance with the IRS criteria. The taxpayer falling into such a category is qualified for the foreign earned income exclusion. Bona Fide Foreign Residents should be either U.S. citizens living overseas or U.S. resident aliens of a country with which the U.S. has an official income tax treaty in effect.