Long Term Foreign National Visitor

All foreign national visitors who are present at GVSU for over 2 weeks and receiving compensation will be considered long term visitors. Contact the Padnos International office for more information about long-term visitors.

Pay Periods: GVSU pays employees on a bi-weekly schedule. The check date is ten days after the pay period ends. A complete list of pay dates is available form the Human Resource Office.

Direct Deposit: GVSU encourages employees to have their paychecks directly deposited into a bank account. Forms may be picked up in the Payroll Office or down loaded from http://www.gvsu.edu/hro/

Social Security Number: Visitors that will be paid on the Payroll System should apply for a social security number upon their arrival to the US. They will need a letter from the Padnos International Center to present to the Social Security Office as well as their passport, visa, I-94, and DS-2019. Generally, Social Security Numbers are issued 6-8 weeks after application. Employees will not be paid without their social security number.

Taxes
Long term foreign national visitors who will be receiving compensation from GVSU will have taxes withheld from their wages. How taxes are determined depends on the residency status according to IRS rules. The IRS classifies non-U.S. citizens as either "Resident alien" or "Non-resident alien." Please refer to IRS Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens, for a complete explanation if the tax rules for

Residence Status for Tax Purposes
Residency status is determined one of two ways.

     1. Green Card test
           - Has the visitor applied for or been granted permanent residency?
              (green card holder)

     2. Substantial presence test
            - Must be present in the U.S. 31 days during the current calendar year.
            - 183 day test.
                   A. Days in US for current year
                   B. Days in US last year X1/3
                   C. Days in US two years ago X1/6
                   D. Total of lines A, B and C

 If the visitor pass either of the two tests then he\she is classified as a "resident alien" and is treated the same as U.S. residence and taxed on their worldwide income.

*Non-resident aliens must follow special IRS rules

Federal Income Tax (FED): Will be withheld from your paycheck unless exempted by a tax treaty (see tax treaty section listed above). The amount of income tax withheld is based on the following factors: The amount of compensation, residence status, IRS regulations and the form W-4.

W-4: This form is used to identify to the Payroll office what number of withholdings an individual would like taken out of their check. Resident aliens may follow the same rules as U.S. residents. The IRS has special rules for an NRA completing the W-4. Please use the attached special W-4 for nonresident aliens.

FICA\MQFE Withholding: Social Security (FICA) and Medicare (MQFE) are employment taxes that must be withheld from payments made to all foreign national visitors who have bee determined to be resident aliens. The FICA tax rate is 6.2% up to $87,000. The MQFE rate is 1.45 % and it is withheld on all wages.

MI-W-4: Michigan State tax will be withheld from your paycheck. Please submit a completed Mi-W-4 to the payroll office.

Local Income Tax: GVSU has campuses in the following cities that have local income tax: Grand Rapids & Walker. Local income tax will be withheld if you work at either campus.

Year-end Tax forms: GVSU will issue a W-2 to all foreign national visitors that received wages during a calendar year by January 31st of the following year. Any individual that utilized a tax treaty will receive a 1042s by January 31st.

Tax Returns: Anyone that receives money from a US employer must file taxes no later than April 15th of the following year. Tax Forms may be found at the Internal Revenue Service Website www.irs.gov and also at the State of Michigan website www.michigan.gov International Guests will need to complete the Federal forms: 1040NR or 1040NR EZ, and Form 8843, Michigan forms: 1040, Schedule NR, Schedule W, and Schedule 1 if a refund was received the previous year.