Thursday, October 15, 2026, is the last day to file a 2025 federal tax return on extension and the last day to file a 2025 FBAR without needing late-filing relief. The same day, Medicare’s annual open enrollment begins and runs through December 7. For immigrants, green card holders and visa holders, this year’s window carries more weight than usual, because the 2025 budget law (Public Law 119-21) changes who can keep Medicare and who can get help paying for Marketplace coverage starting in 2027.
The tax deadline applies to anyone who filed Form 4868 by April 15, or by June 15 if they qualified for the automatic two-month extension for taxpayers living abroad. An extension gave you more time to file, not more time to pay. Any balance has been collecting interest since April 15 at the IRS rate of 7% a year, compounded daily, the rate the IRS kept for the fourth quarter of 2026.
The FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) works on its own calendar. It was due April 15, 2026, for accounts held during 2025, with an automatic extension to October 15 that nobody has to request. It is filed through FinCEN’s BSA E-Filing System, not with your tax return, so filing Form 1040 on time does not take care of it.
Free toolSubstantial Presence Test Calculator
Medicare open enrollment, October 15 to December 7, is when people already on Medicare can switch Medicare Advantage or Part D drug plans for coverage that starts January 1, 2027. Noncitizen enrollees should use the window to check something new: whether their immigration status still qualifies for Medicare at all.
A fourth date follows close behind. HealthCare.gov opens for 2027 plans on November 1, and from 2027 onward premium tax credits are limited to citizens, U.S. nationals, green card holders, Cuban and Haitian entrants and COFA migrants. H-1B, L-1, F-1, TPS, refugee and asylee households can still buy a Marketplace plan, but at full price.
The checklist below groups every task by deadline. Items marked Required apply to most people in that group, Recommended items protect you from common mistakes, and Situational items apply only if your circumstances match.
If you are still deciding which return to file, start with our explainer on how the substantial presence test decides between Form 1040 and Form 1040-NR. Filing the wrong one is the most common error visa holders make on extended returns.
Extended 2025 Tax Return: Due Thursday, Oct. 15
File your 2025 return by October 15, 2026
If you filed Form 4868, this is your final filing date. The IRS generally cannot extend an individual return past six months, and there is no second Form 4868. Our guide to
how Form 4868 works for immigrants covers who was eligible.
Confirm you are filing the right form: 1040 or 1040-NR
Resident aliens, including green card holders and most H-1B workers who meet the substantial presence test, file Form 1040 and report worldwide income. Nonresident aliens, including most F-1 and J-1 students in their first five calendar years, file Form 1040-NR and attach Form 8843.
IRS: Determining alien tax status
Pay any balance with the return
The extension never covered payment. Unpaid tax has carried a 0.5% monthly failure-to-pay penalty since April 15, capped at 25%, plus 7% annual interest. Pay through IRS Direct Pay or your online account and keep the confirmation number.
IRS: Payments
E-file and save the acceptance acknowledgment
E-filing gives you a dated acceptance record within hours. Keep it with a PDF of the full return; USCIS asks naturalization applicants about tax filing, and green card applicants often submit IRS transcripts.
Attach Form 8938 if your foreign assets cross the FATCA threshold
Form 8938 rides with your return, so it shares the October 15 date. A single filer living in the U.S. must file if specified foreign assets topped $50,000 on December 31, 2025, or $75,000 at any time in the year; joint filers in the U.S. use $100,000 and $150,000.
IRS: Form 8938 questions and answers
Nonresident with no U.S. wage withholding: your date is December 15
A nonresident alien who received no wages subject to U.S. withholding had an original Form 1040-NR due date of June 15, 2026. Form 4868 pushed that to December 15, 2026, not October 15.
IRS: About Form 1040-NR
Living abroad: ask for a discretionary extension to December 15 before Oct. 15
U.S. citizens and resident aliens abroad who already have the Form 4868 extension can request two more months by sending the IRS a letter explaining why they need it. The request must reach the IRS before October 15, and approval is not automatic.
IRS Publication 54
Check whether your county has a disaster postponement
Covered areas in Hawaii County, Indiana, Nebraska, Washington, West Virginia and other places have deadlines postponed to February 1, 2027, and parts of Michigan, Mississippi and Wisconsin to November 2, 2026. The relief applies automatically to addresses in the covered counties.
IRS: Tax relief in disaster situations Common mistake
Some tax software defaults to Form 1040 for anyone with a Social Security number. An F-1 student on OPT who files a 1040 by mistake has to fix it with an amended filing and may have claimed deductions or credits that nonresidents cannot take. Check your residency status before you submit.
FBAR: Foreign Bank Accounts, Due Oct. 15
File the 2025 FBAR if your foreign accounts topped $10,000 combined
Every U.S. person, including green card holders and resident aliens, must report foreign financial accounts if their combined highest balances exceeded $10,000 at any point in 2025. That includes Indian savings, NRO and NRE accounts, fixed deposits and some insurance and pension accounts. See our
FBAR deadline and filing guide.
Convert balances at the Treasury year-end exchange rate
FinCEN instructs filers to convert each account’s maximum value using the Treasury Reporting Rates of Exchange for the last day of the calendar year, December 31, 2025. Using a different rate is a frequent source of mismatches.
Treasury Reporting Rates of Exchange
Nonresident aliens generally do not file
The FBAR applies to U.S. persons. A student or visa holder who was a nonresident alien for all of 2025 usually has no FBAR duty, but a dual-status year or a first-year choice to be treated as a resident can change that.
Signature authority only: your date is April 15, 2027
A FinCEN notice dated December 8, 2025, extended the deadline for certain employees and officers of regulated entities who have signature authority over, but no financial interest in, foreign accounts. Everyone else stays on October 15.
FinCEN
Missed earlier years? File late, or use the streamlined procedures
The IRS retired its separate delinquent FBAR submission procedures page in mid-2026. If you reported all income from the accounts but never filed FBARs, file the missing years now through BSA E-Filing and give a reason for filing late. If income such as NRE interest was left off your returns, look at the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures. Our
guide to missed FBARs for Indian accounts walks through each route. Our
FBAR vs FATCA explainer for NRIs covers how the two filings overlap.
Tip
The FBAR and Form 8938 are separate filings with different thresholds. Many green card holders with Indian accounts must file both, and filing one does not satisfy the other.
Medicare Open Enrollment: Oct. 15 to Dec. 7
Make any plan change by December 7
Between October 15 and December 7, 2026, you can switch Medicare Advantage plans, move between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage, or change Part D drug plans. Changes take effect January 1, 2027.
Medicare.gov: Joining a plan
Check that your immigration status still qualifies
Section 71201 of Public Law 119-21 limits Medicare to U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, lawful permanent residents, certain Cuban and Haitian entrants and people living in the U.S. under a Compact of Free Association. Other lawfully present noncitizens no longer qualify, even with enough work credits.
CRS: Health coverage provisions in H.R. 1
Read your Annual Notice of Change before you pick
Your current plan’s notice lists 2027 premium, deductible, drug list and network changes. Compare it against other plans in the Medicare Plan Finder before staying put.
Medicare Plan Finder
Refugees, asylees and TPS holders on Medicare: watch for SSA notices
Under CMS’s proposed CY 2027 physician fee schedule rule, people who were on Medicare as of July 4, 2025, but no longer qualify would get a second notice in late December 2026 and lose coverage effective February 1, 2027. CMS estimates about 32,000 people will lose coverage. The rule was still a proposal as of early October.
Green card holders without work credits: the five-year rule
A permanent resident aged 65 or older who lacks 40 work credits can buy premium Part A and enroll in Part B only after five continuous years of U.S. residence. Part B sign-up happens in the General Enrollment Period, January 1 to March 31, not in fall open enrollment.
Medicare.gov: Get started
Parents visiting on a B-2 visa need visitor insurance
Visiting parents cannot enroll in Medicare. If they will be in the U.S. over the holidays, buy a visitor medical policy that starts on their arrival date, before they travel.
Medicaid changed first
The same law ended full Medicaid eligibility for many refugees, asylees and other humanitarian immigrants effective October 1, 2026. Anyone who lost Medicaid this month should look at Marketplace or employer coverage now rather than waiting for January.
Marketplace Coverage for 2027: Nov. 1 to Jan. 15
Know who still gets subsidies in 2027
CMS guidance released October 5, 2026, confirms that from plan year 2027 advance premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions go only to U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, green card holders, Cuban and Haitian entrants and COFA migrants. Other lawfully present people, including H-1B, L-1, F-1, TPS, refugee and asylee households, can still enroll but pay full price. Background:
IRS Revenue Procedure 2026-26 on the 2027 premium tax credit.
Update your application with current immigration documents
CMS is asking every noncitizen enrollee to return during open enrollment. If the Marketplace cannot verify your status through DHS SAVE, you get a data-matching notice and 95 days to send a green card, EAD, I-94 or other document.
Pick a plan by December 15 for January 1 coverage
HealthCare.gov open enrollment runs November 1, 2026, to January 15, 2027. Plans chosen by December 15 start January 1; plans chosen December 16 to January 15 start February 1. State-run exchanges may set different dates.
HealthCare.gov: Dates and deadlines
Losing subsidies? Decide whether to cancel before January
Enrollees who lose eligibility for help will be automatically re-enrolled at full price unless they cancel. They also lose the three-month premium grace period that applies only to subsidized enrollees, so a missed payment can end coverage quickly.
If You Miss October 15
File as soon as you can
The failure-to-file penalty is 5% of unpaid tax for each month or part of a month the return is late, up to 25%. If you owe nothing, there is no failure-to-file penalty, but a missing return can still slow a green card or citizenship case.
IRS: Failure to file penalty
More than 60 days late means a minimum penalty
For a 2025 return filed more than 60 days after October 15, which means after December 14, 2026, the minimum penalty is the smaller of $525 or 100% of the unpaid tax, under Revenue Procedure 2024-40.
Order your tax transcripts once the return posts
Naturalization and many adjustment of status cases rely on IRS transcripts. Download them from your IRS online account a few weeks after the return is processed and file them with your immigration records.
IRS: Get transcript
Put January 15, 2027, on the calendar
That is the fourth-quarter estimated tax payment date for 2026 income. Freelancers, landlords and anyone with untaxed foreign interest or capital gains should pay it to avoid an underpayment penalty, which is figured at the IRS underpayment rate, currently 7%.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is October 15, 2026 the deadline for tax extensions?
Yes. If you filed Form 4868 for your 2025 return, you must file by Thursday, October 15, 2026. The IRS generally cannot extend an individual return beyond six months, and there is no second extension form.
Is the FBAR deadline October 15 2026?
Yes. The 2025 FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) was due April 15, 2026, with an automatic extension to October 15, 2026. You do not need to request it. Only certain employees with signature authority alone have until April 15, 2027.
Does a tax extension give me more time to pay?
No. Form 4868 extends the time to file, not to pay. Unpaid 2025 tax has accrued a 0.5% monthly failure-to-pay penalty since April 15, plus interest at 7% a year for the fourth quarter of 2026.
Do nonresident aliens have to file by October 15?
Not always. A nonresident alien with no U.S. wages subject to withholding had a June 15, 2026 original Form 1040-NR due date, so Form 4868 extends that return to December 15, 2026.
Can green card holders still get Medicare in 2027?
Yes. Lawful permanent residents remain eligible under Public Law 119-21, along with citizens, U.S. nationals, certain Cuban and Haitian entrants and COFA migrants. Green card holders without 40 work credits need five years of continuous U.S. residence to buy Part A and enroll in Part B.
Will refugees and asylees lose Medicare?
Under section 71201 of Public Law 119-21 they no longer qualify. CMS has proposed ending coverage on February 1, 2027 for people enrolled as of July 4, 2025, after a second notice in late December 2026. The rule was still a proposal in early October 2026.
Can H-1B visa holders get ACA subsidies in 2027?
No. CMS guidance from October 5, 2026 says premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions in plan year 2027 go only to citizens, nationals, green card holders, Cuban and Haitian entrants and COFA migrants. H-1B holders can still buy a Marketplace plan at full price.
What happens if I miss the October 15 extension deadline?
File as soon as possible. The failure-to-file penalty is 5% of unpaid tax per month, up to 25%. A 2025 return filed more than 60 days late, after December 14, 2026, faces a minimum penalty of $525 or 100% of the tax due, whichever is less.
