How PresenceProof Calculates Your Physical Presence

PresenceProof tracks your physical presence across jurisdictions by analyzing travel segments and calendar days. Key concepts include:

• Travel Segments: Timestamp-precise records of when you entered and exited a location (e.g., country, state, or region).
• Calendar Days: Each segment is converted into the calendar days where you were physically present, based on the relevant timezone.
• Qualifying vs. Non-Qualifying Days: Different compliance rules (FEIE, Schengen, etc.) define which days "count" toward meeting requirements.

The Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) Physical Presence Test requires you to be abroad for 330 full days in any 12-month period. This is not a calendar year requirement.

High-level approach:

1. Identify all possible 12-month windows within your trip history.
2. For each window, count qualifying foreign presence days (excluding U.S. days and transit days under 24 hours, if flagged).
3. Determine the optimal window—the one that maximizes your qualifying days or meets the 330-day threshold earliest.

PresenceProof reports the best qualifying period and any alternative periods that also meet the requirement, giving you flexibility for tax filing.

Arrival & Departure Days

Both arrival and departure days are counted as full days of presence in the location where you spent the majority of that calendar day.

Transit Days

A transit day is when you are physically present in the U.S. (or other non-qualifying location) for less than 24 hours while traveling between two foreign countries. If marked as a transit day, it does not count against your FEIE qualification.

Multi-Time-Zone Handling

When trips span multiple time zones, PresenceProof normalizes timestamps to a consistent reference (typically the jurisdiction's local time) to ensure accurate day-level calculations. This prevents edge cases where a trip might incorrectly span an extra day due to timezone shifts.

• Overlapping Trips: If trip dates overlap, PresenceProof merges them intelligently to avoid double-counting days.
• Same-Day In-and-Out: Trips where arrival and departure occur on the same calendar day are handled correctly (counting as 1 day, not 0).
• Cross-Year Trips: Trips spanning calendar years (e.g., Dec 28, 2024 → Jan 5, 2025) are split accurately into per-year day counts.
• Leap Years: Feb 29 is correctly included in leap year calculations.