Trump account eligibility depends on your child, not your visa: any child under 18 with a work-valid Social Security number qualifies, and US citizens born from 2025 through 2028 also get $1,000 from the Treasury. The catch for H-1B families is that an India-born sibling on an H-4 usually can't open one at all.
Trump account eligibility turns on your child, not on you
A Trump account is a traditional IRA for a child, created by Section 530A of the Internal Revenue Code. It isn't a Roth, so the growth is taxed when money comes out. The tests sit on the child, and your green card, H-1B or ITIN plays no part in them.
What the account itself requires
The IRS instructions for Form 4547, the Trump account election, set three conditions for opening one:
- Your child is under 18 at the end of the year you make the election.
- Your child has a Social Security number issued before the election, and it's valid for employment.
- Nobody has already filed an election for that child.
There's no citizenship test and no US residence test for the account itself. The form takes a foreign address, and a parent without an SSN enters an ITIN instead.
What the $1,000 deposit adds
The federal pilot program contribution of $1,000 needs two more things. Your child must be a US citizen born after December 31, 2024 and before January 1, 2029. You must also expect the child to be your qualifying child that year, which mostly means living with you for over half of it, in any country.
How this plays out across one Indian family
The same household can land in three different places. A US-born child of H-1B parents is a US citizen, which the Supreme Court confirmed in Trump v. Barbara on June 30, 2026, but an older sibling born in India isn't.
| Your child | Can open a Trump account? | Gets the $1,000? |
|---|---|---|
| Born in the US in 2025 or later | Yes, once the SSN is issued | Yes |
| Green card holder, any age under 18 | Yes, a green card holder's SSN is work-valid | No, not a US citizen |
| Born in India, in the US on an H-4 | Generally no, an H-4 child isn't authorized to work, so no work-valid SSN | No |
A US-born child born in 2023 or 2024 sits in the middle. The account is open to them, but the $1,000 isn't, because the birth window starts on January 1, 2025.
Contribution rules while you live outside the US
Contributions opened on July 4, 2026, and the cap is $5,000 a year per child from everyone combined. That figure is indexed for inflation after 2027. The $1,000 pilot deposit, government and charity contributions, and rollovers sit outside the cap.
Who can put money in
Parents, grandparents in Pune, an uncle in Dallas: anyone can contribute, as long as the combined total stays within $5,000. A US employer can add up to $2,500 a year tax-free, but that counts inside the $5,000, not on top. Whether an Indian employer can take part is unsettled, so don't plan around it.
What you don't get
You don't get a deduction. Your contributions go in after tax and become basis, so they come out untaxed later, while the $1,000 deposit and employer money carry no basis at all.
Until the child turns 18, the account can only hold index funds or ETFs tracking mostly US stocks. Fees are capped at 0.1% a year, and leverage isn't allowed.
What happens to a Trump account when you move back to India
Nothing changes on the US side. Your child stays a US citizen wherever the family lives, and the account stays locked until January 1 of the year your child turns 18.
The only exits before then are death, a return of excess contributions, a transfer to another Trump account, or a full rollover to an ABLE account in the year the child turns 17.
From 18, the account follows traditional IRA rules. Earnings are taxed as income when withdrawn, and the 10% additional tax under Section 72(t) applies before age 59 and a half unless an exception fits. That's a long lock for a child who might study in Bengaluru, not Boston.
The India side is the open question
India defers tax on income inside US retirement accounts under Section 89A of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and Rule 21AAA, until you withdraw. A Trump account is legally an IRA, so it should fit. Nobody has tested that yet, so I'd treat the Indian treatment as unsettled rather than assume the growth escapes Indian tax.
The call I'd make for a family that's leaving
What I see in practice: one H-1B couple I'm working with is moving to Bengaluru in 2027 with a US-citizen daughter born this year. They put the Trump account on their pre-move list, right next to the 401(k) and the 529.
My advice for families in that position is simple. Claim the $1,000, because it costs nothing, but don't make this the main savings pot for a child who'll grow up in India.
The money is locked for 18 years, it can only hold US equity funds, and the earnings come out as ordinary income. For college money, a 529 plan for NRIs is usually the better tool. A UTMA custodial account gives more freedom over what the child holds.
Who this applies to, and who it doesn't
These rules matter if you're an Indian national in the US with children under 18, or a family planning a return to India with US-born kids. They work the same way on an H-1B, an L-1, a green card, or after you're back in India.
They don't help in three cases:
- Your child was born in India and is in the US on an H-4 with no work-valid SSN.
- Your child turns 18 before the end of the year you'd make the election.
- Your child holds a green card but not US citizenship, and you were counting on the $1,000.
What to do before and after the move
Work through these in order. The first two are the ones families miss.
- Get your US-born child's SSN before you leave. In the US you request it with the hospital birth paperwork; from India it means applying through the US embassy's Federal Benefits Unit.
- File Form 4547 with your US return, or online through trumpaccounts.gov. The IRS calls filing with an e-filed return the fastest route, and the Form 4547 instructions list every condition.
- Link a US bank account before you close your US accounts, so relatives can keep contributing.
- Decide how much beyond the $1,000 you'll add, given the 18-year lock and the US-only investments.
- Time the move with your RNOR status in mind, and tell whoever files your ITR that the account exists once you're resident in India.
If you have a US citizen child born in 2025 or later, I'd file Form 4547 with your next US return and claim the $1,000. If you're planning the move home too, InvestMates can map how the Trump account, the 529 and the 401(k) fit together before you go.
Frequently asked questions
Can an H-4 child get a Trump account after getting a green card?
Yes, an H-4 child can get a Trump account once the green card brings a work-valid SSN, as long as the child is under 18 at the end of the election year. The $1,000 still won't come, because it needs US citizenship and a birth from 2025 through 2028.
Can an NRI family living in India still claim the $1,000 Trump account deposit?
Yes, if the child is a US citizen born from 2025 through 2028 with an SSN and lives with you for more than half the year. The rules don't require the child to live in the US. The same qualifying child test drives the Child Tax Credit for NRIs, so check both together.
Can grandparents in India contribute to a Trump account?
Yes, grandparents in India can contribute to a Trump account, since contributions can come from any person. Their gifts count toward the $5,000 annual cap per child, together with everyone else's.
Does a Trump account go on the FBAR?
No, a Trump account doesn't go on the FBAR, because it's a US account with a US trustee. The FBAR for NRIs covers foreign accounts, so your child's Indian bank or investment accounts are what count toward the $10,000 threshold.
Is the $1,000 Trump account deposit taxable for my child?
No, the $1,000 Trump account deposit isn't taxed when it lands. It carries no basis, though, so it's taxed as income when it's withdrawn, from the year your child turns 18 onward.