My niece has been staying with me since June last year (so I think she meets the substantial presence test to be classified as resident alien for tax purpose) to prepare for her USMLE exam. I’ve been providing more than half of her support in 2008. I was just playing with tax preparation software and seems like if I claim her as my dependent I get roughly $3000 more in my tax return. So my question is, can I claim her as my dependent?  If so, can I file W-7 with my tax return to get ITIN as she doesn’t have SSN? Has anybody been in similar situation? Thank you guys for your suggestion.