You are almost certainly non-willful, and the penalties are waived.
If you did not know you had to file, the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures apply: three years of returns, six years of FBARs, and Form 14653 certifying non-willfulness. Penalties are waived. Most people in this position owe little or nothing once the return is prepared correctly.
The three things catch-up filers get wrong
Filing every missing year
Streamlined asks for three years of returns and six years of FBARs — not every year since you left. Filing more can cost you money and prove nothing.
Quietly filing late returns instead
Sending in old returns without Form 14653 forfeits the penalty waiver. The certification is the protection, and it has to be written carefully.
Waiting for a letter
Streamlined is only available while the disclosure is voluntary. Once the IRS contacts you about it, the route closes.
Dated, and worth knowing: the IRS terminated the separate Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures around 1 July 2026. Late FBARs now travel with a Streamlined submission or a reasonable-cause statement.
A worked example
A teacher four years abroad, salary under the exclusion each year, one foreign account with a high balance of $28,000.
Questions catch-up filers ask
How many years do I actually have to file?
Three years of federal returns and six years of FBARs under the Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures — not every year since you left. Filing more than the procedure asks for can cost you money and proves nothing.
What does non-willful mean in practice?
That the failure to file came from not knowing the obligation existed, rather than from a decision to hide income. Form 14653 is where that is certified, in your own words, and it is the document that carries the penalty waiver.
Can I just quietly file the old returns myself?
You can, and you forfeit the waiver by doing it. Late returns sent in without Form 14653 sit outside the procedure, which is the one thing protecting you from the failure-to-file and FBAR penalties.
What if a letter has already arrived from the IRS?
Then the disclosure is no longer voluntary and Streamlined has probably closed. That is a conversation to have with a lawyer before anything is filed — tell me and I will say so plainly.
Will I owe tax on top of the fee?
Most people in this position owe little or nothing, because the exclusion covered the income in each of the years. Any tax that is due is paid with the submission.
Being behind is common. It is also fixable, calmly.
The qualification call is free, and if Streamlined is not your route you will hear that on the call.