11 U.S.C. § 109 — Who may be a debtor

(a) Who can be a debtor at all. Only a person who lives in the United States, is domiciled there, has a place of business there, or has property there — or a municipality — can be a debtor under this title. (b) Chapter 7 (liquidation) eligibility. A person can be a debtor under chapter 7 only if they are not: (1) a railroad; (2) a domestic insurance company, bank, savings bank, cooperative bank, savings and loan association, building and loan association, homestead association, certain small-business investment companies, a credit union, or an industrial bank or similar institution insured under the Federal Deposit Insurance Act — except that an uninsured state member bank, or certain corporations that run a multilateral clearing organization, can be a debtor if the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System directs the filing; or (3) a foreign insurance company doing business in the U.S., or a foreign bank, savings bank, cooperative bank, savings and loan association, building and loan association, or credit union with a U.S. branch or agency. (c) Chapter 9 (municipality) eligibility. An entity can be a debtor under chapter 9 only if it: (1) is a municipality; (2) is specifically authorized by state law, or by an officer or organization that state law empowers, to be a chapter 9 debtor; (3) is insolvent; (4) wants to put together a plan to adjust its debts; and (5) either (A) has gotten agreement from creditors holding a majority of each class of claims it plans to impair, (B) negotiated in good faith but couldn't get that majority agreement, (C) can't practically negotiate with creditors at all, or (D) reasonably believes a creditor might get an avoidable transfer under section 547. (d) Chapter 11 (reorganization) eligibility. Only a railroad, someone eligible for chapter 7 (other than a stockbroker or commodity broker), or an uninsured state member bank or certain multilateral-clearing-organization corporation, can be a debtor under chapter 11. (e) Chapter 13 (individual repayment plan) eligibility. Only an individual with regular income, whose unsecured debts are under $250,000 and secured debts are under $750,000 on the filing date, can be a debtor under chapter 13. A married individual with regular income and their spouse, together, qualify under the same combined debt limits, as long as neither is a stockbroker or commodity broker. (f) Chapter 12 (family farmer/fisherman) eligibility. Only a family farmer or family fisherman with regular annual income can be a debtor under chapter 12. (g) 180-day bar after a recent dismissed case. No individual or family farmer can file under this title if they were a debtor in a case pending at any time in the previous 180 days, and that earlier case was either: (1) dismissed by the court because the debtor willfully failed to follow court orders or to properly appear and prosecute the case; or (2) voluntarily dismissed by the debtor's own request after the debtor asked for, and got, relief from the automatic stay under section 362. (h) Credit counseling requirement. (1) In general, an individual can't be a debtor under this title unless, in the 180 days before filing, they got a briefing (in person, by phone, or online) from an approved nonprofit budget and credit counseling agency, covering available credit counseling and a budget analysis. (2) This requirement doesn't apply where the U.S. trustee (or bankruptcy administrator) decides the approved agencies in that district can't reasonably serve the extra people the requirement would send them — a decision reviewed at least once a year, though an agency can be disapproved at any time. (3) The requirement also doesn't apply if the debtor certifies to the court that exigent circumstances justify a waiver — they must show they asked an approved agency for counseling but couldn't get it within 7 days of asking, and the court must find the certification satisfactory. That waiver ends once the debtor actually meets the counseling requirement, and in any case no later than 30 days after filing (or 45 days if the court extends it for cause). (4) Finally, the requirement doesn't apply if the court decides, after notice and a hearing, that the debtor can't complete it because of incapacity, disability, or active military duty in a combat zone — meaning a mental illness or deficiency that prevents rational financial decisions, or a physical impairment that, despite reasonable effort, prevents the debtor from taking part in an in-person, phone, or internet briefing.