Harris, Thanks for sharing. I am still unsure to, which form I should file and what deduction i cani apply? Oviously I do not qualify for Substantial presense as I was under F1 untill end of Sept. Starting Oct I am in H1B. So appears to me that I should file 1040 NR. which makes sense. but what about the deductions? as we know while we are under OPT we dont pay SS tax, Medicare. However starting H1 we have to pay those additional $$. so now when i file 1040 NR do I get standard deductions or itemized? I belive the standard would be higher than my itemized. and is there any additional forms to fill out because of the status change??