Tax year 2026Checked October 25, 2026

Switching from F-1 to H-1B in 2026: your tax checklist

What to check before your H-1B starts, on your first H-1B paycheck, on December 31 and in the 2027 filing season, with a worked October 1 example.

7.65% of H-1B pay goes to Social Security and Medicare from your first H-1B day (wages up to $184,500)

By F1TaxReturn Tax Team. Published October 25, 2026. Facts checked against the sources below on October 25, 2026. 6 minute read.

In short

Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%) tax start on your first day in H-1B status, even while you are still a nonresident alien for income tax. OPT pay within the dates on your OPT work permit (EAD) stays exempt while you are a nonresident; no IRS text settles pay in cap-gap days after the EAD ends.
If 2026 is inside your five exempt calendar years, your earlier US days were exempt and your OPT ran until an October 1, 2026 H-1B start, at most 92 days count. You are then a nonresident alien for all of 2026 and file Form 1040-NR with Form 8843 by Thursday, April 15, 2027, unless you make the first-year choice or, married to a US citizen or resident, choose to be treated as a resident.
Inside your five exempt years, if your earlier US days were exempt, an H-1B start on or before July 2, 2026 can reach 183 counted days (a July 2 start needs every day from July 2 on in the US). For a start after January 1, reaching 183 makes 2026 a dual-status year, unless you and your spouse choose to be treated as residents for all of it. A January 1 start, with you in the US that day, makes you a resident all year.
On $30,000 of H-1B pay from October to December 2026, Social Security and Medicare tax come to $2,295: $1,860 plus $435.
A nonresident alien for all of 2026 files no FBAR for 2026, because only US persons file one.

Contents, 9 sections

If you switch from F-1 to H-1B in 2026, Social Security and Medicare tax (7.65%) start on your first day in H-1B status, even while you are a nonresident alien. Inside your five exempt calendar years, an October 1 start usually means Form 1040-NR and Form 8843 for 2026. A start by July 2 usually means a dual-status year.

What do I need to do, and when?

Five dates matter in a 2026 switch from F-1 to H-1B, from your H-1B start to Thursday, April 15, 2027.

The F-1 to H-1B checklist for 2026
When	What to do, and why
Before your start date	If you change status inside the US, find the validity start date on your Form I-797: your H-1B days count from it, not the approval date. Save your I-94 travel history.
First H-1B paycheck	Check that Social Security and Medicare appear. Keep every stub, and tell payroll your status changed.
December 31, 2026	Count your days in the US in H-1B status, plus any other days that were not exempt. Under 183: nonresident all year, unless you make a choice described below. 183 or more: usually dual-status inside your five exempt years. In your sixth year or later, usually a resident all year, filing Form 1040.
By Monday, February 1, 2027	Get your W-2 (IRS). Boxes 3 and 5 (Social Security and Medicare wages) should show H-1B pay only.
By Thursday, April 15, 2027	File Form 1040-NR with Form 8843 or a dual-status return, or extend with Form 4868 and pay what you owe.

Key facts

Social Security and Medicare on H-1B pay: 7.65% from your first H-1B day: 6.2% on wages up to $184,500, plus 1.45%
Counted days from an October 1, 2026 start: At most 92 if your OPT ran until then and your earlier US days were exempt. You are a nonresident alien all year unless you make the first-year choice or file jointly with a spouse who is a US citizen or resident on December 31
Latest start that can reach 183 days in 2026: July 2, 2026, inside your five exempt years, if your earlier US days were exempt and you are in the US every day from July 2 on
Your 2026 W-2: Due from your employer by Monday, February 1, 2027
2026 return due (with wages): Thursday, April 15, 2027

For: F-1 students, usually on OPT or STEM OPT, whose H-1B status starts in 2026 while 2026 is still one of their five exempt calendar years.
Not for: Students in their sixth calendar year or later, who are usually resident aliens for all of 2026, green card holders, and J-1 researchers and scholars.

Social Security and Medicare tax start on your first day in H-1B status (IRS): 6.2% Social Security tax on 2026 wages up to $184,500 (SSA) plus 1.45% Medicare tax. The student exemption ends with your change to H-1B (IRS), in most cases on that day (Publication 5876).

OPT pay before that day stays exempt while you are a nonresident; if payroll taxed it, see the FICA refund guide. If your OPT ended before your H-1B started, read the cap-gap warning in the F-1 to H-1B guide.

Ask payroll to review any Form 8233 you gave them. Each covers one tax year, one employer and one type of income (Form 8233 instructions). A treaty's student article is written for students and trainees (treaty guide). A new Form W-4 follows Notice 1392 while you are a nonresident (W-4 guide).

Will I be a resident or a nonresident for 2026?

Inside your five exempt calendar years, your F-1 days are not counted toward the 183-day substantial presence test, so 2026 usually turns on your days in H-1B status. If your earlier US days were exempt, an October 1, 2026 start gives at most 92 days, leaving you a nonresident alien all year unless you make a choice below.

Earlier days means every day you spent in the US in 2024, 2025 and 2026 before your start. Days that were not exempt, such as a tourist visit, count too: a 2025 day as one third, a 2024 day as one sixth. Whether cap-gap or grace-period days count is not settled (see the warning linked above).

With exempt earlier days, a start on or before July 2, 2026 can reach 183 days. A July 2 start needs every day from July 2 on in the US. Reaching 183 after a start later than January 1 makes 2026 a dual-status year unless you file jointly as residents.

With an October 1 start, the first-year choice can make you a resident for the end of 2026 if you also meet the 2027 test. Residency starts on the first day of the earliest run of 31 days in a row in the US that qualifies. From that day to December 31, you must be in the US on at least 75% of the days: 69 of the 92 if the run starts October 1. Up to 5 days away can count as present toward the 75%.

For a single filer, the first-year choice makes 2026 a dual-status year with no standard deduction. You cannot file until you meet the 2027 test. So file Form 4868 by Thursday, April 15, 2027, and pay with it the tax figured as if you were a nonresident all year.

Worked example: Dana, F-1 since August 2023, H-1B from October 1, 2026

Dana, an illustrative single filer in Texas with no treaty claim or first-year choice, was in the US all year. One employer paid them $60,000 on OPT (January to September) and $30,000 on H-1B (October to December), with no pre-tax deductions.

Step	Dana's 2026 figures
Days counted, October 1 to December 31	92, short of 183: nonresident all year
Social Security (W-2 box 4): 6.2% of $30,000	$1,860
Medicare (W-2 box 6): 1.45% of $30,000	$435
Federal income tax on all $90,000 at 2026 single rates (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), no standard deduction: $5,800 + 22% of ($90,000 minus $50,400)	$14,512

The IRS Tax Table can differ by a few dollars. Texas does not tax wages, by the Tax Foundation's count, so Dana files no state return; other states apply their own residency rules.

When is my 2026 return due, and what goes in it?

With wages in 2026, your return is due Thursday, April 15, 2027: Form 1040-NR if you stayed a nonresident, or a dual-status return if you became a resident. A couple who chose to be treated as residents for the year files a joint Form 1040 instead.

Were you paid wages in 2026 that are subject to US income tax withholding, such as an on-campus job, CPT or OPT? If a treaty exempted all of your pay, the Treasury regulations point to No.

Yes, I had wagesNo wages

Monday, February 1, 2027Your W-2 is due
Monday, March 15, 2027Your 1042-S is due
Thursday, April 15, 2027Form 1040-NR, if you had wages YoursDue if you were paid wages subject to US income tax withholding in 2026, such as an on-campus job, CPT or OPT reported on a W-2. Attach Form 8843 to it.
Tuesday, June 15, 2027Form 1040-NR with no wages, or Form 8843 aloneDue if you had no wages subject to US income tax withholding in 2026, for example only a taxable scholarship. If Form 8843 is the only thing you file, mail it by this day.

Your Form 1040-NR is due Thursday, April 15, 2027.

When Form 1040-NR is due for an F-1 student who switched to H-1B in 2026 and stayed a nonresident. Due dates for 2026 returns, from IRC 6072(a) and (c).

Attach Form 8843 to exclude your F-1 days: line 4b of the 2026 draft takes only those days, 273 for Dana. A dual-status filer who is a resident on December 31 files Form 1040 marked "Dual-Status Return" (IRS).

For tax year 2025, Publication 519 said a dual-status return could not be e-filed. F1TaxReturn does not prepare a return for a year with a change to H-1B; use a preparer who does.

When do the FBAR and Form 8938 start?

A nonresident alien for all of 2026 files no FBAR for 2026, because only US persons file one (IRS). Reaching 183 days or making the first-year choice makes you a resident for FBAR (IRM 4.26.16); ask a preparer how this works in a dual-status year.

As a resident, you file one for a year your foreign accounts together were worth over $10,000 at any time. You may need Form 8938 too (FBAR guide).

What if I am married?

A joint 2026 return needs one spouse to be a US citizen or resident on December 31, 2026, so two nonresident spouses cannot file one. When one of you is, you can both choose to be treated as residents for all of 2026 and file a joint Form 1040 (Publication 519).

The dual-status rules do not apply to a couple who make that choice. Inside your five exempt years, if your earlier US days were exempt, an October 1 start with a nonresident spouse allows a joint return only through the first-year choice.

A spouse on a joint return who cannot get an SSN applies for an ITIN on Form W-7, box e (W-7 instructions). See whether a joint return lowers your tax, written for a spouse in the US on F-2 and then H-4. The guides for a spouse on F-1 or abroad assume you were a resident all year. They fit your first full year as a resident, not the year you switch.

What to do next

Find the validity start date on your Form I-797 today.
Check your first H-1B pay stub for Social Security and Medicare.
File or extend by Thursday, April 15, 2027 (mailing guide), with a preparer if 2026 is dual-status.

Questions students ask

Do I still file Form 8843 after switching to H-1B?

Yes, for the year you switch if it is still one of your five exempt years, to exclude your F-1 days from the count. Line 1b takes your status on December 31 with the date of the change and your previous status, and line 4b takes your F-1 days only. A resident for a whole year does not file it, because the form exists only to exclude days.

No. They start on your first day in H-1B status, which for a change of status inside the US is the validity start date on your Form I-797, not the day USCIS approved the petition. OPT pay earned before that day, within the dates on your OPT work permit (EAD), stays exempt while you are a nonresident alien. If your OPT ended before your H-1B started, no IRS text says whether pay in your cap-gap days is exempt; ask a preparer who handles status changes.

Is my first H-1B year a dual-status year?

Inside your five exempt years, only if your counted days in 2026 reach 183 or you make the first-year choice. If your earlier US days were exempt, reaching 183 takes an H-1B start on or before July 2, 2026, and a July 2 start needs every day from July 2 on in the US; an October 1 start gives at most 92 days. A married couple can instead choose, when one spouse is a US citizen or resident on December 31, to be treated as residents for all of 2026, and the dual-status rules then do not apply.

Do I need a new Form 8233 for my H-1B job?

Only if a tax treaty still exempts some of your pay. You give an employer Form 8233 only when some or all of your pay is exempt from withholding. Each one covers one tax year, one employer and one type of income. A treaty's student article is written for students and trainees, so tell payroll your status changed and ask them to review any Form 8233 on file.

Can F1TaxReturn prepare my 2026 return?

Not for the year you switch. F1TaxReturn prepares Form 1040-NR and Form 8843 free for students who were nonresident aliens in F, J, M or Q status all year, once the final 2026 forms are published. It does not prepare Form 1040, dual-status or joint returns, and it does not record a change to H-1B during the year.

Sources

This guide is checked against these 17 documents, most recently on October 25, 2026.