IRA or Roth IRA on F-1, OPT or H-1B: can you contribute in 2026?

How much can I put into an IRA for 2026, and by when?

For 2026 you can put in up to $7,500 ($8,600 if you are 50 or older by December 31), but never more than your taxable compensation (IRS IRA limits page). The deadline is your 2026 return's due date, "not including extensions" (Publication 590-A): for most people with wages, Thursday, April 15, 2027.

The limit covers all your IRAs together: $4,000 in a Roth IRA leaves $3,500 for a traditional one. If you pay in between January 1 and April 15, tell the provider which year it is for, or "the sponsor can assume" the current year.

An excess is taxed at 6% a year while it stays in the IRA, unless you take it out, with its earnings, by your return's due date including extensions (IRS).

Which 2026 income limits apply to me?

Two income tests, both on modified AGI, limit your traditional IRA deduction and your Roth IRA contribution. Neither limits a traditional IRA contribution, since deduction limits "don't affect the amount that can be contributed" (Publication 590-A).

Your W-2 shows whether you are covered by a plan at work: the "Retirement plan" box in box 13 "should be checked if you were covered" (Publication 590-A). Employers check it if you were an "active participant" in a plan such as a 401(k) for any part of the year (2026 W-2 instructions). You are covered even before your account vests; if unsure, ask your employer.

On Form 1040-NR, modified AGI is the adjusted gross income on line 11a, refigured without the IRA deduction and a few other items (Publication 590-A).

How do I deduct a traditional IRA on Form 1040-NR?

A nonresident alien enters the deduction on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 20. Schedule 1's total adjustments (line 26) go on Form 1040-NR line 10 and lower adjusted gross income on line 11a, on the 2025 forms and the 2026 drafts alike.

1. Figure the deductible amount on the IRA Deduction Worksheet in the Form 1040 instructions, following "only the guidance for the filing status you checked" on Form 1040-NR (2025 Form 1040-NR instructions).
2. Enter it on Schedule 1, line 20.
3. Report any part you did not deduct on Form 8606, line 1, filed with your return. Skipping a required Form 8606 costs $50 unless you show reasonable cause (Form 8606 instructions (2025)).

What does an IRA save an OPT worker earning $70,000?

For a nonresident alien on OPT earning $70,000, a $7,500 traditional IRA contribution saves an estimated $1,650 of 2026 federal income tax. A Roth IRA contribution saves nothing now.

All $7,500 comes off income taxed at 22%, since $62,500 is still above $50,400. A nonresident usually has no standard deduction, so taxable income starts at the full $70,000. The IRS Tax Table can differ from this rate schedule (Revenue Procedure 2025-32) by a few dollars.

On H-1B the same contribution saves $1,250. After the $16,100 standard deduction, $53,900 is taxed $5,800 plus 22% of $3,500 = $6,570; the IRA lowers that to $46,400, taxed $1,240 plus 12% of $34,000 = $5,320.

An IRA does not change Social Security and Medicare tax, which a nonresident alien on OPT does not pay (IRS). Tax saved now is half the trade: deducted money and earnings in a traditional IRA are taxed when paid out, and a qualified Roth payout is not. The 401(k) guide lists what to weigh.

How do the limits work if I am married?

A married nonresident alien generally files Form 1040-NR as married filing separately (Publication 519). If you lived with your spouse at any time in 2026, the Roth IRA closes at $10,000 of modified AGI; apart all year, you use the single limits.

If you claim the deduction on a separate return and lived apart all year, check the box on Schedule 1, line 20 (2025 form and 2026 draft). On a separate return only your own pay counts (Publication 590-A).

A spouse with no pay can contribute only through a joint return, and "a nonresident alien generally cannot file as married filing jointly" (Publication 519). So while you file Form 1040-NR, a spouse with no pay of their own, such as an F-2 spouse, cannot contribute.

A resident on H-1B can file jointly, including with a nonresident spouse who chooses to be treated as a resident (F-1 to H-1B and married).

Can I use a "backdoor Roth" if my income is over the limit?

Publication 590-A sets no income limit on Roth conversions, so some people over the Roth limit make a nondeductible traditional IRA contribution and then convert it. That limit is $168,000 of modified AGI for a single filer in 2026, or $10,000 on a separate return after living with your spouse.

1. Contribute to a traditional IRA and report the part you do not deduct on Form 8606, Part I, line 1.
2. Convert it by a transfer between trustees or a 60-day rollover (Publication 590-A), and report the conversion in Form 8606, Part II.
3. Count every traditional IRA: Form 8606, line 6 takes "the total value of all your traditional IRAs as of December 31", SEP and SIMPLE IRAs included.

Until all your basis (nondeductible money) is out, "each distribution is partly nontaxable and partly taxable" (Publication 590-B). This is often called the pro-rata rule: pre-tax money in any traditional IRA makes part of a conversion taxable. On Form 1040-NR, ask a tax preparer first.

Can I take money out of a Roth IRA early?

Your regular Roth IRA contributions come out first and are not income, so they owe neither income tax nor the 10% additional tax (Publication 590-B). Converted amounts come out next and earnings last; until a payout is "qualified", the taxable part of earnings owes income tax and, before age 59½, generally the 10% additional tax.

A payout is qualified after the 5-year period that begins with the first tax year for which you contributed to a Roth IRA. It must also come at 59½ or later, on disability, for a first home (up to $10,000), or after death. Each conversion has its own 5-year period for the 10% additional tax.

What happens to my IRA if I leave the United States?

The tax rules let it stay: Publication 590-A says amounts from years you could contribute "can remain in your IRA" in years you cannot. Neither it nor Publication 590-B has a rule that closes an IRA when you leave the US.

You cannot add to it for a year without taxable compensation, unless you file a joint return with a spouse who has taxable compensation. Whether a provider keeps an account for someone living abroad is the provider's own rule, so ask it.

For withholding on IRA payments to a nonresident alien, Publication 590-B points to the pension and annuity rules in Publication 515 (2026). Without a treaty exemption, the payer generally withholds 30% of the US-source amount.

Publication 515 says most treaties exempt non-government pensions and annuities, though "the exemption may not apply to lump-sum payments". It does not say which treaties cover an IRA, so ask a tax preparer before you take money out.

The 401(k) guide covers workplace plans, and the checklist for leaving the US covers your last return.

What to do next

1. When your 2026 W-2 arrives (due from employers by Monday, February 1, 2027), check box 13 and work out your modified AGI.
2. Before you open an account, ask the provider whether it opens IRAs for your visa status and keeps them if you move abroad.
3. Make any 2026 contribution by your return's due date (Thursday, April 15, 2027 for most people with wages), and tell the provider it is for 2026.
4. Try your figures in the 2026 take-home calculator, which models traditional and Roth IRA amounts.
5. For a nonresident alien student on an F-1 or J-1 visa, OPT included, F1TaxReturn prepares Form 1040-NR and Form 8843 for free once the IRS publishes the final 2026 forms and instructions; you print, sign and mail them. It takes no IRA deduction and prepares neither Form 8606 nor a resident's Form 1040.
6. Ask a tax preparer first if you are married, count treaty-exempt pay or a fellowship, plan a conversion, or take money out after leaving the US.