Dear Sir,

First of all, thank you very much for helping me a lot.

I have questions regarding how to fill in the lines 4a and 4b of Form 8843, and item H of 1040NR-EZ.

Back ground information
I had been in the US;
159 days in 2006 under F-1 student visa (no income, Form 8843 was submitted)
175 days in 2007 under F-1 student visa (no income, Form 8843 was submitted)
138 days in 2008 under J-1 trainee visa (I had income and now preparing1040NR-EZ)

Questions
(1) Are my following understandings correct?
The number of days of my presence in the United States during 2006 and 2007 is not counted for the purpose of substantial presence test. The number of days of my presence during 2008 can not be excluded for the purpose of substantial presence test. But I am still non-resident alien for the purpose of tax filing because I can say that for the purpose of substantial presence test, I only stayed 138 days. Am I right?

(2) is my following understanding correct?
Based on my understanding, (1) above, line 4a and 4b of form 8843 should be fill in as follows;
4a: 2008-138 days, 2007-175 days, 2006-159days
4b: 0

(3) What about item H of 1040NR-EZ? Since, for the purpose of substantial presence test, days I was present in 2006 and 2007 are 0, should I put 0? Or actual number of days which I was here in the US?

Thank you very very much in advance.

Sincerely,

You have completed 2 years of F1. So in 2008 as J1 trainee, you are not exempt from residency. You will file resident tax return and must pay FICA taxes on your income.
Read about F1/J1 tax filing: Your U.S. Tax Return: The U.S. Visas (http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/08/us-visas.html)