Hi,

I understand this question may have been asked several times here, but just want to confirm some of my special situations:

I have been a F-1 student since September 2003, currently I am on OPT (since August 2008). According to some of the earlier topics on this forum, I should file as resident alien (use 1040). Could someone confirm? (Some people say I have to deduct my 5 calendar years from my stay in US and then pass the substantial presence test using the remaining days, which means I won't meet resident alien request until sometime in May? This confuses me... )

Second question, which is more important to me, is that my wife is also a F-1 student, but from September 2004 (so less than 5 years). If I can use 1040 to file my tax return, can she choose to file with using "married and file jointly"?

Thanks!

You will file resident tax return.
You can file joint return as residents. In that case, your wife must start paying FICA taxes from 2009.
Read about F1 tax filing: Your U.S. Tax Return: The U.S. Visas

I agree that you need to file as a resident for the entire year 2008 and that you can file either as married filing separately or elect to file married filing jointly. However, if you elect to file married filing jointly, you wife must start paying FICA tax (if she is employed) for 2008 (rather than 2009).

Yes, if your wife files as resident in 2008, then her income is subject to FICA taxes. But there is no way she can pay it now on your own.
Also, I am not sure if IRS has ever contacted the employer in such cases; for the First Year Choice year.