|| Sarvam Krishna Arpanam ||

Hi,

I am from India on a h1b visa.

I came to US on the 6th December, 2008. I had filed my state and federal taxes for 2008.

1) Is it possible for me to convert to a J1 Visa (in December 2009) ? Assuming my employer ( a research institute) is ready to do so ? Are there any leagal hurdles?

2) Will I be able to use the India-US tax treaty (J1 Visa) for the year 2010 (considering I had stayed in the US during the whole of 2009) and get exemption from all of the taxes, medicare and social security?

Regards
Prakash

1) No, there should be no problem, but this is actually a legal question that should be posed to an immigration attorney.

2) Yes, no problem, provided your research institute is a non-profit organization.