As per the first year choice, my husband and I can opt to file as residents or non residents. Background
I am on L1 with income and husband is a student on L2 with no income. We entered the US on August 10 2011.

Questions
Is it more beneficial to file non- resident status or resident?
1.2. With resident, you must file foreign income but we might get deductions from tuition payments for my husbands and standard deductions app.
2. With non resident, you don't need to file foreign income but no deductions. However Social and medicare is saved.

Please advise

The FICA (Social Security and Medicare) taxes SHOULD have been withheld from your pay as soon as you started getting paid. If it was not, you have the legal obligation to notify the employer of his error.

So FICA taxes are NOT part of the equation, so filing jointly PROBABLY more sense.