I am a foreign national and living in overseas. I was in USA from 1988 to 2001/2002 on F1 (student) and H1 (work visa) . I moved out of USA in 2001/2002. During that period I always worked and my previous employers withhold my Social Security and Medicare taxes.

I understand that I can get the refund for social security and Medicare taxes in a lump sump amount since I moved out of USA permanently and not eligible for benefits. How do I go about it? Thanks in advance.

Hi
For the period you are on F1 VISA you can claim back FICA( social security and Medicare taxes). Ideally your employer needs to refund this.
Go through below link

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8316.pdf

Sorry, you can get NOTHING back from the taxes withheld for Social Security and Medicare.

While you were under the H-1 visa, you were legally liable to pay Social Security and Medicare, even though you would never qualify for benefits under either program.

While you were under the F-1 visa, your salary was exempt from Social Security and Medicare. However, there is a time during which you had to request the refund using Form 843. The deadline for submitting Form 843 has long since expired.

Sorry!