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Students and Exchange Visitors: U.S. Taxes for Noncitizens (2025 IRS Guide)

This guide covers “Students and Exchange Visitors” within u.s. taxes for noncitizens. The following material presents the IRS treatment of this topic, including the qualifications, exceptions, and examples in the source section. Read the rules alongside the facts of your own situation before deciding what to report, deduct, or document.

Adapted from Publication 519 (2025), U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens, published by the Internal Revenue Service. This guide retains the source edition’s years, amounts, deadlines, and examples. It is guidance for that edition, not a statement that the same figures apply to every tax year.

Context for these rules

If you work as an employee in the United States, you must pay social security and Medicare taxes in most cases. Your payments of these taxes contribute to your coverage under the U.S. social security system. Social security coverage provides retirement benefits, survivors and disability benefits, and medical insurance (Medicare) benefits to individuals who meet certain eligibility requirements.

In most cases, the first $176,100 of taxable wages received in 2025 for services performed in the United States is subject to social security tax. All taxable wages are subject to Medicare tax. Your employer deducts these taxes from each wage payment. Your employer must deduct these taxes even if you do not expect to qualify for social security or Medicare benefits. You can claim a credit for excess social security tax on your income tax return if you have more than one employer and the amount deducted from your combined wages for 2025 is more than $10,918.20.

If any one employer deducted more than $10,918.20, you cannot claim a credit for that amount. Ask your employer to refund the excess. If your employer does not refund the excess, you can file a claim for refund using Form 843.

In general, U.S. social security and Medicare taxes apply to payments of wages for services performed as an employee in the United States, regardless of the citizenship or residence of either the employee or the employer. In limited situations, these taxes apply to wages for services performed outside the United States. Your employer should be able to tell you if social security and Medicare taxes apply to your wages. You cannot make voluntary payments if no taxes are due.

Students and Exchange Visitors

Generally, services performed by you as a nonresident alien temporarily in the United States as a nonimmigrant under subparagraph (F), (J), (M), or (Q) of section 101(a)(15) of the Immigration and Nationality Act are not covered under the social security program if the services are performed to carry out the purpose for which you were admitted to the United States. This means that there will be no withholding of social security or Medicare tax from the pay you receive for these services. These types of services are very limited and generally include only on-campus work, practical training, and economic hardship employment.

Social security and Medicare taxes will be withheld from your pay for these services if you are considered a resident alien, as discussed in chapter 1, even though your nonimmigrant classification (“F,” “J,” “M,” or “Q”) remains the same.

Services performed by a spouse or minor child of nonimmigrant aliens with the classification of “F-2,” “J-2,” “M-2,” and “Q-3” are covered under social security.

Nonresident Alien Students

If you are a nonresident alien temporarily admitted to the United States as a student, you are generally not permitted to work for a wage or salary or to engage in business while you are in the United States. In some cases, a student admitted to the United States in “F-1,” “M-1,” or “J-1” status is granted permission to work. Social security and Medicare taxes are not withheld from pay for the work unless the student is considered a resident alien.

Tip:

Any student who is enrolled and regularly attending classes at a school may be exempt from social security and Medicare taxes on pay for services performed for that school.

The USCIS permits on-campus work for students in “F-1” status if it does not displace a U.S. resident. “On-campus work” means work performed on the school’s premises. On-campus work includes work performed at an off-campus location that is educationally affiliated with the school. On-campus work under the terms of a scholarship, fellowship, or assistantship is considered part of the academic program of a student taking a full course of study and is permitted by the USCIS. Social security and Medicare taxes are not withheld from pay for this work unless the student is considered a resident alien.

If services performed by a nonresident alien student are not considered as performed to carry out the purpose for which the student was admitted to the United States, social security and Medicare taxes will be withheld from pay for the services unless the pay is exempt under the Internal Revenue Code.

Exchange Visitors

Exchange visitors are temporarily admitted to the United States under section 101(a)(15)(J) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Social security and Medicare taxes are not withheld on pay for services of an exchange visitor who has been given permission to work and who possesses or obtains a letter of authorization from the sponsor unless the exchange visitor is considered a resident alien.

If services performed by an exchange visitor are not considered as performed to carry out the purpose for which the visitor was admitted to the United States, social security and Medicare taxes are withheld from pay for the services unless the pay is exempt under the Internal Revenue Code.

Nonresident aliens temporarily admitted to the United States as participants in international cultural exchange programs under section 101(a)(15)(Q) of the Immigration and Nationality Act may be exempt from social security and Medicare taxes. The employer must be the petitioner through whom the alien obtained the “Q” visa. Social security and Medicare taxes are not withheld from pay for this work unless the alien is considered a resident alien.

Refund of Taxes Withheld in Error

If social security or Medicare tax was withheld in error from pay that is not subject to these taxes, contact the employer who withheld the taxes for a refund. If you are unable to get a full refund of the amount from your employer, file a claim for refund with the IRS on Form 843. Attach the following items to Form 843.

  • A copy of your Form W-2 to prove the amount of social security and Medicare taxes withheld.

  • A copy of your visa.

  • Form I-94 (or other documentation showing your date of arrival or departure).

  • If you have a J-1 visa, attach a copy of your Form DS-2019.

  • If you have an F-1 or M-1 visa, attach a complete copy of your Form I-20.

  • If you are engaged in optional practical training, attach Form I-766.

  • If you are engaged in employment due to severe economic necessity, documentation showing permission to work in the United States.

  • A statement from your employer indicating the amount of the reimbursement your employer provided and the amount of the credit or refund your employer claimed or you authorized your employer to claim. If you cannot obtain this statement from your employer, you must provide this information on your own statement and explain why you are not attaching a statement from your employer or on Form 8316 claiming your employer will not issue the refund.

  • If you were exempt from social security and Medicare taxes for only part of the year, pay statements showing the tax paid during the period you were exempt.

Send Form 843 (with attachments) to:

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service Center
Ogden, UT 84201-0038

Caution:

Do not use Form 843 to request a refund of Additional Medicare Tax. If Additional Medicare Tax was withheld from your pay in error, you can claim a credit for any withheld Additional Medicare Tax against the total tax liability shown on your tax return by filing Form 8959 with Form 1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR. If Additional Medicare Tax was withheld in error in a prior year for which you already filed Form 1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR, you must file Form 1040-X for the prior year in which the wages or compensation was originally received to recover the Additional Medicare Tax withheld in error. See the Instructions for Form 1040-X.

Using the guidance

Keep the documents that establish the dates, amounts, and circumstances described above. References to other chapters, forms, worksheets, or earlier and later sections refer to the linked IRS publication. Check the full publication and its updates before relying on a rule for a different tax year or a situation not addressed here.

Sources and further reading

The cited U.S. government text is in the public domain. Source accessed October 28, 2026. Fynoptic has organized this material for educational use and is independent of, and not endorsed by, the IRS.

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