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My question is as above: Is a change from "J-1 Short-Term Scholar" to "J-1 Research Scholar", both with the primary purpose of "Conducting Research", a "Change of Status"?

Form I-539 makes me think "no", because on page 2, part 2, 2.b ("The change of status I am requesting"), one can select only "J1 - EXCHANGE VISITORS - OTHERS". So there is no way to tell Short-Term Scholar apart from Research Scholar. [Ok, bad example: No change of category will be considered for Short-Term Scholars. But the question remains the same with similar J-1 types such as Professor.]

However, the Windstar tax software seems to think differently. Let's look at the case of a Short-Term Scholar (first half of the year) who became a Research Scholar (second half of the year):

Reestablishing Residency is required to start the benefits over after acquiring a new status/purpose! [explain]
Examining visit: J-1 CONDUCTING RESEARCH 7/1/2015 12/31/2015 [...]
Examining visit: J-1 CONDUCTING RESEARCH 1/1/2015 6/30/2015 [...]
Treaty Benefits end prior to this tax year. Treaty benefits denied.

So Windstar seems to think the Scholar has changed "status" or "purpose" (where the purpose is "CONDUCTING RESEARCH").

This article has a lot of information about this, see section D, "Impact of Change in Status". However, the article mostly talks about using different sections of the tax treaty (for students vs. professors, for example), which is not (necessarily) the case for a researcher changing from Short-Term to Research Scholar. What exactly a "change of status" is, remains unclear. Even footnote 157 says "An explanation of this policy is not included in IRS Publication 901, U.S. Tax Treaties." I do not have access to any of the other references in that footnote.

Edit: I have asked the Windstar people, too. I'll update this questions as soon as I hear back from them.

Scott Earle
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bers
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    Very interesting question but I guess it belongs to expats SE. –  Mar 07 '16 at 19:49
  • Sounds good. I was actually considering cross-posting (if that is allowed) in money SE, but expacts looks much more fitting. Thanks for the suggestion. Can this question be migrated? –  Mar 07 '16 at 20:16
  • I already flagged for migration, however that process might take a little. Cross-posting is somewhat frowned upon, to get a quick response I suggest you go to chat and enquire about the migration/cross-posting issue. (you might be quicker deleting this question and posting again on expats) –  Mar 07 '16 at 20:19
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    It seems like you are just trying to figure out what this particular tax software you are using means by that term. Why don't you ask them? Why does it matter how they list your visits as long as they use the tax treaties the same way in the end? Do you have reason to believe that they way they are dividing it up affects how they calculate your tax? – user102008 Mar 07 '16 at 20:25
  • @user102008 "... figure out what this particular tax software ...": Yes, correct (partially). I fear the software is correct, but I want to be sure. Because, yes, it does impact my tax calculation in a number of ways (higher tax, and more filing requirements to avoid double taxation). Because what the software basically says is "the tax treaty is not in effect for you", go figure it out yourself :) –  Mar 07 '16 at 20:28
  • Did you file I-539? Did you file for change or extension? I suspect that J-1 is J-1 as far as USCIS is concerned. Whether that's the end of the story for tax purposes is another question, though. – phoog Mar 07 '16 at 22:20
  • @phoog A J-1 short-term scholar status cannot be changed or extended, afaik (see my comment in brackets). So the scholar in question was asked to leave the US, thereby ending his short-term scholar stay, and reenter using a new research-scholar DS-2019 form (using the old visa stamp, if that matters). Actually, thinking about it, it might matter: if the same visa stamp was used to enter the country, this indicates his status may not be too different after all. – bers Mar 07 '16 at 22:25
  • Well, that's exactly it. The status is J-1. If there are different "categories" of J-1 status, then those are different categories, not different statuses. But again, the IRS can always look at it differently. – phoog Mar 07 '16 at 22:33

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