I came to U.S on Jan 1st, 2017 as J1 scholar. When will I be a resident alien and can use 1040EZ instead of 1040NR-EZ?

[agarwallapritha]

I came to U.S as a J1 scholar (Postdoctoral associate) on 01.01.2017. When will I be considered as a resident alien? Should I use 1040EZ when I will file my tax for 2018 (i.e filing in 2019) and use turbotax?

[TaxGuyBill]

You are a Nonresident Alien for the first 2 calendar years of your J-1 visa.  That means you are a Nonresident Alien for 2017 and 2018.

If you are married to a US Citizen or US Resident Alien, you choose to make an election to be taxed as a Resident Alien.  However, TurboTax does not assist you with that election.

In 2019 (tax returns filed early in 2020), you start 'counting days', and if you are in the US for at least 183 days, you will be a Resident Alien.

You can not use TurboTax unless you are a Resident, so you won't be able to use TurboTax until the 2019 tax return (filed early in 2020).

[LinaJ2018]

Technically, you may become a US resident for tax purposes for the year of 2019. ( filing season 2020)  You cannot use TurboTax to file a nonresident return for the year of 2018.  (the filing season 2019).  

As a J-visa holder, you are considered as a nonresident for two years from the first year you entered the US. (2017 -2018).  Starting from January 1, 2019, you may be treated as a US resident for tax purposes and file a Form 1040 if meet the Substantial Presence Test  ( stay in the US for more than 183 days in 2019).  However, during these two exempt years ( 2017-2018 being a nonresident), if you married a US citizen or resident, you can be treated as a US resident if your spouse files an election and you both will file jointly on a Form 1040.  Please see  Nonresident to resident

As TurboTax does not support nonresident filing, please see  Sprintax for assistance.