@ni_1 having read through your post , what I get is this :
1. you entered US on F-1 ( was this your first entry?, which country are you from ? ) probably no earlier than 2018 and thus still exempt from counting days present till 12/31/2022 and considered NRA for the whole of 2022.
2. Change of status on 10/01/2022 or thereabouts will terminate your exempt status and therefore in 2022 you will have 92 days ( or less) presence in the country.
3. Thus by end of March 2023 you will have met SPT ( Substantial Presence Test ) and be a Resident for Tax purposes. 2023 you would be Dual Status tax payer or an RA ( Resident for Tax purposes).
4. Your spouse with H-4 visa will join you in Dec 2022. She being on a dependent visa has the same tax filing status as you.
Thus assuming that your spouse's world income is not an issue , you can exercise the first yer choice ( and meet its eligibility requirements :(
(a) at least present 31 days in the USA during 2022
(b) be present at least 75 % of the days in the test period of first day of presence counting ( 10/01/2022) through the end of the year i.e. 75% of the days from 10/01/2022 till 12/31/2022
(c) pass the SPT during 2023 AND
(d) were not a resident during 2021.
Also assuming that your spouse does not have an ITIN / SSN, you can file your return for 2022 as follows-->
(A) Prepare return using TurboTax as for US person ( citizen/ Green Card / Resident fr Tax Purposes), choose Married Filing Joint ( MFJ) filing status
(B) Enter spouse's Tax ID ( SSN / ITIN )
(C) Enter your 2022 income plus your spouse's 2022 income -- both world income
(D) Attach a note requesting to be treated as Resident for Tax Purposes , exercising first year choice and stipulating that you meet the requirements of such exercise. Also include a note signed by both you and spouse stating that you both her to be treated as resident for tax purposes.
(E) file by mail.
Note that if your spouse does not have a tax ID by the filing date then the following additional steps are needed:
(B-1) In TurboTax, in place of her SSN/ITIN enter a dummy SSN -- like your own SSN and replace the last four digits with 5000.
(B-2) When the return is finished, print the return and white out the dummy SSN and write in "N-R-A".
(B-3) Download from IRS site the form W-7, complete the application for ITIN for the spouse, include all the required documents /copies as called out in the instructions.
(B-4) Mail this along with the return and attachments as above
Does this help ? If you need more help, please provide answers to the questions above ( in parens )
pk
