@please_help , Having gone through your post ( description of the situation ), and agreeing with the responses from my colleagues @Opus 17 and @TomD8 , there are few things I would like to add:
(a) You have not answered as to your own immigration status ( citizen/ GreenCard/ Resident for Tax purposes ); if you are US citizen, then which country are you a citizen of --- this is only for completeness and may have no effect on tax situation
(b) Your spouse , where is she from ? Has she ever been to the USA and if so when. This may affect things because of tax treaty ( if any )
(c) Generally, if the NRA spouse is not in the USA and your tax home is US, then the "treating of spouse as a resident " is not much benefit, especially if there is no tax treaty in effect ( because then you cannot get credit for the foreign taxes paid nor be eligible for Foreign Earned Income Exclusion ).
(d) Note that when filing a US tax return jointly with your spouse , it is total household income that is considered for threshold of filing requirement.
Please answer the questions and I will circle back once I hear from you --yes ?
pk
