Thank you for sharing your expertise, DaveF1006.
While I may be wrong, I interpret "neither spouse can make this choice again in any later tax year, even if married to a different individual – it is a once-in-a-lifetime choice" as meaning that the choice "to treat the nonresident spouse as a U.S. resident for tax purposes" cannot be replicated after the presence of any scenario under the article's "Ending the Choice" paragraph. Earlier in the article reads the following:
"You must file a joint income tax return for the year you make the choice (but you and your spouse can file joint or separate returns in later years)."
After three hours on-hold with the SSA, my call was prematurely terminated by the national SSA agent without assistance. I then called the local SSA office. Since my wife does not have any immigration status in the USA, she is ineligible for a SSN. This, then, returns us back to the original question: To file as "Married Filing Separately" or "Married Filing Jointly" (the IRS's Interactive Tax Assistant (ITA) blesses each classification). Since https://www.irs.gov/tin/itin/individual-taxpayer-identification-number-itin#alien further confirms that joint filing is possible with an ITIN assigned to my wife and I am unable to file under "Head of Household," I cannot find cause to not file under "Married Filing Jointly" (following Opus 17's Form W-7 advice). Once my wife is permitted to cross the Pacific, we can then request a SSN and discontinue use of her ITIN forever.
If this intent is legally false or invalid, please point out my misunderstanding. Perhaps next year, with an assigned ITIN, I will be able to e-file again regardless of filing status - "Married Filing Separately" or "Married Filing Jointly" (though given our income disparity, I may use the latter every year).
