@Almo2 As I understand the situation,
(a) you ( Husband ) entered the USA with F-1 in 2020. Thus absent any other contravening facts, your "exempt" status runs for five years from 2020 through 12/31/2024. Hence you recognized your US sourced income on form 1040-NR filing as "Married" ( from the year you got married ).
(b) For 2025 you are no longer exempt from counting days present and therefore will be resident for the tax year 2025 , filing form 1040. ( corrected previous error of 2024)
(c) Your spouse ( wife ) entered US with a dependent visa ( F-2) in 2022 and thus had the same immigration status as the primary holder . Thus if she was allowed to work, her income would have been recognized on form 1040-NR and again filing as "Married"
(d) Your spouse had a status adjustment to "GreenCard" in 2024 ( please confirm ) and thus she would have an independent immigration status and tax status as Resident / US Person for the year. Note that her start of the resident year would be the first day she was present legally in the US in that year ( excluding any days as an exempt person). Since she was on dependent visa till the date of adjustment ( / admitted with GC), her start of the year will be the date of adjustment --- just like a F-1 student whose status was adjusted to GC during the calendar year. Thus her tax filing is that of a dual status person --- US income from 01/01/2024 till the date of adjustment reported on form 1040-NR and world income post the adjustment date reported on form 1040. Also depending on the country she is from ( and assuming a valid treaty ), she may be eligible to use standard deduction for the tax year.
(e) Depending on the exact date of adjustment, 2024 amended return ( i.e. one requesting that an NRA spouse be treated as a resident for tax purposes) may not yield sufficient benefit to worth the trouble. If you choose to follow that path and depending on exact facts and circumstances, you perhaps should consider using the services of a tax professional familiar with taxing of internationals.
(g) For the tax year 2025, you are no longer an exempt person and thus you two can indeed file together as Tax resident , MFJ and standard deduction etc.
Is there more I can do for you ?
