@pk . Thank you for your detailed answer! (and for the “obrigado Sr.”!)
I will address each one of your points below and add any questions I have:
(a) Yes, this is how I have done.
(b) I only have the US income (I even closed my bank accounts in Brazil before moving, since I knew I would not be using them and that I would stay here for a few years). My wife got her SSN in the first year, so I think that filing MFJ will be straightforward.
(c) Would this be the case even if my income being due to my J1 program associated to a US university? I would have to talk to my supervisor about leaving by the end of December, because I am not sure I would be able to get a permission to work remotely starting in January, since I will still have my lease contract valid (and preparing to move by the end of December may be too tight and expensive). But I will talk about this with him and my wife.
(d) What if I stay in US, lets say for 25 days in January 2026? Would I be considered a non-resident for the full year and need to file the US taxes? Maybe this would be the most probable scenario (if I get permission to work remotely).
(d.1) One additional question: If I stay here until March, I will not have US income from April to December. In this case I would file the 1040 with all the income information for the first three months and the 1040-NR having $0 of income?
Best regards,
Felipe
