You are considered as a nonresident and required to file a Form 1040-NR. As TurboTax does not support the Form 1040-NR, you are
advised to use our partner, Sprintax to complete your filing. As a nonresident in 2016, in default, you have to file Married Filing Separately. If you were not in US or did not earn any US source income in 2015, you do not need to file.
As a student on J- visa, you are
considered as "exempt" meaning not counting days for five years
starting from the date of your first arrival in the United States. After
the five years period, you will start counting days by using the Substantial Presence Test to see if you qualify to be
treated as a US resident for tax purposes.
In your situation, you are
considered as a nonresident from 2016-2020 filing a Form 1040-NR. Starting
from 01/01/2021, you will start counting your days. If you meet the
Substantial Presence Test in 2021, you will be considered a US resident for tax
purposes and file a Form 1040 for your tax year of 2021.
