@KingOfSting , first an apology for delayed response -- I had not visited the site for more than two weeks.
Second --- given that you are US citizen and your spouse is a Non-Resident Alien -- you can always file jointly and attach a note signed by both of you to say that your spouse wishes to be treated as a resident for tax purposes. That should work , especially since she still has SSN ( it does not automatically die out, especially if used ).
Third -- the issue with filing 8854, is that it is really not meant for the case where one spouse is a citizen and the other spouse NRA while filing jointly. This is because by filing jointly, you have met all the filing requirements and tax obligations that 8854 wants to track and collect. Therefore, my view would be to follow the path outlined above and file jointly, especially when she has no world income and avoid the complications / accounting of 8854
Fifth --- following he joint filing you would probably also make her coming back and re-establishing GC in the future ( i am guessing here )
Sixth --- I am troubled by your not paying Social Security/ Medicare taxes on your foreign earnings, even if you are not employed by a US entity and therefore must bear the burden by yourself. As I understand Thailand has no totalization agreement with the USA and therefore there is no way to avoid double social security taxation. It just means when you retire both you and your spouse would be eligible for Social Security benefits from both countries and taxed according to the tax treaty between the countries.
Note that this means that your FICA taxes are like a self-employed person ( 15.3% of wages / self-employment income, even though it may be excluded from US taxes as foreign earned income ) plus the 3% ( ?? ) of gross that you pay in Thailand.. Also since your wife is not a citizen of US not Thailand, there may other things to consider ( based on her country of citizenship ).
Does this cover your queries or do you need more help on this ?
