I agree with the above responses to your questions.
1. Yes, your options are to file either Married Filling Separately or Married Filing Joint.
2. If your spouse is a nonresident alien, you can treat your spouse as a resident alien for tax purposes.
3. Filing online would be your best option and would generate a faster response. Should you have any adjustment at a later date you could always file an amended return.
Although you could file Married Filing Separately usually Married Filing Joint would be the best alternative.
How you claim a non-citizen spouse to your tax return depends on your spouse's residency status. Your spouse will be either a "resident alien" or a "nonresident alien." Usually, there are two ways to tell whether a non-citizen qualifies as a resident alien:
- The non-citizen has a "green card," which is authorization from the federal government to live and work in the United States permanently. The IRS refers to this as the "green card test."
- The non-citizen was in the United States for at least 31 days of the year, and at least 183 days during the three-year period that includes the current year and the two years immediately before that. The IRS calls this the "substantial presence test." Learn more about how to properly count those 183 days with TurboTax's Tax Tips for Resident and Non-Resident Aliens.
Spouse's tax status
In general, resident aliens are taxed just like U.S. citizens. You would list a resident-alien spouse on your return and provide his or her Social Security number (SSN). If your spouse is not eligible for a Social Security number, he or she will need to apply for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) from the IRS.
If your spouse is a nonresident alien, you can treat your spouse as a resident alien for tax purposes. If you choose this option, you can file a joint tax return with your spouse and have an increased standard deduction. You increase your standard deduction, but all your spouse's worldwide income will be taxed by the United States. If you do not choose this option you may be able to use the head of household filing status as long as you have paid more than half the cost of maintaining a household for certain dependents or relatives other than your nonresident alien spouse.
U.S. resident aliens can use the same filing statuses available to U.S. citizens. You can claim the same deductions allowed to U.S. citizens if you are a resident alien for the entire tax year. You should refer to Form 1040, Form 1040-SR and the Instructions for Form 1040 and Form 1040-SR for more information on how to claim your allowable deductions.
U.S. resident aliens can claim the same itemized deductions as U.S. citizens, using Schedule A of Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR. These deductions include certain medical and dental expenses, state and local income taxes, real estate taxes, interest you paid on a home mortgage, charitable contributions, and casualty and theft losses.
If you do not itemize your deductions, you can claim the standard deduction for your particular filing status. For further information, see Form 1040, Form 1040-SR and the Instructions for Form 1040 and Form 1040-SR.
