A spouse cannot be a dependent. However, you will benefit from filing married filing jointly.
As he was not a green card holder at any time in 2019, but was most likely in the US more than 183 days in 2019, you both can elect to file a joint return. With this election, you will both need to declare your worldwide income for 2019. You need to file this election in 2019 if you want to file married filing jointly.
This election you will need to complete manually and attach to your tax return. As a result, you cannot e-file this year.
Please see Publication 519, US Tax Guide for Aliens, page 8 for the information you need to prepare the short statement you attach to your return. On page 8 you will see a heading, Choosing Resident Alien Status. This will have the information you need.
There are 2 ways to be a resident of the US. Either by a green card or by the Substantial Presence Test. As he did not receive his green card until 2020, he must use the Substantial Presence Test.
Use the following calculation for the substantial presence test, count all the days of 2019 that you were in the US, count 1/3 of the days you were in the US in 2018 and count 1/6 of the days you were in the US in 2017. If the days add up to 183 US days or more, then you are a US resident for tax purposes in 2019..
**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post
**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"
