It probably does not matter if you indicate that she was a part year resident as she had no income. If if does not cause an issue in the software, go ahead and indicate that she was a part year resident. You should indicate that her Michigan income and total taxable income is zero.
As she arrived in July 2019, she probably would not qualify (depending on the date in July she arrived) as a US resident for 2019 using 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..
Even if she does qualify as a resident for part of the year, she would be a considered a dual status taxpayer.
You can make an election to file married filing jointly with your spouse in 2019. You will need to manually write this statement and you both need to sign the statement. You will need to print and mail your tax return. You cannot e-file. You will both need to declare your worldwide income for calendar year 2019.
The election depends on whether she is a nonresident at the end of the year or a resident. Please see both pages 8 and 9 for the separate elections in.Publication 519
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