topic I was married on December 14th, and do not yet have any active financial partnerships with my partner. If my partner has no resident status and no income what do I do? in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

I was married on December 14th, and do not yet have any active financial partnerships with my partner. If my partner has no resident status and no income what do I do?

robertyler22 — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 10:29:18 GMT

Re: I was married on December 14th, and do not yet have any active financial partnerships with my partner. If my partner has no resident status and no income what do I do?

pk — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 00:11:33 GMT

@robertyler22 I need to understand the situation a bit better.

What do you mean by "has no resident status" ? Are you implying that the individual is undocumented alien OR are you talking about state residency ( i.e. the person is not a resident of that state ) ?

Are you a US person ( citizen/GreenCard? Resident for Tax purposes ) or NRA ?

Should one assume that your marriage was performed in the USA and that you both live here in the USA. ?

Is your marriage recognized under the laws of the state where you live ( if the marriage was officiated in a different state )?

What are you trying to do/achieve ? I ask because from your post, only you have income.

Please answer my questions and I will circle back when I hear from you. Note that if you are uncomfortable answering all the Qs in this public forum, you can always PM me ( just NO PII -- Personally Identifiable Information).

Re: I was married on December 14th, and do not yet have any active financial partnerships with my...

LindaS5247 — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 00:14:17 GMT

If your spouse is a nonresident alien, there are several ways that you can file.

1. Married filing jointly with nonresident spouse.

Under this option, you will have to notify the IRS that you are both electing to be treated as US Residents for tax purposes.
You will have to file by mail to do this.
If your spouse does not have a TIN or Social Security Number you will have to apply for one when you mail in your tax return.
You can ignore messages in TurboTax regarding spouse's missing social security number.

(See the link below to get more detailed instructions on this.)

2. Married filing separately with nonresident spouse.

Attempt to e-file the return with the Social Security Number field blank, using the instructions in the article linked below.
Print your entire tax return, and write “NRA” where the spouse's social security number or ITIN should be.
Mail it to the appropriate IRS office.
Print your entire tax return and apply for an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN) for your spouse.
Attach Form W-7 and all required documentation to your paper return.
Take the package to a Certified Acceptance Agent, an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center, or mail to the IRS office listed in the W-7 instructions.

(See the link below to get more detailed instructions on this.)

3. Head of Household

If you are Married and filing with a nonresident alien you may also file as head of household
Filing as head of household may give you benefits such as a larger refund.
However, you must have another qualifying person to be eligible to file this way. Your spouse doesn’t count. Go here to learn if you’re eligible.

Click here for a more detailed explanation as to how to file your taxes with a nonresident alien spouse.