The IRS allows you to make the choice to file as married filing jointly when one spouse is a nonresident.
You both must sign a statement attached to your joint return that you print and mail.. You cannot e-file. You will both need to declare your worldwide income for calendar year 2019.
If, at the end of your tax year, you are married and one spouse is a U.S. citizen or a resident alien and the other spouse is a nonresident alien, you can choose to treat the nonresident spouse as a U.S. resident. This includes situations in which one spouse is a nonresident alien at the beginning of the tax year, but a resident alien at the end of the year, and the other spouse is a nonresident alien at the end of the year.
See page 9 of Publication 519 for the statement you need to attach.
Hi KarenJ2,
Thank you for the response. I want to e-file, so please let me know the options for me.
My wife is on long vacation in India and stayed for 100 days only in US. So can I e-file by choosing married filing jointly (or) do I need to opt for married filing separately? She does not have a Income source to file taxes.
Thank you.
If your spouse is a Nonresident Alien, you may elect to file Married Filing Jointly or file Married Filing Separately, but in either case, your spouse will need a Social Security number or an ITIN if you are going to file electronically.
If you have a dependent, you may be able to file Head Of Household, which would free you from the obligation of obtaining an ITIN or SS number for your spouse.
If you are unable to get a Social Security number or ITIN for your spouse, you will need to enter a fake number in the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) box and then print out and mail the return. You will need to whiteout the fake number you entered, replacing that with the letters NRA in the TIN box.
There is an excellent page of information from the IRS here. There is more information about Taxpayer Identification Numbers (like SS and ITIN numbers) here.