Yes, you can file an election to file married filing jointly for 2018. You will both need to declare your worldwide income.
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.
If you make this choice, you and your
spouse are treated for income tax purposes as
residents for your entire tax year. Neither you
nor your spouse can claim under any tax treaty
not to be a U.S. resident. You are both taxed on
worldwide income. You must file a joint income
tax return for the year you make the choice, but
you and your spouse can file joint or separate
returns in later years.
How To Make the Choice
Attach a statement, signed by both spouses, to
your joint return for the first tax year for which
the choice applies. It should contain the following information.
• A declaration that one spouse was a nonresident alien and the other spouse a U.S.
citizen or resident alien on the last day of
your tax year, and that you choose to be
treated as U.S. residents for the entire tax
year.
• The name, address, and identification
number of each spouse.
You will need to print your return and attach the statement before mailing.
Please see page 9 of
Publication 519
You will both need
to sign the statement and the return before mailing.
As your wife does not have an ITIN or SSN, you will need to enter a "dummy" SSN for her in TurboTax. Enter 999-88-9999. Then after
you print it out, "white out" the dummy number and write
"Applying for ITIN; Application attached" next to the SSN field.
If she does not have a SSN or ITIN: If
she eligible for a SSN, she needs to apply for one. If she is not
eligible for an SSN, she will need to apply for an ITIN along with your
return. She does this with Form
W-7 - IRS.gov (IRS -
W7 Instructions). You will attach her completed W-7 and documents and
attach it to your Printed Form 1040 and mail to the IRS. You need to find an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center and take your return and her documents to the IRS center as you do not want to mail her passport to the IRS with your return.
