You will need to file Married. Only nonresidents who met the exception can file Single. Click here to read: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040nr.pdf page 17
You have an option to file between Jointly or Separately. Generally, married filing jointly does give you more benefit to maximize your total refund. To see the pros and cons between the two filing statuses, click here: Jointly vs Separately.
Since your spouse is a nonresident, to file jointly, you would need to make an election to claim her as a resident. TurboTax does not provide any tools or forms to assist you to make the election, unfortunately. You would need to follow IRS's instructions to attach the statement to your 2020 tax return. You cannot e-file. Instead, print out all your tax forms along with the statement and paper-file. Click here to see Nonresident to resident
If you are going to file jointly, you will have to file a Form 1040 reporting both of your worldwide income including hers made in India. If she did not have a SSN, you would need to apply for an ITIN for her. To do so, you must file a Form W-7 along with filing your tax return. Without an SSN or ITIN, you won't be able to e-file either.
To prepare your tax return in the program, here are the steps:
- In the program, as you enter the information, leave the SSN space blank
- After entering all your information, print out returns and required forms ( write APPLIED in the spouse 's space)
- As TurboTax does not support the Form W-7, fill out the forms by following
- https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/General-ITIN-Information and attach to other required documentation
- Submit both the Form W-7 and your tax forms to IRS Austin location in Texas. ( see Form W-7 instructions)
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