Married a foreigner and not filing jointly

[fma2022]

Hello, I am a green card holder and married a foreigner who lived with me during 2021 and never came to US (we live abroad). I have a US-born child living with us. 

My wife (the foreigner) has income earned outside US. 

Could I file tax as married filing separately and claim child tax credit? 

Does my wife (the foreigner) need to file US tax form at all?

Thanks a lot!

-Feng

[RobertB4444]

@fma2022  You can - and should - file as married filing separately and claim your child.  Provided you have obtained a social security number for them.  You should also claim a foreign earned income exclusion or a foreign tax credit depending on your circumstances.  And if your wife has not stepped foot in the US nor had any income from US sources then she has no US filing requirement.

[pk]

@fma2022 , I think I saw a similar/ identical issue question from your spouse --- please see my response there  

pk

[fma2022]

Hi, Robert:

Thanks a lot for your quick reply. Yes you are right, my wife has not visited USA at all and no US sourced income.

A quick question: if she visit USA this year, will she have to file US tax return next year either jointly with me or separately? ( probably has to jointly first time in order to get ITIN)

Best regards,

-Feng

[DaveF1006]

If she makes infrequent, incidental visits with no intention of staying, you can still file separately. it would depends also on how many days she actually visits the US.

@pk