Married F1 resident student with F1 non-resident wife

[subinek]

Hello there,

I needed some help in understanding if I can file jointly with my wife.

Context: 

1. I arrived in the US for my PhD on 2019 Aug and will still be a student until May 2025.

2. That makes me qualify to file taxes as a Resident alien

3. My wife arrived here on 2020 December as F2 then changed to F1 on 2021 July, she is still a non-resident.

Question

1. Can I do Married filing jointly on Torbotax with my wife being a non-resident alien ?

2. Are there any deductions we can apply for ?

[DaveF1006]

Yes, in 2024, you qualify to be a US resident. You can file Married Filing Jointly with your wife. If she has her ITIN or SSN number, you may file electronically. 

If you file Married Filing Jointly, you will get a much bigger Standard Deduction. This is a much bigger deduction than if you filed Married Filing Separately.  Also, the marginal tax rate is better for married couples than single filers.

To file Married jointly, you will enter your wife's information in MY INFO section of the return. In this section there's a screen where you will report your wife is a non-resident alien and you will like to treat as a US resident for the entire year. Also you indicate this is a first-time election. This is what the screen looks like.