My wife and I are international students. Can we file a joint return for 2020?

[rahulpkprasannak]

My wife and I are both international students. As I completed 5 years in the US in 2019, I will be considered a resident for tax purposes from the year 2020 onwards. However, my wife is still a non-resident alien. She has been filing taxes as a non-resident alien for the last three years. Since I became a resident, is it possible for us to file a joint return by opting to treat my wife as a resident?

I posted this question on multiple forums, but different people given me different opinions. One interesting answer that I received was that since I am a resident only for tax purposes and not a green card holder, we cannot file jointly.

[DanaB27]

Yes, since you are a resident for tax purposes you can choose to treat the nonresident as a U.S. resident and file a joint return.

Please be aware, that each spouse must report his or her entire worldwide income for the year you make the choice and for all later years, unless the choice is ended or suspended.

To make the choice attach a statement to your paper return (you can't e-file), signed by both spouses, to your joint return for the first tax year for which the choice applies. It should contain the following information:

1. 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 the tax year, and that you choose to be treated as U.S. residents for the entire tax year
2. The name, address, and identification number of each spouse. (If one spouse died, include the name and address of the person making the choice for the deceased spouse.)

Please see IRS Nonresident Alien Spouse and Publication 519 page 10 for more details.

[rahulpkprasannak]

Thanks a lot for the detailed explanation, Dana. It helped clear my confusion.