My wife changed visa from H4 to F1 in 2017 & she has ITIN. Can we file as MFJ & e-file? Will she be resident or non-resident alien?

[Raj-Patil]

My wife entered US on 10th Feb 2017 with H4 Visa, she started her college as full time student with H4 visa on 21st Aug 2017. However her visa changed to F1 on 13th Dec 2017.

[KarenJ]

As TurboTaxLina explained, "If this is the first time she was granted the F-1 visa, she will be considered a nonresident alien.  In fact, she will be a nonresident for the next five years from  2017-2021.  However, if you are a resident for tax purposes by meeting the Substantial Presence Test  SPT,  you can treat her as a resident by making an election of Nonresident to resident."

If you make this election, you will only be able to file by mail.

If you are filing as Married Filing Jointly and you claim an exemption for your NRA spouse, your NRA spouse will be treated as a US resident alien for US tax purposes and all of your spouse's worldwide income in USD will be subject to being taxable as a US citizen or resident alien.