Questions about first time married filing taxes jointly with K1 spouse

[stegsaurus]

My wife entered the US on a K-1 visa in Dec 2024 and we were married in January 2025. She got her work authorization in May 2025 and her first US job in August. She received her green card in November 2025.

Since it's my first time filing jointly and having a foreign spouse is a special circumstance, I want to make sure I'm doing this correctly. I've walked through both federal and PA state taxes in my tax software and to my understanding, there are only two points that I need to double-check:

1. Her tax filing status, since she was not a green card holder/permanent resident for the entirety of 2025
2. Any foreign assets she owns

For #1: I've seen conflicting information about what to do. Some sources say that she's considered a "Dual-Status" alien for 2025 because she started as a non-resident and then got her GC later in the year. In that case, we have to attach a statement to our return saying that we're choosing to treat her as a US resident for the whole year. Because my tax software doesn't let you include this with an e-file, we'd have to print and mail the return if this is required, which I'd like to avoid. But I've seen other sources saying that because she had her GC at the end of the year, she can be treated as a GC holder for the entire year, and we don't need to include anything else. I'd appreciate some clarity on this.

For #2: My wife left her job in Honduras before she came to the US in Dec 2024. She didn't work for any Honduran company at any point in 2025. She does not have any assets there: no car, house, or investments. She has had some money put into their equivalent of Social Security, but this is akin to how it is for US citizens: they've taken your money and promise to provide something for you once you retire, but there's no account sitting there with your name on it that has the money ready to withdraw if you want.

She does still have a Honduran bank account with her name on it, but this has a very small amount just to keep the account open — less than $10 USD. I've made sure to answer "Yes" to the question of foreign account ownership in my tax software, so our Schedule B has that box checked. The account has well under $10,000, so FBAR and FATCA filing aren't an issue. She's going to check soon if the account earned any interest in 2025 so we can report that if needed; if so, I imagine it was only a few cents.

Otherwise, I can't think of anything that would affect our return, but please let me know if I'm wrong. In 2025 we paid off student loans she had in Honduras, but I confirmed those interest payments are not eligible for a deduction in the US because her university is not on this list of eligible international schools.

I'm considering contacting a tax expert who has experience with international couples, but don't want to spend the money if I don't need to. Thanks for any advice you can offer!

[Opus 17 · Accepted solution]

We have a good international expert here, @pk

In general, I believe your spouse is not a dual-status alien for 2025 because she passes the substantial presence test for 2025.

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/substantial-presence-test

She would be dual-status if she entered the US during 2025, but you say she entered in 2024.  So she is considered a resident for tax purposes for all of 2025, even though her legal status changed at various times during the year.

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p519#en_US_2025_publink1000222165

Ownership of foreign assets is not declared unless they are sold and generate a capital gain or loss.  You need to file an FBAR if she owned a foreign bank account if the account had more than $10,000 US equivalent in it for even one day, but that sounds not the case.   You are also correct that her student loan interest would not be deductible.

It sounds like you will just file a standard married filing joint return.  

[pk · Accepted solution]

@stegsaurus  Having read through this thread and generally agreeing with my colleague @Opus 17 ,

1.  You wife (a Honduran citizen & GC of US ) will be considered  a Resident  ( for tax purposes ) for the  year 2025.  We are talking about Tax resident which is based only on SPT ( 183 days present counting all the days in current year + 1/3rd the days  present in the first prior year + 1/6th the days present in the 2nd prior year)   and/or GC.  It also requires that one meets at least 31 days in the current year to count days present.

2. For 2024  since she was  in the US less than 31 days, none counted.  And of course  till GC,  SPT is used each year for tax residency status.

3. Also note that the start date of the residency status is important ---- this is because  to use the standard deduction you must be a  tax resident for the full 365 days of the year.

4. For a person whom meets  SPT and GC in the same year, Tax Residency starts on the earliest date.   Thus for your wife , meeting SPT  meant she was a resident  for the  year starting Jan 1.  See -->  Residency starting and ending dates | Internal Revenue Service

"If you meet both the green card test and the substantial presence test in the same year, your residency starting date is the earlier of:

• The first day you are present in the United States during the year you pass the substantial presence test, or
• The first day you are present in the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident (green card holder)."

5.  As a tax resident (and then a GC), she is considered a US person and therefore  subject to  FBAR and FATCA regs.  And yes your conclusions are generally correct.   Note though that for FBAR, the requirement is not only for  bank account  you own but also have signature authority over  (  in many countries, the children are often nominee / signature authority  over aging parents accounts -- just in case of emergencies ).

6. Since you are married  ( and assuming that you , yourself  is a US person ) during 2025, your  best  tax filing status is indeed  MFJ for federal filing.

I think my colleague @Opus 17  has covered  all the bases  and the above is just  additional support.

Is there more one of us can do for you ?

[stegsaurus]

@Opus 17 @pk Apologies to you both for my late response; I had a busy couple of days after posting this. Thank you so much for taking the time to look into this and helping me out. You've saved me a lot of money that I didn't need to spend!

That particular page PK linked to evaded me in my searches, which I chalk up to the IRS website having so many pages and being generally confusing. As you said, and the way I read it, she's considered a resident for the whole year since she was in the US for the entire year and got her GC in 2025 as well. That makes this a lot easier for us, as we can e-file and don't need to mail a form with a signed document attached.

I know her bank account didn't have anywhere close to $10K US at any part of the year, but I'm going to make sure we check to see if the bank account earned any interest. (If so, it would very likely be under $1 US, but I'll make sure.) I will also make sure that no bank account she has signature authority over (her mom's would be the only one I can think of) generated interest, and report that if so. Due to the differences in Honduran currency and standard of living, I can't imagine any account her family has there would ever get close to $10K in balance, but I'll double-check. 

Thank you for your time! This was stressing me out, and you've helped me feel better.