Does my wife need to file? None of us is a US citizen. Our son is. We lived more than 6 months in the US in 2017. She doesn't have a SSN. We are now in Italy.

[KarenJ]

Please advise if you were in the US 183 days or more in 2017.  When did you enter the US and when did you leave the US

[bine22]

And what was your visa?

[francescopesci83]

I had an F1, but I was in my 6th year, so I believe I am considered resident alien for tax purposes. My wife was on F2 (issued in 2017 for the first time, but she visited me previously with a tourist visa). Thanks!

[KarenJ · Accepted solution]

Your wife does not need to file. You can file married filing separately in TurboTax.  

Even though you are filing MFS, you will still be asked your wife's SSN.  When you are asked to enter the spouse's Social Security number, enter 999-88-9999.  You can only print and mail your tax return, it cannot be e-filed.  When you print the tax return "white-out" the incorrect Social Security number for your spouse and manually enter NRA for non-resident alien in the area where her SSN would be placed.

See this TurboTax support FAQ for the procedure to print and mail a tax return using the online editions - https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1944348-how-do-i-print-and-mail-my-return-in-turbotax-online

[francescopesci83]

Thank you, this was extremely helpful. Since we are filing separately, does my wife need to submit a 8843 form for NRAs? Or is that non necessary? Could you also confirm she doesn't need a SSN or ITIN? Thank you so much!

[bine22]

yes, she would need to file form 8843. The deadline for form 8843 is June 15, 2018. This form can be filed without an ITIN/SSN.

[francescopesci83]

Thank you again so much. Sorry to keep asking, but I am having now a look at the 8843 for my wife. There's a section for 'teachers', 'students' and 'athletes', but none for 'student's spouse' or something like it. Should she leave all of that blank and just fill in the 'general info' part? Thank you!

[bine22]

just fill out part 1 and leave the rest blank

[francescopesci83]

Thank you again. We need to send the 8843 form only to the IRS, right? I mean, there's no need to send it to the State (Illinois in our case) Department of Revenue, right?