Non-Resident/Non-Citizen wife - Tax Return questions

[rajababu101]

My details:
1. I am US Citizen.
2. In July 2013 I married a girl in India.
3. My wife has never been in US.
4. I have filled I-130 for her in Sept 2013

My questions:

1. Can I file as Married Filing Jointly? (She has never been in US. I am planning to file 1040 with ITIN application for her.). Can I do this OR not allowed?

2. If answer of the Question 1 is Yes then can she be considered as resident of US for full year 2013? (Asking this because as we are married July 2013. So it was only last 5 months of 2013 I was married.)

 

[newacct]

1. Yes. You guys would need to elect to treat nonresident spouse as resident.
2. Yes, in fact, she must be considered a resident in order to file jointly. Note that being a resident means all of her worldwide income that year is subject to U.S. taxes.

 

[del0175]

Aha, you probably never told her before marrying that without ever setting foot on US soil, she will need to surrender portion of her income to Uncle Sam. Tell her on my behalf, "Welcome to America."

 

[waks]

Filing jointly has its benefits, however it is not mandatory. You can do married filing separate and it would still be ok.