If I file married/jointly as a "resident for tax purposes" and claim the foreign income exemption, am I really still on the hook for social security/medicare taxes on that income?

[BahamaIslander242 244]

Has anyone that recently arrived to the US and applied for AOS dealt with their 2017 taxes yet? I'm at a complete loss on how to go about this. Tax guy says that if we file jointly, i have to file as a resident. Which is fine if we claim a foreign income exemption from income tax but he's also saying that we'd still be on the hook for social security and medicare taxes for that foreign income. Is this right?

 

Wondering if I should file at all since I don't think I'm required to (AOS still pending, arrived in November) and just let my wife file "married filing separately" and be done with it.... Why is this so complicated?

Edited February 15, 2018 by BahamaIslander242