Spouse filling taxes while waiting for CR-1

[Edu&Gaby 10]

Hi! My american wife is currently filing her 2019 taxes and we are still waiting on the CR-1, so I am not currently in the USA.

Does she need to file as married? If so, do we need this ITIN number (W7 form) or how do we do this? It is quite confusing.

 

Thank you!

[Liam2021 583]

you can either file MFS or MFJ. Google is your friend.

[NikLR 13,227]

~~moved to taxes and finances from IR1/CR1 process and procedures~~

[Edu&Gaby 10]

We can't really just choose one of them. Our problem is that I still don't have an ITIN or SSC number, so there's no way to file the taxes as married. I'm wondering if there's a way to do it without this number or if we actually need to get one.

[Anmol Yash 55]

32 minutes ago, Edu&Gaby said:

We can't really just choose one of them. Our problem is that I still don't have an ITIN or SSC number, so there's no way to file the taxes as married. I'm wondering if there's a way to do it without this number or if we actually need to get one.

Actually, you can. 

Your spouse can file as MFS without an ITIN/SSN, with 'NRA' handwritten in the spouse's SSN field, and file by mail (you cannot file it electronically)

 

If you choose MFJ, I believe you can send the W-7 along with it (again, by mail). Not sure if you need to get the ITIN first and then file. Will wait for someone to respond!

[TehChuck 3]

8 minutes ago, Anmol Yash said:

Actually, you can. 

Your spouse can file as MFS without an ITIN/SSN, with 'NRA' handwritten in the spouse's SSN field, and file by mail (you cannot file it electronically)

 

If you choose MFJ, I believe you can send the W-7 along with it (again, by mail). Not sure if you need to get the ITIN first and then file. Will wait for someone to respond!

This is exactly how my wife and I did it. Married filing jointly, and then attaching Form W-7 to the tax return in order to receive an ITIN number. The one major downside is - as far as I understand it - that if you chose to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes, then you don't get to claim any benefits from tax treaties, meaning that all your world wide income becomes taxable in the US. It might be best for your spouse to go see a CPA and figure out what the smartest way would be for the two of you to file taxes.