Can you file jointly with a nonresident alien spouse?

The default rule

A married couple generally cannot file a joint return if either spouse is a nonresident alien at any time during the tax year. This is a rule about status, not about how much either spouse earns. So a U.S. citizen married to a person who lives abroad and is not a U.S. resident starts out unable to file jointly.

Choice 1: a nonresident spouse at year-end

If one spouse was a nonresident alien at the end of the taxable year and the other was a U.S. citizen or resident at the end of the taxable year, the two of you can choose to be treated as U.S. residents for the entire year and file jointly. This choice remains in effect in later years until it is terminated. You make it on the return, and the publication refers you to the Form 1040 instructions and to Publication 519 for the steps and for how to end it.

Choice 2: a year of moving to the United States

If both spouses were U.S. citizens or residents at the end of the year but either or both were a nonresident at the beginning of the year (these are the dual-status spouses), the two of you can choose to file as U.S. residents for the entire year. This choice can be made for one year only and does not apply to any future year. The checker above distinguishes these two cases from your answers.

How to show the choice on the form

If you make either choice for 2025, you check the box in the Filing Status section and enter the name of the nonresident spouse or the dual-status spouse or spouses, whichever applies. You also check the box and enter the name if you and your nonresident spouse made the choice in a prior year and it remains in effect.

If you do not make the choice

Without a choice you file separately or, if you qualify, as head of household. For married filing separately, you enter your spouse's full name and, in the space for the spouse's SSN, the SSN or ITIN; if your spouse has none and is not required to have one, you enter NRA. For head of household, a spouse who was a nonresident alien at any time during the year and whom you do not choose to treat as a resident is not a qualifying person, but you are considered unmarried, which can help: you must have another qualifying person and meet the other tests. If you choose to treat your spouse as a resident, you are considered married, and the head of household route closes. See the head of household checker.

Standard deduction effects

A nonresident alien, or a dual-status alien, has a standard deduction of zero and should itemize any deductions. The publication adds that a nonresident alien married to a U.S. citizen or resident at year-end can choose to be treated as a U.S. resident, and by making this choice can take the standard deduction. So the choice matters for the deduction as well as the filing status. The 2025 joint amount is $31,500 for those under 65 who are not blind, against $15,750 for married filing separately; compare them in the standard deduction calculator.

Worked examples

First example: a U.S. citizen lives in Texas and is married to a nonresident alien who lives abroad all year. Joint filing is closed unless they choose to treat the spouse as a resident; if they do, the choice carries into later years. Second example: two people who are U.S. citizens at the end of 2025 married earlier, and one of them was a nonresident alien at the start of the year. They can choose to file jointly as residents for 2025 and then decide again for 2026. Neither choice is available if the foreign spouse is a nonresident alien at year-end and the other spouse is also not a U.S. citizen or resident; then the checker reports that no choice applies.

Limits of this page

This is a summary of the choice as stated in Publication 501. How income is reported once you make it, and how to end the choice, are in Publication 519, and the tax consequences of the choice deserve a professional's review before you decide.

Sources

• IRS Publication 501, Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information (2025): Married Filing Jointly (Nonresident alien or dual-status alien); Married Filing Separately (How to file); Head of Household (Nonresident alien spouse; Choice to treat spouse as resident); Standard Deduction (Persons not eligible for the standard deduction). Read November 2, 2026.

Edition read: Publication 501 (2025), for use in preparing 2025 returns. Dollar limits and dates in this publication are for 2025; check the current publication and form instructions for your tax year. This page summarizes the publication and does not replace it.