Filing Jointly with my Non-Citizen Spouse who has no SSN or ITIN - What are my options?

You can absolutely file jointly with your non-citizen spouse, but you will need an ITIN for her first. The W-7 application for an ITIN is definitely still available for spouses - that information you found is incorrect. Your spouse qualifies for an ITIN as a non-resident alien spouse choosing to file a joint return with a US resident. You'll need to submit your tax return with the completed W-7 form and supporting documents (usually original passport or certified copies from the issuing agency) to prove her identity and foreign status. The process works like this: you prepare your joint tax return, complete the W-7 form, attach all required documentation, and submit everything together. The IRS will process the W-7 first, issue the ITIN, and then process your tax return. This can delay your refund by several weeks or even months.

Hey there! I was in exactly the same boat last year. My husband is from Brazil, no SSN or ITIN when we got married. I spent hours getting nowhere with the IRS until I found this service called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that specializes in these exact situations. They have this document review tool that scanned our marriage certificate, his passport, and our draft tax return, then gave us a detailed checklist of everything we needed for the W-7 application. Saved us so much headache! They pointed out we were missing a specific supporting document for the "exception criteria" on the W-7 that would have definitely caused a rejection. Just sharing because I remember how stressful this was - especially with all the conflicting info online about whether spouses can get ITINs (they definitely can).

I wanted to follow up about taxr.ai that I asked about earlier. I was skeptical but decided to try them out for my situation (married to someone from Korea without an ITIN). Their document review actually found that we qualified for an exception I didn't know about that meant we could apply for the ITIN separate from tax filing, which was huge since we were past the filing deadline. The system flagged specific sections on the W-7 we'd filled out incorrectly and gave us templates for the supporting letter we needed. Just got confirmation yesterday that the ITIN application was approved. Really surprised it worked so smoothly after all the horror stories I'd heard.

If you're having trouble reaching the IRS to ask about your specific situation (which is likely because their phone lines are impossible), I'd recommend using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I used it when I was in a similar situation with my non-citizen spouse and couldn't get through to ask about some specific documentation requirements. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes when I had been trying for days on my own. The agent explained exactly which exception category applied to our situation (there are different ones depending on whether your spouse is resident or non-resident for tax purposes) and confirmed we needed certified copies from the embassy rather than just notarized ones. Totally worth it because we would have submitted the wrong docs otherwise.

I need to eat my words about Claimyr from my previous comment. After another week of failing to reach the IRS myself, I gave in and tried it. Got connected in 18 minutes after trying for literally weeks on my own. The IRS agent confirmed that my wife definitely qualifies for an ITIN as a non-resident alien spouse, and explained that we need to check box "d" on the W-7 form (not "a" like I was planning). They also clarified that we need to write "Exemption 1(d) - Spouse of U.S. citizen" in the top margin of the first page. This would have been impossible to know without speaking to them directly. If you're dealing with the ITIN situation, definitely worth getting your specific questions answered directly rather than guessing.

One important thing nobody's mentioned yet - if your state has income tax, check their specific rules too. Some states automatically follow federal filing status, but others require both spouses to have valid SSNs/ITINs at the time of filing to allow joint state returns. I'm in California and had to file my state return as "married filing separately" while filing federal as "married filing jointly" with the W-7 attached. It was a bit of a paperwork nightmare but saved us money overall.

I just want to add that if you don't want to deal with the hassle of the ITIN application this year, you could file as "married filing separately" for now. Yes, you'll probably pay more in taxes, but it might be worth it if you need your return processed quickly. Then next year when you have more time, you can file jointly once your spouse has an ITIN or SSN. Just make sure you understand the limitations of MFS status - you lose several credits and deductions.

I went through this exact situation two years ago when I married my husband from the Philippines. Here's what worked for us: 1. Your spouse absolutely can get an ITIN - the W-7 form is still valid for spouses filing jointly. You'll need to check exception 1(d) on the form and write "Spouse of U.S. citizen/resident filing joint return" in the explanation section. 2. The tricky part is the documentation. You'll need either original documents (passport, birth certificate) or certified copies from the issuing agency (like the Philippine embassy in our case). Regular notarized copies won't work. 3. We attached the W-7 to our joint tax return and mailed everything together. The IRS processed the ITIN application first, then our return. Total time was about 10 weeks. 4. Pro tip: Double-check that your spouse qualifies as either a resident or non-resident alien for tax purposes, as this affects which exception category you select on the W-7. The IRS publication 519 has a good flowchart for this. The process is definitely still available despite what some outdated sources say. We successfully filed jointly and got our refund, just took patience with the timing. Good luck!