My spouse is a foreigner and lives overseas - how do I file my taxes correctly?

Title: My spouse is a foreigner and lives overseas - how do I file my taxes correctly? 1 I just got married in October last year and my spouse is a non-resident alien living in South Korea. I'm completely lost on how to handle my taxes this year. When I try to select "Married filing Jointly" or "Married filing Separate" on TurboTax, it keeps asking for my spouse's SSN, which he obviously doesn't have since he's never lived in the US. I know I can't file as "Single" anymore since I'm legally married now, but I'm wondering if "Head of Household" would work? Or is there another option for people with foreign spouses living abroad? My spouse has no US income whatsoever and we're planning for him to immigrate eventually, but the visa process is taking forever... ugh, the timing with tax season couldn't be worse!

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18 comments

Anna Kerber

•8M

5 You definitely can't file as Single since you're married, and Head of Household won't work either since that requires you to have a qualifying dependent (like a child). Since your spouse is a non-resident alien living abroad, you have two main options: Married Filing Separately or potentially Married Filing Jointly if you make a special election. For Married Filing Separately, you don't need your spouse's SSN. Instead, you'll write "NRA" (Non-Resident Alien) in the space for your spouse's SSN on your tax return. This is the simplest approach. If you want to file jointly (which often has better tax benefits), you can actually elect to treat your non-resident alien spouse as a US resident for tax purposes. This means you'd both be subject to US tax on worldwide income. Your spouse would need to get an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) instead of an SSN. The process requires submitting Form W-7 along with your tax return and supporting documentation.

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Anna Kerber

•8M

5 Yes, if you elect to treat your non-resident alien spouse as a US resident for tax purposes and file jointly, the IRS will require reporting his worldwide income. However, there are provisions to help avoid double taxation. The US has tax treaties with many countries, including South Korea, and your husband would likely qualify for the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and/or Foreign Tax Credits. These can offset much of the US tax liability on his foreign income. For 2024, the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion allows you to exclude up to $126,500 of foreign earnings per person.

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Anna Kerber

•8M

12 After dealing with this exact situation with my Chinese wife, I found that https://taxr.ai was incredibly helpful. I uploaded our documents (her foreign income statements and my W-2), and the AI analyzed everything and told me exactly how to proceed with the "married filing separately" option while writing "NRA" for her SSN. The system even showed me how to document everything properly so the IRS wouldn't flag our return. Super helpful because regular tax software gets really confused with international marriages, and I was getting different answers from every tax preparer I talked to!

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Anna Kerber

•8M

12 Yes, it actually handles foreign language documents pretty well! I uploaded documents in Chinese and it processed them correctly, so Japanese should work too. No professional translation needed, which saved me a ton of money. As for IRS issues, I was worried about that too, but everything went smoothly. I filed last year using their guidance and got my refund without any problems. Their system is trained on actual tax regulations and IRS documentation, so it's not just making things up. The detailed explanation of why each decision was recommended gave me a lot more confidence than the generic advice I was getting elsewhere.

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Anna Kerber

•8M

14 Just wanted to follow up - I was initially skeptical about taxr.ai but decided to give it a try after struggling with this foreign spouse situation. I uploaded my documents and my wife's Korean income statements, and I'm actually shocked at how helpful it was! The system walked me through the pros and cons of both filing options (separately vs. the joint election) and calculated the tax difference for each scenario. I ended up saving almost $2,800 by making the election to file jointly and claiming the Foreign Tax Credit for taxes my wife already paid in Korea. The step-by-step filing guide made it super straightforward, even explaining exactly what to write on each form line. Definitely worth checking out if you're in this situation!

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Anna Kerber

•8M

19 After three days of being on hold with the IRS trying to get answers about my Malaysian husband's tax situation, I finally discovered https://claimyr.com and watched their demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. They got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 45 minutes when I had been trying for literally days. The agent was able to confirm that filing "Married Filing Separately" and writing "NRA" for my spouse was indeed correct, and also explained exactly how to apply for an ITIN if we decide to file jointly next year. They also clarified some confusion about the foreign income exclusions that my tax preparer had gotten wrong!

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Anna Kerber

•8M

19 They have a system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold for you. When they finally get an agent on the line, you get a call back so you can speak directly with them. I was skeptical too - I had spent hours on hold across multiple days before giving up each time. They use some kind of algorithm that finds the best time to call based on wait data and keeps trying different options. I don't know exactly how it works, but it absolutely does work. The time I saved was worth every penny considering I was about to take a day off work just to sit on hold with the IRS.

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Anna Kerber

•8M

22 I have to admit I was wrong about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself since I was desperate for answers about filing with my non-resident spouse. Not only did it work, but I got connected to an IRS tax specialist in about 30 minutes when I had previously waited for 3+ hours before getting disconnected. The specialist walked me through the entire process of filing separately with a foreign spouse and explained that while I could apply for an ITIN for my wife, it wasn't necessary if I just wanted to file separately with "NRA" in the SSN field. They also explained exactly how the election to treat a non-resident as a resident works if we choose that route next year. What would have probably taken me weeks of frustration was resolved in one 15-minute call. I've already filed using their guidance and feel 100% confident in how I handled it.

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Anna Kerber

•8M

17 Your spouse does need to sign it, but electronic signatures are accepted by the IRS now. My wife was able to sign the document digitally and send it back to me as a PDF. Just make sure it's a proper digital signature, not just a typed name. The statement itself isn't complicated - it just needs to clearly state that you're both electing to treat the non-resident alien spouse as a US resident for tax purposes, include both your names, the tax year, and both signatures. There's no specific IRS form for this statement.

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Anna Kerber

•8M

7 Just to add a bit more info - I've been in this situation for 3 years with my Brazilian husband. If you choose Married Filing Separately, be aware that you'll lose some tax benefits like education credits, child tax credits, earned income credit, etc. You also can't contribute to a Roth IRA if your income is above $10,000. Filing jointly with the election usually results in lower taxes overall, but then you have the hassle of getting an ITIN and reporting foreign income. It's worth calculating both ways if you can.

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