US person married to a non-resident spouse — where does doing it myself start to cost money?
Some of it, yes — and we will say so on the call if that is the honest answer. The parts that are worth paying for are the ones where a missed election, a missed deadline or an unverified threshold costs more than the fee: electing to treat a non-resident spouse as a US resident brings their worldwide income and their foreign accounts into US reporting in exchange for a joint filing status.
What if I have already filed and got it wrong?
That is a common starting point. We re-derive the position, identify whether an amendment or a disclosure route is the right vehicle, and tell you which one preserves the relief that is still available. The order matters more than the speed.
How long will it take?
It depends on the documents rather than on us. Once the pack is complete most filings turn around inside a fortnight; anything that needs a certificate from a tax authority runs on that authority's timetable, which we tell you at the start rather than at the end.
Should I put my non-resident spouse on my US return?
It is a choice, and it repays being treated as one. Electing to treat a non-resident spouse as a US resident buys a joint filing status, and pays for it by bringing that spouse's worldwide income and foreign accounts into the US system. Where your spouse earns little and holds few accounts, the trade often works out. Where your spouse has a career and a lifetime of local savings, the annual reporting can cost more than the filing status is worth. The answer is a calculation on your own figures rather than a rule that applies to everyone.
Can the election be reversed if it stops suiting us?
It can be ended, but not casually, and ending it carries a consequence of its own: it cannot simply be made again the next time it would help. That asymmetry is the reason to model the decision before the first joint return rather than after the third. Couples whose circumstances are about to change, through a move, a business, an inheritance, or a spouse returning to work, are the ones who most often regret a choice made for the convenience of a single filing season.
Will this bring my spouse's foreign bank accounts into US reporting?
Yes, and that is the heart of the bargain. Electing your spouse into the US system brings their worldwide income with it, and the foreign-account reporting follows the same person. A spouse with ordinary local savings, an employer pension, a couple of investment accounts and a joint account with a parent can arrive carrying a substantial reporting list. Very little of it may produce tax. It is the annual work that people underestimate, so counting the accounts honestly before electing is the most useful single step.
Does filing jointly always reduce the US tax we pay?
No. Joint filing status can help where one spouse earns most of the household income, and it can achieve nothing at all where the credits already available reduce the US liability to nothing without it. Adding a second person's foreign income also adds their foreign tax, their credit limits and their account reporting, and those interact in ways that are hard to predict from the outside. The honest approach is to prepare one year both ways and compare, alongside the work each version demands every year afterwards.
My spouse has never filed in the United States, so is that a problem?
Not in itself. A non-resident spouse with no US income usually has nothing to file and no reason to be in the system. It becomes a live question the moment you elect them into it, because the accounts they hold have been there all along and the election does not begin from a blank page in every respect. Handle it deliberately: look at what the election reaches before making it, and make sure your spouse understands they are agreeing to file, and to keep on filing.
What happens to the election if we separate?
The election rests on the marriage, so a separation or divorce ends the basis for filing jointly. What it does not do is unwind the years already filed, or lift the reporting your spouse was drawn into for those years. Untangling it is generally more work than making it was, particularly where accounts were reported through one spouse's returns and assets then have to be divided. If a separation is a realistic possibility, it belongs in the decision at the start rather than in the clean-up.
What is an ITIN and how do I get one?
An individual taxpayer identification number, for people who have a US filing or reporting reason but cannot obtain a Social Security number — a non-resident claiming a treaty rate or a refund, a foreign spouse on a joint return, a dependant, a foreign seller of US property. You apply on Form W-7 with certified evidence of identity and foreign status, normally submitted with the return that creates the need. It is a tax number only, and it confers no immigration or work status. See ITIN applications.
Do green card holders living abroad have to file US taxes?
Yes. A lawful permanent resident is a US tax resident, taxed on worldwide income, and that status does not end simply because you moved away — it ends when it is formally abandoned or administratively terminated. Two traps follow. Filing as a non-resident on a treaty claim can put the immigration status itself at risk. And ending the status after holding it long-term can bring you inside the expatriation regime. See giving up a green card.
