On H-1B with a spouse who arrived on H-4 in 2026: how to file a joint 2026 return, step by step

Which IRS choice do you make: 6013(h) or 6013(g)?

If your spouse is a resident on December 31, 2026, you both make what Publication 519 calls "Choosing Resident Alien Status", for 2026 only. If your spouse is still a nonresident that day, you make the "Nonresident Spouse Treated as a Resident" choice, which continues into later years.

Either way, you file one joint Form 1040 and both report worldwide income for all of 2026 (IRS). The special rules for dual-status taxpayers do not apply (Publication 519).

Without a choice, you cannot file jointly (2025 Form 1040 instructions).

A nonresident-spouse choice from an earlier year that is still in effect needs no new statement; check the box (Publication 519).

What income goes on the joint return?

The joint return reports both spouses' worldwide income for all of 2026, including your spouse's pay abroad before the move. Foreign amounts go on it in US dollars.

1. Collect your Forms W-2 and 1099, plus your spouse's pay records and tax paid abroad before the move.
2. List both spouses' interest from accounts abroad. Over $1,500 of interest or ordinary dividends, or any foreign account, needs Schedule B (2025 Schedule B instructions).
3. Convert each amount at "the exchange rate prevailing when you receive, pay, or accrue the item" (IRS). The IRS generally "accepts any posted exchange rate that is used consistently" (IRS).

Foreign income tax your spouse paid may give a credit on Form 1116 (Publication 519).

Form 2555 may exclude the pay instead. Its instructions say a nonresident spouse who chooses resident treatment "can qualify" after 330 full days abroad in 12 months in a row (2025 Form 2555 instructions). Tax on excluded pay gets no credit (Publication 54), so ask a preparer which applies.

How does your spouse apply for an ITIN without mailing the passport?

Your spouse applies on Form W-7, box e, "Spouse of U.S. citizen/resident alien", attached to the front of the joint return (Form W-7 instructions). An IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC) with ITIN services checks the passport, hands it back and mails the package (IRS; ITIN guide).

If your spouse already has an ITIN from a joint 2025 return, enter it on the return and skip Form W-7 (2025 Form 1040 instructions).

Call 844-545-5640 early: a TAC appointment "may take several weeks". A TAC reviews Form W-7 but does not help fill it in; a VITA site with ITIN services (free) or a Certifying Acceptance Agent (fee-based) does.

1. On Form W-7 (Rev. December 2024), check "Apply for a new ITIN" and box e, and enter your name and SSN on the box e line.
2. Line 2: your spouse's US mailing address, a street address, not a P.O. box, if line 3 shows only a country. Line 3: if your spouse has no home abroad now, only the country where they last lived.
3. Line 6c: "H-4", the visa number and expiry date; attach an I-94 copy. Line 6d: passport, issuer, number, expiry and US entry date.
4. Line 6e: "No/Don't know", unless your spouse ever had an ITIN or IRSN. Write "N/A" in any section that does not apply.
5. Your spouse signs. You cannot sign for them unless the power of attorney box is checked and Form 2848 is attached.

How do you fill in the joint Form 1040?

Check married filing jointly and the box for treating a spouse as a US resident. Lines are from the 2026 draft Form 1040; recheck them on the final form.

1. Filing Status: married filing jointly. With Form W-7, leave your spouse's SSN blank: "the IRS will assign an ITIN to the return" (Form W-7 instructions).
2. Other Information: check "If treating a nonresident alien or dual-status alien spouse as a U.S. resident for the entire tax year" and enter your spouse's name.
3. The draft asks whether each of you is "a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or an alien lawfully authorized to work in the U.S." Its instructions are unpublished: ask a preparer how your spouse answers.
4. Leave line 12c ("You were a dual-status alien") blank, as the 2025 instructions say for a joint return on combined worldwide income.
5. Your W-2 wages go on line 1a, interest on line 2b. Your spouse's foreign pay is wages on line 1 too (Form 2555 instructions); ask your preparer which sub-line.

What does the choice statement say?

In the first year of a choice, attach a statement signed by both of you to the joint return. It holds a declaration and each spouse's name, address and taxpayer identification number (Publication 519).

Example wording, not an IRS form, if your spouse arrived by July 2:

Tax year 2026. Shashi Rao was a nonresident alien at the beginning of 2026 and a US resident alien at the end. Arya Rao was a US resident alien at the end of 2026. We both qualify to make the choice, and we choose to be treated as US residents for the entire tax year. Arya Rao, (US address), SSN (number). Shashi Rao, (US address), ITIN (number). (Both signatures.)

If your spouse arrived after July 2:

Tax year 2026. On December 31, 2026, Shashi Rao was a nonresident alien and Arya Rao was a US resident alien. We choose to be treated as US residents for the entire tax year. (The same names, addresses, numbers and signatures.)

While the ITIN is pending, ask your preparer what to write in its place; the IRS writes the assigned ITIN on the return (IRS).

How do you hand in or mail the package?

At a TAC, your spouse hands in the signed package with the original passport, which staff check and return. Mailed, it goes to the IRS ITIN Operation in Austin, not the Form 1040 address (Form W-7 instructions).

1. Both of you sign the return by hand: "Digital, electronic, or typed-font signatures are not valid" on paper (2025 Form 1040 instructions). Both sign the statement too.
2. Put Form W-7 on the front and your W-2s on Form 1040, then schedules in "Attachment Sequence No." order. Put the statement last, where the 2025 instructions put supporting statements.
3. Bring the package, passport and I-94 copy to the appointment; keep copies.
4. By mail: Internal Revenue Service, ITIN Operation, P.O. Box 149342, Austin, TX 78714-9342, with the original passport or a copy certified by the issuing agency. Originals come back within 60 days.
5. File by Thursday, April 15, 2027. If the appointment is later, file Form 4868 by then with "ITIN TO BE REQUESTED" for your spouse's number, and pay the tax you expect to owe. Filing moves to Friday, October 15, 2027; payment does not.

What happens after you file, and in 2027?

The IRS writes the new ITIN on your return, then processes it. Allow 7 weeks to hear about the ITIN, or 9 to 11 weeks from January 15 to April 30 (IRS).

1. Notice CP565 gives the ITIN: check the name and date of birth, and keep a copy (IRS).
2. You file an FBAR online with FinCEN if your foreign accounts together passed $10,000 at any time in 2026. It is due April 15, 2027, extended automatically to October 15 (IRS; FBAR guide).
3. If you are both specified individuals, attach one Form 8938 if the foreign financial assets either of you has an interest in passed $100,000 at the end of 2026 or $150,000 at any time (Treas. Reg. 1.6038D-2).

The joint choice does not make your spouse a US person for the FBAR; meeting the substantial presence test does (IRM 4.26.16). Ask a preparer whether your spouse files a 2026 FBAR, and for which months. Ask too whether they are a specified individual for Form 8938, and which threshold applies with Form 2555.

Pay from an H-4 EAD job generally owes Social Security and Medicare tax, as H-4 is not an exempt class (IRS). Once your spouse has an SSN, they stop using the ITIN and tell the IRS (IRS).

A 6013(h) choice ends with 2026, but a spouse resident in part of 2026 and in part of 2027 is a resident from January 1, 2027 (IRS). You can then file a joint 2027 return with no choice. A 6013(g) choice continues, with joint or separate returns.

What to do next

1. Check your spouse's I-94 arrival date and count their 2026 days against July 2.
2. Call 844-545-5640 early for a TAC appointment after your Forms W-2 arrive (by Monday, February 1, 2027, 2026 W-2 instructions).
3. Ask a preparer to compare joint and separate returns and settle the open points above.
4. Hand in or mail the package by Thursday, April 15, 2027, or extend and pay by then.