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Tax year 2026Checked

Married F-1 student with a spouse at home or on F-2: how to file your 2026 Form 1040-NR, step by step

Eight steps for a married nonresident student: who can file jointly, the filing status box, what changes from a single return, your spouse's own Form 8843, the state return and the envelope.

$384,350 of 2026 taxable income: up to it, the married filing separately rates are the single rates

By F1TaxReturn Tax Team. Published . Facts checked against the sources below on . 10 minute read.

In short

  1. A married F-1 or J-1 student who is a nonresident alien for 2026 generally checks "Married filing separately" on Form 1040-NR, which has no joint filing status.
  2. The 2026 rates for married filing separately match the single rates up to $384,350 of taxable income, so most married students owe the same tax as a single filer.
  3. The 2026 draft Form 1040-NR has no space for your spouse's name or identifying number, so your spouse needs no SSN or ITIN for your return.
  4. Filing separately generally rules out the student loan interest, tips and overtime deductions, and an Indian Article 21(2) student loses the $16,100 standard deduction if the spouse files a US return and itemizes.
  5. An F-2 or J-2 spouse with no US income mails their own Form 8843 to Austin by Tuesday, June 15, 2027, while a spouse who spent all of 2026 abroad with no US income files nothing.
Contents, 11 sections

A married F-1 or J-1 student who is a nonresident alien for 2026 generally checks "Married filing separately" on Form 1040-NR, since that form has no joint status. Most students owe the same tax as a single filer. An F-2 or J-2 spouse with no US income files only their own Form 8843.

Follow the steps with the 2026 draft Form 1040-NR open. The whole season is in how to file US taxes as an international student. If you are weighing a joint return with a US citizen or resident spouse, read married to a US citizen on an F-1 visa first.

Are you and your spouse both nonresident aliens for 2026?

An F, J, M or Q student is generally a nonresident alien in each of their first five calendar years in the US as a student. Your spouse's status is worked out separately.

First year in the US on an F, J, M or Q visa
  1. 20241 of 5: exempt, days do not count
  2. 20252 of 5: exempt, days do not count
  3. 20263 of 5: exempt, days do not count
  4. 20274 of 5: exempt, days do not count
  5. 20285 of 5: exempt, days do not count
  6. 20296th: days count

2026 is your 3rd exempt year: you are a nonresident alien.

File Form 8843, and Form 1040-NR as well if you had taxable US income. No Social Security or Medicare tax on campus, CPT or OPT pay.

The five exempt calendar years of a student who first arrived in 2024, with 2026 as the third. Any part of a calendar year counts as a whole one, and years on F, J, M or Q visas before this one count toward the five (IRC 7701(b)(5)(E)).
  1. Count your own years with the substantial presence test guide. Any part of a calendar year counts as a whole year, and J-1 teacher or researcher years count too.
  2. An F-2 or J-2 spouse in the US is exempt too: Publication 519 includes "immediate family members of exempt students".
  3. A spouse who is not a US citizen or green card holder and spent all of 2026 abroad is a nonresident. The substantial presence test needs at least 31 days in the US in 2026.
  4. The tax code bars a joint return when either spouse was a nonresident alien at any time in the year (IRC 6013(a)(1)), so two nonresidents cannot file jointly.
  5. If your spouse is a US citizen or resident on December 31, 2026, you may instead choose a joint Form 1040 together (Publication 519).

Key facts

Filing status box
Married filing separately (MFS), if you were married on December 31, 2026
Spouse's name or number on Form 1040-NR
None: the 2026 draft has no space for either
2026 tax rates, separately vs single
The same up to $384,350 of taxable income
India Article 21(2) standard deduction
$16,100, or $0 if your spouse files a US return and itemizes
Your return, if you had wages
Due Thursday, April 15, 2027
F-2 or J-2 spouse with no US income
Their own Form 8843, filed by itself with the IRS in Austin, TX 73301-0215 by Tuesday, June 15, 2027
For
F-1, J-1, M-1 and Q students who are nonresident aliens for all of 2026 and were married on December 31, 2026, whose spouse lived abroad, was in the US on F-2 or J-2, or is a US citizen or resident they are not filing jointly with.
Not for
Couples choosing a joint Form 1040, students who became resident aliens during 2026, and the spouse's own Form 1040 or Form 1040-NR.

Which filing status box do you check?

Check Married filing separately (MFS) at the top of page 1 if you were married on December 31, 2026, even if you lived apart. Form 1040-NR has no joint or head of household box, and only a narrow exception allows Single.

The live-apart exception

The 2025 instructions let a married resident of Canada, Mexico or South Korea, a US national or an Indian Article 21(2) student check Single after passing five tests. The tests include living apart from the spouse for the last 6 months and paying over half the cost of a home that was their child's main home. If that is you, ask a preparer: F1TaxReturn prepares every married filer's return as married filing separately.

  1. The 2025 Form 1040-NR instructions say: "Your filing status is Married filing separately if you're married, even if you aren't separated."
  2. Otherwise Single is for someone who on December 31 was never married, divorced or legally separated under a court decree, or widowed before 2026 and not remarried (2025 Form 1040 instructions).

What changes from a single return?

Up to $384,350 of taxable income, the 2026 married filing separately rates are the single rates (Revenue Procedure 2025-32). So for most married students, the same wages give the same tax.

What married filing separately changes on a 2026 Form 1040-NR (2026 draft forms).
ItemSingleMarried filing separately
Tax on line 16Single ratesMarried filing separately rates: the same up to $384,350 of taxable income
India Article 21(2) standard deduction, line 12a$16,100$16,100, or $0 if your spouse files a US return and itemizes
State and local income tax, Schedule A line 1bUp to $40,400Up to $20,200
Student loan interest, Schedule 1 line 21Allowed if you qualifyNot allowed
Tips, overtime and senior deductions, Schedule 1-AAllowed if you qualifyNot available

The sources, row by row:

  1. Publication 519 says married nonresidents "normally cannot use the Tax Table column" for single individuals.
  2. Publication 519 on Article 21(2): "If you are married and your spouse files a return and itemizes deductions, you cannot take the standard deduction." See the India treaty guide.
  3. 2026 draft Schedule A (Form 1040-NR), line 1b: "$40,400 ($20,200 if married filing separately)".
  4. The 2025 Form 1040-NR instructions deny this deduction to married filing separately filers (Schedule 1, line 21), as IRC 221(e)(2) requires.
  5. 2026 draft Schedule 1-A: "If married, you must file jointly to claim this deduction." See the tips and overtime guide.

Your spouse's wages stay off your return: the 2025 Form 1040-NR instructions put a spouse's earned income on "that spouse's separate return", even under community property laws.

Worked example: Rohan, F-1 PhD student from India, spouse in India

Rohan, an illustrative student, arrived in August 2024, so 2026 is their third exempt year. Their 2026 W-2s from a research assistantship and CPT in Texas show $40,000 in box 1 and $3,400 of federal tax withheld. Rohan's spouse stayed in India all year and files no US return.

2026 Form 1040-NR lineSpouse files no US returnIf the spouse filed a US return and itemized
1awages from W-2 box 1$40,000$40,000
11aadjusted gross income$40,000$40,000
12astandard deduction (Article 21(2))$16,100$0
15taxable income$23,900$40,000
16tax, married filing separately (about)$2,620$4,552
25atax withheld on the W-2$3,400$3,400
Refund (line 35a) or amount owed (line 37)$780 refund$1,152 owed

First column: $40,000 minus $16,100 = $23,900. Tax: $1,240 + 12% of ($23,900 minus $12,400) = $1,240 + $1,380 = $2,620, so the refund is $3,400 minus $2,620 = $780. As a single filer, every line would be the same.

Second column: $1,240 + 12% of ($40,000 minus $12,400) = $1,240 + $3,312 = $4,552, and $4,552 minus $3,400 = $1,152 owed. Rohan, in Texas, has no state income tax to itemize instead. The 2026 Tax Table, not yet published, can differ from these rate-schedule figures by a few dollars.

How do you fill in the rest of Form 1040-NR?

Fill in everything else as a single student would. The 2026 draft Form 1040-NR has no space for your spouse's name or number, and the 2025 Schedule OI asks nothing about a spouse.

  1. Enter only your own name and identifying number. Your spouse needs no SSN or ITIN for your return: for tax years since 2018 a spouse can get an ITIN only for an allowable tax benefit or their own return (Form W-7 instructions).
  2. Answer both "Other Information" questions. The IRS has not yet published what the work-authorization question means for students, so read the 2026 instructions before you answer.
  3. Report your income and Schedule OI as in the Form 1040-NR guide, with any treaty claim.
  4. Attach your own Form 8843, with "Information provided on Form 1040-NR" on line 1a and line 4b onward completed. Leave it unsigned: the draft form says to sign "only if you are filing this form by itself".

Can you claim your children?

Only a few groups of married F-1 and J-1 students can claim a child on Form 1040-NR. Publication 519 names who "can have a qualifying dependent": US nationals, residents of Canada, Mexico and South Korea, and students or business apprentices from India.

Outside those groups, leave the Dependents section blank; a child on F-2 or J-2 files their own Form 8843 (F-2 and J-2 dependents). F1TaxReturn claims no dependents, so a filer in those groups with a child who may qualify should ask a preparer.

Does your state return change?

Illinois, California and New York tell a married Form 1040-NR filer to file separately too. Massachusetts lets married couples choose joint or separate returns, within limits; ask its Department of Revenue whether a joint return is open to you.

What each state's 2025 instructions say for a married Form 1040-NR filer (2026 instructions not yet published).
StateFiling statusYour spouse on the return
Illinois, IL-1040Married filing separately, as on your federal returnFull name, and SSN "if you have it"
California, 540NRLine 3, married/RDP filing separately: 1040-NR filers cannot file jointlyFull name; SSN or ITIN. No exemption credit for a spouse
New York, IT-203Box 3 at item A; the household credit uses table 3, with both spouses' federal AGIDate of birth and SSN "if applicable"
Massachusetts, Form 1-NR/PYMarried filing separate return, or joint within the state's limitsName and SSN; the NRA oval if your spouse is a nonresident alien with no SSN or ITIN and not required to have one

The 2025 Form 1-NR/PY instructions add three Massachusetts rules for separate filers:

  1. "If married filing separately you do not qualify for No Tax Status or the Limited Income Credit."
  2. The rental deduction is capped at $2,000 per return, not $4,000, unless your spouse signs a statement agreeing to a different split.
  3. Spouses in the same household for the last six months of the year combine their figures "from their separate U.S. returns" on line a (total federal income) and line b (federal AGI).

F1TaxReturn prepares your Form 1040-NR and state return as married filing separately and prints your spouse's name on the state return. It never asks for your spouse's SSN or ITIN: if they have one, you write it in by hand.

If your spouse has no number, F1TaxReturn enters "NRA" on California and New York returns, the IRS rule for the same box on Form 1040. Neither state says what to enter, so ask the state if you prepare it yourself.

What does your spouse file?

An F-2 or J-2 spouse who was in the US in 2026 with no US income files their own Form 8843 and needs no SSN or ITIN. A spouse who spent all of 2026 abroad with no US income files nothing.

  1. An F-2 or J-2 spouse with no US income completes Parts I and III of their own Form 8843, as you do (IRS VITA), and signs it. The form asks for a taxpayer identification number only "if any".
  2. They mail it by Tuesday, June 15, 2027 to the draft form's address for a Form 8843 filed alone: Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Center, Austin, TX 73301-0215.
  3. A J-2 spouse who worked files their own Form 1040-NR as married filing separately, with Form 8843, by Thursday, April 15, 2027 (F-2 and J-2 guide).

How do you sign and mail your return?

Sign and date page 2 yourself: the 2026 draft has one signature line, for you alone. Mail the return with your Form 8843 attached by Thursday, April 15, 2027 if you had wages subject to withholding, or Tuesday, June 15, 2027 if you did not.

Were you paid wages in 2026 that are subject to US income tax withholding, such as an on-campus job, CPT or OPT? If a treaty exempted all of your pay, the Treasury regulations point to No.
  1. Monday, February 1, 2027Your W-2 is due
  2. Monday, March 15, 2027Your 1042-S is due
  3. Thursday, April 15, 2027Form 1040-NR, if you had wages YoursDue if you were paid wages subject to US income tax withholding in 2026, such as an on-campus job, CPT or OPT reported on a W-2. Attach Form 8843 to it.
  4. Tuesday, June 15, 2027Form 1040-NR with no wages, or Form 8843 aloneDue if you had no wages subject to US income tax withholding in 2026, for example only a taxable scholarship. If Form 8843 is the only thing you file, mail it by this day.

Your Form 1040-NR is due Thursday, April 15, 2027.

When your 2026 Form 1040-NR and your spouse's Form 8843 are due in 2027. Due dates for 2026 returns, from IRC 6072(a) and (c).
  1. Add your occupation beside your signature.
  2. Attach a copy of each W-2 and any 1042-S to the front of page 1.
  3. Put schedules behind the return by Attachment Sequence No.: Schedule 1 (01), Schedule A (7A), Schedule NEC (7B), Schedule OI (7C), Form 8843 (102).
  4. For returns filed in 2026, a Form 1040-NR without a payment went to Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Austin, TX 73301-0215, and one with a payment to Internal Revenue Service, P.O. Box 1303, Charlotte, NC 28201-1303. Check the 2026 instructions before you mail (where to mail).
  5. Mail the state return separately, to the state's own address.

What to do next

  1. Wait for every W-2 (due Monday, February 1, 2027) and any 1042-S (due Monday, March 15, 2027).
  2. If your spouse is a US citizen or resident, decide between a joint Form 1040 and separate returns before you file.
  3. For your state return, note your spouse's full name and any SSN or ITIN they have.
  4. Prepare your Form 1040-NR as married filing separately, with Form 8843. F1TaxReturn prepares both for free, and state returns for $30 plus a $2 processing fee, once the final 2026 forms are published (sign up).
  5. Mail your return by Thursday, April 15, 2027 (Tuesday, June 15, 2027 with no wages). Your F-2 or J-2 spouse mails their Form 8843 by Tuesday, June 15, 2027.

Questions students ask

What do I write for my spouse's SSN on Form 1040-NR?

Nothing. The 2026 draft Form 1040-NR, like the 2025 form, has no space for a spouse's name or identifying number, so your spouse does not need an SSN or ITIN for your return. Your state return may ask for it: the Illinois, California, New York and Massachusetts returns each have a box for your spouse's number.

My spouse lives in India with no US income. Can I file as single?

Generally not. The 2025 Form 1040-NR instructions say your status is married filing separately if you are married, even if you are not separated. A narrow exception for residents of Canada, Mexico and South Korea, US nationals and Indian Article 21(2) students has five tests, one of them that your home was your child's main home for more than half the year.

Does my spouse at home have to file anything in the US?

Not if they spent no day of 2026 in the US and had no US income. Form 8843 is for excluding days of presence in the US, so a spouse with no US days has nothing to claim on it. A spouse in the US on F-2 or J-2 files their own Form 8843.

Will being married change my tax or refund?

For most students it does not, because the 2026 married filing separately rates equal the single rates up to $384,350 of taxable income. It can change if you paid student loan interest, earned tips or overtime, or are an Indian Article 21(2) student whose spouse files a US return and itemizes. Among the states, Massachusetts treats separate filers differently, and New York's small household credit uses a separate table.

Can F1TaxReturn prepare a married filing separately return?

Yes, for tax year 2026 once the final 2026 forms are published. It asks whether you were married on December 31 and prepares Form 1040-NR and your California, Illinois, Massachusetts or New York return as married filing separately. It does not prepare a joint return, your spouse's own return or a dependent claim.

Sources

This guide is checked against these 16 documents, most recently on .

  1. Form 1040-NR (2026 draft), IRS
  2. Instructions for Form 1040-NR (2025), IRS
  3. Publication 519 (2025), U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens, IRS
  4. Instructions for Form 1040 (2025), IRS
  5. Revenue Procedure 2025-32 (2026 inflation adjustments), IRS
  6. Schedule A (Form 1040-NR) (2026 draft), IRS
  7. Schedule 1-A (Form 1040) (2026 draft), IRS
  8. Form 8843 (2026 draft), Statement for Exempt Individuals and Individuals With a Medical Condition, IRS
  9. Tips for Completing Form 8843 (VITA Link and Learn Taxes), IRS
  10. Instructions for Form W-7 (Rev. December 2024), IRS
  11. 26 U.S.C. 6013, Joint returns, US Government Publishing Office
  12. 26 U.S.C. 221, Interest on education loans, US Government Publishing Office
  13. Illinois Form IL-1040 Instructions (2025), Illinois Department of Revenue
  14. 2025 California 540NR Tax Booklet, California Franchise Tax Board
  15. Instructions for Form IT-203 (2025), New York State Department of Taxation and Finance
  16. 2025 Form 1-NR/PY Instructions, Massachusetts Department of Revenue