In giving these scenarios, I am assuming you will be in the U.S. for a period in excess of 183 days and that your income while in the U.S. is coming from a U.S. source.
You have several options. Regardless of which one you take, you CANNOT claim your daughter as a dependent on the return, because she was not with you in the U.S. at all in 2006.
You can file jointly with your wife as resident aliens, but in doing so,
ALL of your world-wide income for the entire year is subject to U.S. tax. Credits are available for the taxes you paid to your home country, but claiming them can get complicated. Filing jointly allows you to claim your wife's and your own personal exemption of $3,300 each (fior $6,600) plus a double standard deduction of $10,300.
You can file as a dual-status alien. If you do so, you will have to wait until you meet the Substantial Presence Test, which requires 183 days in country. You can only count one in three days for 2006, so you would have to wait until sometime in June before you could file. Unfortunately, since your wife was not with you anytime in 2006, you cannot claim her as a dependent. As a dual-status alien, you must report all of your income, but you will pay taxes only on the income you earned while in the U.S. The dual-status return is rather complex, and, in your circumstance, offers no advantages over the third option, which is...
You can file as a non-resident alien, filing Form 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ. You will not be able to claim the standard deduction, nor will you be able to claim either your wife or daughter as a dependent, but you will be able to claim any treaty exemption specified in the tax treaty that the U.S. may have with your home country.
You should NOT try to file this return on your own. You need to get professional tax help, preferably with someone with experience doing taxes for foreign nationals. If you want my help, you can contact me at
![[email address]](http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/?emailimage=f81d67259d701561638debcda9bd3e23)
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