I was staying with my wife and kid on L1 VISA from April 2008 to July 2009. My wife is not working either in India nor in USA. I filed Married filing jointly for both 2008 and 2009 FY's. Later we returned to India and I alone came back to US in March 2010. I stayed alone in US till Dec 2010. My Wife and Kid were in India for whole 2010 year.

My wife has SSN on L2 VISA status and my Kid has ITIN.
1. Now how should I file my returns either Single or Joint for FY 2010?
2. Can I claim my kid as dependent?

Please answer my questions.

Thanks,
Venkat

You CAN file jointly with your wife; her physical location is irrelevant.

However, you cannot claim your child as a dependent unless he spent at least ONE day in the U.S. in 2010.

If you need professional tax help with this, email me at [email protected].