Hello.

I have a question about how to file U.S. taxes in a way that will give me the most benefit in my situation.

Here are the details:

1. I'm a U.S. citizen, living in Japan.
2. I made less than the maximum allowed for the foreign income exclusion for each year I want to file.
3. I am married with one child.
4. I don't believe I can claim any deductions except for the Standard and Child deductions (no housing deductions, etc.)
5. I haven't filed with the IRS for the last 8 years (but have been filing with Japan every year).
6. If possible, I only want to file for the last 3 years, from 2008 to 2010 (to satisfy requirements to be a visa sponsor for my wife).

Here are a couple of the questions I have:

-1- Will the IRS send me something asking me to file for all the unfiled years if I only send in forms for the last 3 years?
-2- Can I file for the Foreign Income Exclusion and Foreign Tax Credit at the same time? How and what forms would I use? Have there been any changes to the rules here from 2008 to 2010, or can I file all these forms in the same way?

Please let me know if there's anything else I should know to make the most of my situation.

Thanks in advance.