Hi,
I am on H1B working for whole of last year. My wife had come with me on a H4 visa at the last of previous year(Dec 15 2007 to be exact). This year she got her H1 approved(with change of status) and she was in US till Nov1. She returned again on 25th Dec but using her H4 visa instead of H1. Also she got her SSN after Nov 1.

We do not have any pay stubs for her and as such we had to revert back to H4 status.I have following questions:

1. what is the tax implication for her being on H1 visa for month of Oct?
2. What are our options to file tax , last year we had filed as Married filing jointly?
3. Can we legally claim that she was on H1 for one month but was on leave without pay and later on she resigned as soon as she left US?
4. What kind of documents we will need from her employer to support our claims if any?

Thanks,
EM

1) None, really. She will still file jointly with you, and you will have to claim any income earned in 2008.

2) You can still file jointly.

3) Her visa status is irrelevent when it comes to filing tax returns, unless she REALLY wants to file separate from you, which is probably NOT smart tax-wise.

4) A letter from her employer explaining her visa status.