Hi,

My Husband is on H1 Status since feb 2008 and I am on H4 since dec 2008. We got married in nov 2008 in India and I came to US(first time) in dec 2008.

When filing for 2008 tax returns in April 2009, he filed it as a single individual as our auditor told that I stayed in US for less than 180 days in the year 2008 (I came here in dec 2008) .
But some of our friends said that they were able to file the tax returns as 'Married filing jointly' even though their wives came to US by the end of that year(Same situation as ours , newly married couples, husband on H1 and wife on h4).
Even I didn't find any such constraints anywhere in 'irs' site .

My Question is Can we amend the married status to the already filed tax returns(2008) now to get the marriage benefits ?

Yes, you can amend the 2008 return to file jointly. We prepare such amendments all of the time.

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