Hi, I will be on L1 visa in the US from April 15 this year for a period of 3-4 years. My wife and child will be india and will be joining me around July end/August first week. My wife does not intend to work in the US - she is currently not working in india and has no other income. Please advice if I could file my 2011 tax return as married filing jointly with my wife and cliam my child as dependent. If so, what will be my overall tax rate? Thanks in adavance.

Yes, you can file joint return as residents. Your U.S. Tax Return: The U.S. Visas

Thank you for your reply

You will not be able to claim your child if they come after July 2nd as your child will be a non-resident alien.
If you file jointly as a resident alien you will need to declare your worldwide income for the entire year.

Taxforaliens, if I file married jointly isn't it enough if I only pass the Substantial presence test?

If you file joint return and if your child is present in US for even a single day in 2011, you can claim the child as dependent.
You can file joint return even when your spouse has never been to US?

One of the requirements for claiming a dependent is, that the dependent needs to be a US citizen/resident or a resident of the US or Canada. The choice you can make for your spouse to be treated as a resident alien does not extend to any children. So if your child is a non-resident alien, he/she cannot be claimed as a dependent.

MukatA: could you cite the source for your answer that if a child is presnet one day in theUS . He/she can be claimed as a dependent?