Hello, I was in the US on H1 visa till August 2011 as a single. I moved to India end of August and got married in September, never returned to US in 2011.
My wife holds an SSN, as she was working US till 2009.
My Question is can I file under the status MFJ, even though my wife wasn't physically present in US?

Please advice.
Thanks

If I can apply as MFJ, do I need to apply for an ITIN for my wife, since she has an SSN?
Thanks

You CAn file jointly with your wife AND her SSN IS still valid, so use it in the joint filing.

You MUST claim ALL world-wide income earned by you AND your wife in 2011; you would offset any double taxation by filing Form 1116 to cliam the Foreign Tax Credit.

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Thank You AtlantaTax Expert for a quick response to my query. I was totally clueless on what I should do. I filed via taxact as MFJ and Fed rejected my filing saying prior information for my spouse doesn' match the records.

Here is the excerpt from the email.

Rule Number: IND-032
Rule Number Description: The PRIOR YEAR ADJUSTED GROSS INCOME, PRIOR YEAR PIN, or ELECTRONIC FILING PIN for the SPOUSE does not match IRS Records.

I am worried if this is going to be a problem.

Also, since September 2011, I was earning income in India (I paid taxes for it here) and my wife also earned income all through the year and paid taxes for the same.
Do I have to fill up Form 2555 to show the foreign income?

Thanks
Siva

Siva:

You CANNOT use Form 2555 because you must be a resident at the BEGINNING and at the END of the exclusion period; you are a resident at the end, but NOT the beginning.

Check your wife's SSN card and make sure the name is EXACTLY like the name on the card, then re-submit after making any corrections.