You are not required to include your non-US citizen spouse on your US tax return, and by default you file as Married Filing Separately without them.
Many couples deliberately keep it that way, since adding a foreign spouse to your return can expose their income, bank accounts, property, and other assets to US tax and reporting,
Marrying someone who is not a US citizen does not change your own US filing obligation. You still file every year, but you also gain a choice that fully US couples never have to make.
This guide walks through your filing status options, when including your spouse makes sense, when it does not, and what changes once you make that call.
Key Summary: Married to a non-US citizen
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You are never required to include a non-US citizen spouse on your return. By default, you file Married Filing Separately and your spouse stays outside the US tax system.
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The Section 6013(g) election lets you file jointly for a lower tax rate and bigger deduction, but pulls your spouse’s worldwide income and often their foreign accounts into your return.
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Joint filing tends to make sense when your spouse has little foreign income or when you are building an immigration record. It tends not to when your spouse holds significant foreign assets or business interests.
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A joint foreign bank account with your non-citizen spouse generally requires reporting the full balance on your FBAR, not just your share, once your combined foreign accounts exceed $10,000.
Guide for Filing With a Non-US Citizen Spouse
| Default Filing Status | Married Filing Separately, unless you elect to treat your spouse as a US resident |
| Election to File Jointly | Section 6013(g) lets you treat your NRA spouse as a US resident for tax purposes |
| Effect of the Election | Your spouse’s worldwide income becomes reportable, not just US-source income |
| 2026 Standard Deduction | $32,200 Married Filing Jointly, $16,100 Married Filing Separately, $24,150 Head of Household |
| 2026 FEIE Limit | $132,900 per qualifying spouse, up to $265,800 if both spouses qualify |
| Tax ID for Your Spouse | SSN if eligible to work, otherwise an ITIN via Form W-7 |
| 2026 Gift Tax Exclusion to a Non-Citizen Spouse | $194,000 per year, since the unlimited marital deduction does not apply |
| FBAR and FATCA | Generally apply only to accounts you own or control, not your spouse’s separate foreign accounts |
Should You Include Your Non-US Spouse on Your US Return?
In most cases, no, not unless your spouse has little foreign income or you have a specific reason to file jointly.
The default rule lets you leave a non-citizen spouse off your return entirely, and for many expats, the reporting and tax exposure that comes with including a spouse outweighs the benefit of a lower tax bracket.
The underlying choice is whether to bring your spouse into the US tax system by electing joint filing under Section 6013(g), or to keep your return separate and their finances outside IRS reporting.
There is no universal right answer. It depends on what your spouse earns, what they own, and where those assets are held.
As a rule of thumb, the calculation tends to favor staying separate the more your spouse holds outside the US, since foreign bank accounts, investment funds, pensions, real estate, and business interests can all become reportable once you elect to file jointly.
The calculation tends to favor filing jointly when your spouse has little or no foreign financial footprint, since there is comparatively little to expose and the larger standard deduction becomes close to free savings.
Your Filing Status Options
US citizens and Green Card holders married to a nonresident alien have three realistic filing status paths, and the right one depends heavily on your spouse’s income and your appetite for reporting.
- Married Filing Separately (the default). If you do nothing, this is where you land. You report only your own income, your spouse stays outside the US tax system, and you generally cannot claim certain credits available to joint filers. The 2026 standard deduction for this status is $16,100, well below what a joint return would allow.
- Married Filing Jointly, via the Section 6013(g) election. You can elect to treat your nonresident spouse as a US resident for tax purposes, which opens up joint filing. This usually means a lower tax rate and a much larger standard deduction, but your spouse’s worldwide income, not just US income, becomes reportable going forward.
- Head of Household, if you qualify. If your spouse is a nonresident alien for the full year and you pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home for a qualifying child or dependent, you may be able to file as Head of Household instead of Married Filing Separately. This status carries a 2026 standard deduction of $24,150, higher than Married Filing Separately, without pulling your spouse’s income into your return.
Filing Status Comparison for a Non-Citizen Spouse (2026)
| Factor | Married Filing Separately | MFJ via 6013(g) Election | Head of Household |
| 2026 Standard Deduction | $16,100 | $32,200 | $24,150 |
| Spouse’s Worldwide Income Reported? | No | Yes | No |
| Spouse Needs an ITIN or SSN? | No | Yes | No |
| Spouse’s Foreign Accounts Exposed to FBAR/FATCA? | Generally no | Often yes | Generally no |
| Requires a Qualifying Child or Dependent? | No | No | Yes |
Not Sure Which Filing Status To Use?
UTP helps American expats with foreign spouses choose the filing status that saves money and avoids unnecessary reporting. Get clear guidance from our expat tax specialists.
The Section 6013(g) Election, Explained
Section 6013(g) of the tax code allows a US citizen or resident to elect to treat a nonresident alien spouse as a US resident, solely for filing purposes.
Once made, the election lets the couple file a joint return and claim the Married Filing Jointly standard deduction, which is $32,200 for 2026, roughly double the Married Filing Separately amount.
The tradeoff is real. Once the election is in place, your spouse’s worldwide income, including foreign wages, foreign investment income, and foreign business income, becomes part of the joint return. Depending on your spouse’s situation, this can also bring foreign bank accounts and other foreign assets into FBAR and FATCA reporting for the first time.
The election stays in effect for future years until it is revoked, and revocation carries its own consequences, including a bar on making the election again in most circumstances.
Couples with a working, income-earning foreign spouse should model both scenarios before electing, since the lower tax rate from joint filing can be outweighed by the added reporting and any additional tax on the spouse’s foreign income.
When Including Your Non-US Spouse Makes Sense
The decision is not one-sided. For a meaningful number of couples, electing to include a non-citizen spouse is the clearly better move, especially in these situations.
- Your spouse has little or no foreign income or assets, so there is little to protect by keeping them off the return, and the larger joint standard deduction is close to free money.
- You are pursuing a marriage-based immigration case. Joint tax returns are often treated as evidence of a bona fide marriage during a spousal visa or Green Card process.
- Your spouse is already moving toward US residency, so their worldwide income will eventually be reportable regardless. Electing early can simplify that transition.
The common thread is that these couples have already looked at what including a spouse actually exposes, and concluded the tradeoff works in their favor. That is the same exercise every couple should run before deciding either way.
Reasons You Might Choose Not to Include Your Spouse
Including your spouse is not automatically the better move, even though it usually lowers your tax rate. Once you elect to bring a non-citizen spouse onto your return, you are opting them into the US tax system, and that has consequences well beyond the tax bracket.
- Foreign bank accounts, investments, and pensions. Filing jointly can pull your spouse’s accounts into your FBAR and FATCA reporting, and foreign mutual funds or pensions are often classified as Passive Foreign Investment Companies, which carry punitive US tax treatment.
- Foreign real estate and business interests. Rental income and gains from property your spouse owns become part of your joint return, and a share in a foreign business can bring reporting like Form 5471 into scope.
- Privacy and independence. Some spouses simply do not want their income and savings disclosed to a foreign tax authority, and that alone is a reasonable basis for filing separately.
- Cost and complexity. A joint return covering a foreign spouse’s full financial picture takes more time and expense to prepare correctly than a straightforward separate return.
None of this means joint filing is wrong for every couple. If your spouse has little or no foreign income and few assets, the downsides above may not apply to you, and the larger standard deduction can be worth claiming. The point is to look at what your spouse actually owns before deciding, not just at the tax bracket difference.
Include your Spouse or Not? Quick Comparison
| Reasons to Include Your Spouse | Reasons to Keep Filing Separately |
| Spouse has little or no foreign income or assets | Spouse holds foreign bank accounts, investments, or pensions |
| You’re building a marriage-based immigration record | Spouse owns foreign real estate or a business interest |
| Spouse is already moving toward US residency | Spouse prefers privacy over disclosing finances to the IRS |
| Foreign Tax Credit offsets most of the added US tax | Added cost and complexity of preparing a joint return |
Married Filing Separately: What Stays Out of View
For many expat couples, Married Filing Separately is not a consolation status, it is the deliberate choice, for the reasons above.
The tradeoff is a narrower standard deduction and the loss of certain credits and deductions that phase out or disappear entirely under Married Filing Separately, including limits on IRA contributions and reduced access to education credits.
For couples where the US citizen spouse’s income is modest, or where the foreign spouse’s assets are significant, that tradeoff is often still worth it to keep the non-citizen spouse’s finances out of the US tax system.
Married to a Foreign Spouse? Get Your Filing Right
UTP has helped hundreds of Americans abroad with joint filing and FBAR questions involving a non-US citizen spouse. Let us find the right approach for your household.
Getting Your Spouse a Tax ID Number
Any filing status other than the default separate return without claiming your spouse requires a taxpayer identification number for your spouse.
If your spouse is authorized to work in the United States, they may already have or be eligible for a Social Security Number. If not, they will need an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, obtained by filing Form W-7 with the IRS.
Form W-7 is typically filed alongside the first tax return that includes your spouse, along with certified identity documents such as a passport.
Processing can take several weeks, so this step should not be left until the filing deadline if you plan to file jointly or claim your spouse as a dependent-equivalent for Head of Household purposes.
FBAR and FATCA When One Spouse Is Foreign
A common misconception is that marrying a non-US citizen creates reporting obligations for that spouse’s separate foreign accounts.
In most cases, it does not. FBAR and FATCA generally apply to accounts you personally own, jointly own, or have signature authority over, not accounts that belong solely to your nonresident spouse.
- If your name is not on your spouse’s foreign accounts and you have no signature authority over them, those accounts typically fall outside your FBAR and FATCA reporting.
- Joint accounts work differently than many expect. If you and your non-citizen spouse hold a foreign account jointly, you generally must report the entire balance on your FBAR, not just your half, once your combined foreign accounts exceed $10,000 at any point in the year. This holds even if the money in the account is entirely your spouse’s.
- Married Filing Separately taxpayers living abroad have a lower Form 8938 reporting threshold than joint filers, so it is worth confirming where your combined asset values land.
Gift and Estate Tax Rules for Non-Citizen Spouses
US citizens can generally transfer unlimited assets to a US citizen spouse, during life or at death, without gift or estate tax under the unlimited marital deduction.
That deduction does not apply when the receiving spouse is not a US citizen, because Congress was concerned that wealth could leave the US tax system entirely once it passed to a non-citizen.
Instead, gifts to a non-citizen spouse are capped by a special annual exclusion, separate from the standard per-recipient gift exclusion. For 2026, that amount is $194,000, up from $190,000 in 2025. Gifts to your non-citizen spouse above this amount in a calendar year begin using your lifetime gift and estate tax exemption, which is $15 million per individual for 2026.
At death, the same concern applies to inheritances. Without planning, assets left outright to a non-citizen surviving spouse do not qualify for the unlimited marital deduction.
A Qualified Domestic Trust, or QDOT, is the standard tool used to preserve marital deduction treatment for a non-citizen spouse, deferring estate tax until distributions are made from the trust or at the surviving spouse’s death.
If You Own a Business and Your Spouse Isn’t a US Citizen
Business ownership adds another layer to the filing status decision, and it catches some expats off guard. A few structural rules matter specifically because your spouse is not a US citizen.
- S-corporations cannot have a nonresident alien as a shareholder. Adding your non-citizen spouse as an owner, even a small percentage, can invalidate the S election and convert the company to a C-corporation.
- Partnerships with a foreign partner carry withholding obligations. If your spouse is a partner in a US partnership or multi-member LLC, the entity generally must withhold US tax on their share of income.
- Keeping your spouse off the cap table is often the simplest fix, since sole ownership in your own name sidesteps both issues above.
None of this is affected by whether you elect Section 6013(g) for your personal filing status. Business ownership rules for a non-citizen spouse apply based on whether your spouse actually holds an interest in the entity, separate from how your individual income tax return is filed.
If You’ve Been Filing Incorrectly, Fix It Before You Optimize
It is common for US citizens married to a foreign spouse to assume, incorrectly, that marriage to a non-citizen removes their own US filing obligation, or to simply lose track of filing while adjusting to life abroad.
If you have missed years of returns or FBARs, choosing the ideal filing status is a secondary concern until you are compliant.
The IRS Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures allow non-willful non-filers to catch up by filing the last three years of delinquent returns and the last six years of FBARs, without the failure-to-file and failure-to-pay penalties that would otherwise apply.
Getting current this way also gives you a clean starting point to make the Section 6013(g) election or settle into Married Filing Separately with accurate numbers, rather than compounding an existing gap.
