Taxpayer is resident alien and spouse non resident alien

[Bonnie]

Taxpayer has been in US for approximately 5 years with 20 year old daughter and taxpayers wife is still in Venezuela wanting to come here also but so far has not been granted the right to come. Taxpayer has SS number for work only but is not US citizen. Reading information on filing status I see it says if taxpayer is resident alien which he is and spouse is non resident alien they can treat her as a resident alien and file a joint return. Spouse does not have SS number or an ITIN. Is it possible to file a joint return without either number and mail in the return, or does he have to filed MFS.

I always thought in order for someone to be on the tax return they had to have a SS number or ITIN number so in studying this situation it seems that he can file MFJ but it doesn't address how to handle her not having SSN or ITIN. Am I missing something

Has anyone dealt with this situation in the past

[TaxGuyBill]

As far as I know, she needs an ITIN if they file Jointly (besides making the election to be treated as a Resident). That is often applied for while filing the tax return.

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/how-do-i-apply-for-an-itin

Otherwise, it would be Married Filing Separately.