When one of you holds a green card and the other is a nonresident alien, you can file jointly under Section 6013(g). That one election pulls your spouse's Indian accounts into US reporting for good. Get the order wrong, and a joint checking account can trigger an FBAR problem before it's even useful.
Why your immigration statuses decide the filing choice
"Mixed status" here means one spouse is already a US person for tax purposes, a citizen, a green card holder, or someone who has passed the Substantial Presence Test. The other is still a nonresident alien (NRA).
That second spouse might be on an H-4 that hasn't accumulated enough US days, an F-1 student inside the five-year exempt window, or still living in India while the paperwork catches up.
A mixed couple gets a choice a same-status couple doesn't. Under Section 6013(g) of the Internal Revenue Code, you can elect to treat the nonresident spouse as a US resident for the whole year and file one joint return.
The IRS is direct about what that buys you: you're taxed as residents for every year the choice stays in effect, and each of you reports worldwide income from that point on.
In practice: Priya is on an H-4 that just started. Arjun, her husband, holds a green card. Filing jointly gets a bigger deduction and better brackets, but it also pulls Priya's NRE deposit and her Mumbai mutual funds into a US tax return.
The part that catches people out is the exit. Section 6013(g)(6) makes the election a one-way door: once you make it and later revoke it, neither of you can ever make it again, as a couple.
This isn't a box you check every filing season. It's a decision you make once and live with.
What happens to your spouse's Indian accounts once you elect
The moment the nonresident spouse is treated as a US resident, every account that spouse holds in India comes into scope for FBAR, the foreign bank account report. The threshold is a flat $10,000 in aggregate value across all foreign accounts, at any point in the year.
That figure doesn't care whose name is on the joint return. It applies to anyone the IRS now treats as a US person.
That includes NRE and NRO deposits, an Indian brokerage account, and any Indian mutual funds. Indian equity mutual funds are typically treated as PFICs under US tax law, which triggers its own reporting on Form 8621, separate from FBAR.
My FBAR for NRIs guide covers the deadlines and the penalty ladder if you miss a year.
PFIC attribution can already reach into a spouse's individually held Indian funds under certain ownership structures, before you've elected anything. The 6013(g) election just adds a second, independent reason those funds need Form 8621.
If your spouse holds mutual funds in their own name, read is a mutual fund in your spouse's name still yours under PFIC rules before you file jointly, not after.
I'd tell most couples in Priya and Arjun's position to model both scenarios with real numbers before signing anything. A bigger standard deduction is worth very little against three or four years of PFIC computations on funds that were, until last week, none of the IRS's business.
Joint bank accounts and credit: what you can and cannot combine
Combining money doesn't mean combining every account, and two rules trip people up immediately.
NRE accounts require the joint holder to also hold NRI or OCI status. A US citizen or green card holder spouse with no Indian origin and no OCI card cannot be added as a joint holder on an NRE account, even after marriage.
NRO accounts work differently. They generally permit a resident relative as joint holder, so the two aren't interchangeable here, and my NRE vs NRO vs FCNR comparison walks through which account does what.
On the US side, the block usually runs the other way. A nonresident spouse without a Social Security number can still join a US checking or credit card account. Credit history doesn't travel with them from India, though, and a shared card alone rarely builds an independent file fast.
If your spouse needs their own credit profile, not just access to yours, my credit score roadmap for NRIs sets out the twelve-month path that works.
Who this applies to
This is about you if one spouse is a US citizen, a green card holder, or a resident alien under the Substantial Presence Test. The other is currently a nonresident alien: on a visa, a recent arrival, or still based in India.
It stops applying once both of you are US persons in your own right. At that point you file MFJ or MFS like any other American couple, and the 6013(g) question never comes up because there's no nonresident spouse left to elect for.
What to do about it
Work out each spouse's residency status first: citizen, green card, Substantial Presence Test, or none of those yet. That answer decides whether 6013(g) is even on the table.
Model the joint return against separate filing before you elect anything; a CPA who works cross-border cases can run both scenarios with your actual numbers in an afternoon. If you decide to elect, your nonresident spouse will need an ITIN, applied for with Form W-7, since they can't file jointly without one.
If you're not ready to elect, leave Indian accounts titled the way they already are. Be deliberate about large transfers between you, since a big transfer from a nonresident spouse can count toward the $100,000 Form 3520 reporting threshold for gifts from a foreign person.
Four forms tend to come up across this decision, and it helps to see them side by side rather than scattered through the year.
| Form | Who files it | Triggered by |
|---|---|---|
| FBAR (FinCEN 114) | Any US person | $10,000 aggregate across foreign accounts, at any point in the year |
| Form 8621 | The fund owner, or a joint filer once electing | Holding a PFIC, which is what most Indian equity mutual funds are |
| Form 3520 | The US recipient | Aggregate gifts from a foreign person over $100,000 in a calendar year |
| Form W-7 (ITIN) | The nonresident spouse | Needed before a 6013(g) joint return can include them |
Common misreadings
You think nothing changes until your spouse gets a green card. The filing choice is about the tax year you want to combine returns for, not the year someone's status changes, and you can elect earlier, sometimes should.
You assume funding a joint account is a wash between spouses, so there's nothing to report. A transfer characterized as a gift from your nonresident spouse still counts toward the $100,000 Form 3520 threshold, joint account or not.
Where to start
Get both residency statuses confirmed in writing before you touch a single account or a filing status box. That one fact decides what combining your finances actually costs you this year.
I'd rather run the 6013(g) numbers with a couple before the first joint return goes in than help them unwind a PFIC filing after the fact.
Frequently asked questions
Does my nonresident alien spouse need an ITIN to file jointly under Section 6013(g)?
Yes. A joint return needs a taxpayer identification number for both spouses, and a nonresident alien without a Social Security number applies for an ITIN using Form W-7, filed along with the first joint return.
Can my US citizen spouse be a joint holder on my NRE account?
Only if they hold OCI or NRI status themselves. A US citizen or green card holder spouse with no Indian origin and no OCI card cannot be added to an NRE account. An NRO account can carry a resident joint holder, but under different rules.
Will my spouse's Indian mutual funds become PFICs if I file jointly with them?
They may already be reportable before you file anything, depending on how the fund is held, and the 6013(g) election adds a second reason to check. Indian equity mutual funds are commonly treated as PFICs under US tax law regardless of whose name is on the account.
How much can my nonresident spouse send me before it counts as a reportable gift?
Aggregate gifts from a nonresident alien or other foreign person that cross $100,000 in a calendar year require Form 3520 from the recipient, even between spouses. Below that threshold, there's generally nothing to file. My IRS gift tax limits for NRIs guide has the fuller breakdown.
Do I have to file jointly with my spouse just because they have a green card?
No. Married filing separately stays available to a mixed-status couple at any time, and it's sometimes the better call, especially in the years right after one spouse arrives. My married filing jointly vs separately guide compares the two head to head.