H4 visa spouse Taxes : Joint or Separate

Question

I'm working on H1B visa since Oct 2019 in the US and married in 2022. My spouse (on H4 visa) is working in Canada and has income in Canada. She doesn't have any income in the US and has no W2 and SSN/ITIN.

My wife visited US for about 3 months in 2022 and returned to Canada.

My questions below -

1. Can I file my taxes for 2022 as a married-joint or married-separate filing?
2. Since she was in US for 3 months and rest of the time in Canada, can she be considered as resident for tax-filing purposes?
3. If joint filing, I understand that I will need to include my spouse's worldwide income including wages in Canada. Can we apply for Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and/or the Foreign Tax Credit to exclude her foreign income from US taxes?

Appreciate your help.

Answer 1

Can I file my taxes for 2022 as a married-joint or married-separate filing?

You can only file as MFJ or MFS, no other way.

Since she was in US for 3 months and rest of the time in Canada, can she be considered as resident for tax-filing purposes?

No, she would probably not pass the substantial presence test.

However, you both can elect to treat her as resident for the whole year, regardless of how much time she spent in the US (if at all), if you want. This is called a "Sec. 6013(g) election". See the rules here, and here's an H&R Block article explaining it in laymen terms.

If joint filing, I understand that I will need to include my spouse's worldwide income including wages in Canada. Can we apply for Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and/or the Foreign Tax Credit to exclude her foreign income from US taxes?

Yes. FEIE or FTC, whatever you find to be more beneficial depending on your circumstances. The three months she spent in the US may affect the calculations since the income earned in that period cannot be excluded as it was US-earned.