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Filing Status: U.S. Taxes for Noncitizens (2025 IRS Guide)

This guide covers “Filing Status” within u.s. taxes for noncitizens. The following material presents the IRS treatment of this topic, including the qualifications, exceptions, and examples in the source section. Read the rules alongside the facts of your own situation before deciding what to report, deduct, or document.

Adapted from Publication 519 (2025), U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens, published by the Internal Revenue Service. This guide retains the source edition’s years, amounts, deadlines, and examples. It is guidance for that edition, not a statement that the same figures apply to every tax year.

Filing Status

The amount of your tax depends on your filing status. Your filing status is important in determining whether you can take certain deductions and credits. The rules for determining your filing status are different for resident aliens and nonresident aliens.

Resident Aliens

Resident aliens can use the same filing statuses available to U.S. citizens. See your form instructions or Pub. 501 for more information on filing status.

Married filing jointly.

Generally, you can file as married filing jointly only if both you and your spouse were U.S. citizens or resident aliens for the entire tax year, or if you choose to be a nonresident spouse treated as a resident, as discussed in chapter 1.

Qualifying surviving spouse.

If your spouse died in 2023 or 2024 and you did not remarry before the end of 2025, you may qualify to file as a qualifying surviving spouse and use the joint return tax rates. This applies only if you could have filed a joint return with your spouse for the year your spouse died.

For more information on the qualifying surviving spouse filing status, see Qualifying Surviving Spouse under Filing Status in the 2025 Instructions for Form 1040.

Head of household.

You can qualify as head of household if you are unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the year and you pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home for you and a qualifying person. You must be a resident alien for the entire tax year.

You are considered unmarried for this purpose if your spouse was a nonresident alien at any time during the year and your spouse doesn’t choose to be treated as a resident, as discussed in chapter 1 under Nonresident Spouse Treated as a Resident.

Note:

Even if you are considered unmarried for head of household purposes because you are married to a nonresident alien, you may still be considered married for purposes of the earned income credit (EIC). In that case, you will need to meet the special rule for separated spouses to claim the credit. See Pub. 596 for more information.

Nonresident Aliens

If you are a nonresident alien filing Form 1040-NR, you may be able to use one of the filing statuses discussed next.

Married filing separately (MFS).

Married nonresident aliens who are not married to U.S. citizens or residents must generally use the Tax Table column or the Tax Computation Worksheet for married filing separate returns when determining the tax on income effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business.

Exceptions.

Married nonresident aliens normally cannot use the Tax Table column or the Tax Computation Worksheet for single individuals. However, you may be able to file as single if you lived apart from your spouse during the last 6 months of the year and you are a married resident of Canada, Mexico, or South Korea, or are a married U.S. national. See the Instructions for Form 1040-NR to see if you qualify. “U.S. national” is defined later in this section.

A nonresident alien generally cannot file as married filing jointly. However, a nonresident alien who is married to a U.S. citizen or resident can choose to be treated as a resident and file a joint return on Form 1040 or 1040-SR. For information on these choices, see chapter 1. If you do not make the choice to file jointly, file Form 1040-NR and use the Tax Table column or the Tax Computation Worksheet for married individuals filing separately.

U.S. national.

An individual who, although not a U.S. citizen, owes their allegiance to the United States is considered a U.S. national. Also, U.S. nationals include American Samoans and Northern Mariana Islanders who choose to become U.S. nationals instead of U.S. citizens.

Qualifying surviving spouse.

If your spouse died in 2023 or 2024 and you did not remarry before the end of 2025, you may be eligible to file as a qualifying surviving spouse and use the joint return tax rates.

For more information on the qualifying surviving spouse filing status, see Qualifying Surviving Spouse under Filing Status in the 2025 Instructions for Form 1040-NR.

Head of household.

You cannot file as head of household if you are a nonresident alien at any time during the tax year. However, if you are married, your spouse can qualify as a head of household if:

  • Your spouse is a resident alien or U.S. citizen for the entire tax year;

  • You do not choose to be treated as a resident alien; and

  • Your spouse meets the other requirements for this filing status, as discussed earlier under Resident Aliens.

Note:

Even if your spouse is considered unmarried for head of household purposes because you are a nonresident alien, your spouse may still be considered married for purposes of the EIC. In that case, your spouse will not be entitled to the credit unless they meet the special rule for separated spouses to claim the credit. See Pub. 596 for more information.

Estates and trusts.

A nonresident alien estate or trust using Form 1040-NR must use the Tax Rate Schedule W in the Instructions for Form 1040-NR when determining the tax on income effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business.

Special rules for aliens from certain U.S. territories.

A nonresident alien who is a bona fide resident of American Samoa or Puerto Rico for the entire tax year and who is temporarily working in the United States should see Bona Fide Residents of American Samoa or Puerto Rico at the end of this chapter for information about special rules.

Using the guidance

Keep the documents that establish the dates, amounts, and circumstances described above. References to other chapters, forms, worksheets, or earlier and later sections refer to the linked IRS publication. Check the full publication and its updates before relying on a rule for a different tax year or a situation not addressed here.

Sources and further reading

The cited U.S. government text is in the public domain. Source accessed October 28, 2026. Fynoptic has organized this material for educational use and is independent of, and not endorsed by, the IRS.

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