thank you for your input...and apologies for the delay in responding

it is clear the client is a u.s. resident from the date she applied for a green card while living in the usa with her fiance.....so she has a split year....making her unable to file jointly

it is also clear that prior to applying for a green card, as a diplomat, she was exempt from u.s. income tax

as a condition of applying for a green card she had to surrender that diplomatic exemption

if it would be advantageous for her to elect to be taxed as a full year u.s. resident, thereby filing jointly with her husband, would her earnings at the NY french embassy be sourced as foreign so the french tax that she paid could be claimed as a foreign tax credit to mitigate the effect of putting that income in her joint tax return????

thanks for the help

regards

bob