US Citizen/Married in Mexico

[sharpcougar]

This is a strange one...

1. Taxpayer is a US citizen lives in the US

2.  Spouse lives in Mexico. They were married in Mexico and husband supports wife and kids in Mexico.

3. Non of his family have SS or TIN number

I am on boarding the customer and I saw that he filed single last year. Based on my research, he should have filed married filing Jointly but he wants to file Single as in previous years. I did not prepare previous tax returns. Thoughts?

[sjrcpa]

You can't always get what you want.

If you're married, your filing choices are MFS or MFJ.

[BobKamman]

Are they his children?  Then they are US citizens, right?  He should get them SSN's and claim them.

Why do they have separate countries?  Is his presence in the US temporary, and does he plan to return to Mexico?  Has he lived with his family in Mexico -- when, and for how long?

[sharpcougar]

His wife does not want to come to the US. He goes there every couple of months and visits. the kids are not his - they are hers. She is a Mexican citizen and so are her kids.