Yes—you can make a 2023 §6013(h) election on an amended joint return in late 2026 **if** you became a U.S. tax resident by the end of 2023 and your wife was a citizen or resident then; being resident only in 2024 does not qualify you.
“I moved to the US in October 2023 and was a full-time resident in 2024. I originally filed a 1040-NR for 2023, but I want to amend it to file jointly with my wife using the §6013(h) first-year election. Can I still make this election on an amended return in late 2026, before the April 2027 amendment deadline?”
Summary
Filing a 1040-NR first does not itself prevent the election: the regulations allow an amended joint return. The decisive work is establishing both spouses' 2023 tax status and filing before the applicable limits—not simply getting the amendment in before an assumed April 2027 date.
Your route depends on **both spouses' tax status at the end of 2023**, not on your 2024 residence alone.
If you were a nonresident at the beginning of 2023 but a at its close, and your wife was a U.S. citizen or resident at its close, you can elect full-year resident treatment on a joint amended 2023 return. If needed, a qualifying 2023 is a separate step toward establishing your year-end residence. Both spouses must elect, and neither may have previously used §6013(h). [26 U.S.C. §6013(h); 26 CFR §§1.6013-7(a), 301.7701(b)-4(c)(3)]
If you were a 2023 year-end resident but your wife was still a nonresident, §6013(h) is the wrong election. You can instead consider §6013(g), under which a citizen or resident spouse and a nonresident spouse elect resident treatment and file jointly; unlike the one-year §6013(h) choice, this election generally continues into subsequent years. The roles can be reversed if your wife, rather than you, was the year-end citizen or resident. [26 CFR §1.6013-6(a)(1)–(2)]
If neither spouse was a citizen or at the end of 2023, and neither can establish that status through an applicable 2023 , 2024 residence alone cannot supply the missing 2023 condition for §6013(h) or §6013(g). If you were already a resident throughout 2023 and your wife was also a citizen or resident, ordinary joint-filing rules—not a first-year §6013(h) election—are the relevant route. [26 U.S.C. §6013(h)(1); 26 CFR §§1.6013-6(a)(1), 301.7701(b)-4(c)(3)]
All amendment routes remain subject to the applicable filing limits and any earlier statutory bar.
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Next steps
These steps establish whether the election fits your facts, then put the correct 2023 joint amendment together.
Before selecting an election
Establish both spouses' 2023 tax status
Determine whether you were a nonresident at the beginning of 2023 and a tax resident on December 31, 2023, and whether your wife was a citizen or resident on that date. If your 2023 end-of-year residence depends on the , document at least 31 consecutive qualifying days in 2023, presence on at least 75% of the period from that stretch's first day through December 31, and satisfaction of the 2024 . The regulation requires a statement attached to the 2023 Form 1040 identifying the election, your residence facts, and your presence dates. [26 U.S.C. §6013(h)(1); 26 CFR §301.7701(b)-4(c)(3)]
Requirements
After confirming the route
Prepare the election statement and joint return
For §6013(h), attach a statement signed by both spouses declaring that election and the qualifying 2023 facts; include both names, addresses, and taxpayer identification numbers. If §6013(g) is the applicable alternative, identify that election instead. Complete a corrected **2023 Form 1040** as a joint return using both spouses' 2023 income, including foreign income; the older regulation describes the corrected Form 1040, while the current IRS instructions place it behind Form 1040-X. [26 CFR §§1.6013-7(a)(3), 1.6013-6(a)(4); IRS Publication 519 (2023)]
Requirements
Before the applicable cutoff
Complete paper Form 1040-X and attach the corrected 1040
Use [Form 1040-X](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040x.pdf) for 2023. For a **paper** correction from 1040-NR to 1040, enter your identity information on page 1, leave the other page-1 entries and Part I blank, explain the change in Part II, write “Amended” atop the corrected [2023 Form 1040](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f1040--2023.pdf), and attach it behind Form 1040-X with both signed election statements as applicable. Both spouses sign the joint amendment. [Instructions for Form 1040-X](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040x); 26 CFR §1.6013-6(a)(4)]
Requirements
Late 2026
Send the amendment within both filing limits
For changing the separate filing to joint, the three-year deadline measured from the **unextended original due date** is April 15, 2027, if you had employee wages subject to U.S. withholding, or June 17, 2027, if you did not; the election must also fall within the separate §6511 claim period, generally three years after filing or two years after payment, whichever expires later. Mail the paper amendment to Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service: **Austin, TX 73301-0052** if you live in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, or Texas; **Ogden, UT 84201-0052** if you live in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, or Wyoming; **Kansas City, MO 64999-0052** for the other states or DC; **Austin, TX 73301-0215** for a foreign-country, U.S.-territory, APO/FPO, or applicable dual-status address. If responding to an IRS notice, use its specified address. [26 U.S.C. §6013(b)(2)(A); 26 CFR §1.6013-6(a)(4); 2023 Form 1040-NR Instructions; Instructions for Form 1040-X](https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040x)
Requirements
Legal sources
This answer uses the Internal Revenue Code, Treasury regulations, and IRS instructions and Publication 519 for the 2023 tax year.
26 U.S.C. §6013(h)(1)(A)
Your own 2023 year-end tax residence is essential to the proposed election.
(h)(1)(A)
(A) any individual is a nonresident alien individual at the beginning of any taxable year but is a resident of the United States at the close of such taxable year,
26 U.S.C. §6013(h)(1)(B)
Your wife's citizenship or tax residence at the end of 2023 determines whether §6013(h) fits.
(h)(1)(B)
(B) at the close of such taxable year, such individual is married to a citizen or resident of the United States, and
26 U.S.C. §6013(b)(2)(A)
The separate-to-joint limit is measured from the original statutory due date, not automatically from the date you filed.
(b)(2)(A)
(A) after the expiration of 3 years from the last date prescribed by law for filing the return for such taxable year (determined without regard to any extension of time granted to either spouse); or
26 CFR §1.6013-7(a)(1)
The regulation confirms the start- and end-of-year test and its availability where both spouses become residents.
(a)(1)
Two individuals who are husband and wife at the close of a taxable year ending on or after December 31, 1975, may make an election under this section for that taxable year if one spouse is a citizen or resident of the United States on the last day of that taxable year and the other spouse is a nonresident alien at the beginning of that taxable year and a citizen or resident of the United States at the close of that taxable year.
26 CFR §1.6013-7(a)(1)
The first-year joint-residency election cannot be repeated after either spouse has used it.
(a)(1)
A husband and wife may not make an election if an election has previously been made under this section by either spouse.
26 CFR §§1.6013-7(a)(3), 1.6013-6(a)(4)
The election procedure has its own refund-claim-period timing requirement.
(a)(4)(i)
The election must be made before the expiration of the period prescribed by section 6511(a) (or section 6511(c) if the period is extended by agreement) for making a claim for credit or refund.
26 CFR §§1.6013-7(a)(3), 1.6013-6(a)(4)(i)
The regulation allows an amended joint election and addresses already-filed later-year returns.
(a)(4)(i)
If the election is made with a joint amended return, the amended return should be made on Form 1040 or 1040A, the word “Amended” should be written clearly on the front of the return, and an amended return also must be filed for each subsequent taxable year as to which a return previously has been filed by either spouse.
26 CFR §1.6013-6(a)(1)
This is the distinct election if one spouse remains a nonresident at year-end.
(a)(1)
Two individuals who are husband and wife at the close of a taxable year ending on or after December 31, 1975, may make an election under this section for that taxable year if, at the close of that year, one spouse is a citizen or resident of the United States and the other spouse is a nonresident alien.
26 CFR §301.7701(b)-4(c)(3)
The separate first-year residence choice can establish a 2023 starting date only if its 2023 and 2024 conditions are met.
(c)(3)(i)–(ii)
If an alien individual (who otherwise does not meet the substantial presence test or the green card test for the current year) is physically present in the United States for at least 31 consecutive days during the current year, and also for a period of continuous presence beginning with the first day of that thirty-one day period (see paragraph (c)(3)(iii) of this section), then the individual may elect to be treated as a resident during the current year.
26 CFR §301.7701(b)-4(c)(3)(ii)(B)
Residence in 2024 must meet the tax-law substantial-presence test for the 2023 first-year choice.
(c)(3)(ii)(B)
The individual is a resident of the United States in the subsequent year under the substantial presence test (whether or not the individual is also a resident of the United States under the green card test).
IRS Publication 519 (2023)
The IRS spells out the 2023 presence calculation, which an October arrival might meet but does not establish by itself.
First-Year Choice
Be present in the United States for at least 75% of the number of days beginning with the first day of the 31-day period and ending with the last day of 2023.
2023 Form 1040-NR Instructions
The 2023 nonresident return's original deadline was April 15, 2024, in the wage-withholding case.
When To File
A return for the 2023 calendar year is due by April 15, 2024.
2023 Form 1040-NR Instructions
The different original deadline applies if there were no employee wages subject to U.S. withholding.
When To File
A return for the 2023 calendar year is due by June 17, 2024.
Instructions for Form 1040-X
IRS instructions explicitly allow Form 1040-X when correcting a filed 1040-NR to a Form 1040.
Resident and nonresident aliens
Also use Form 1040-X if you should have filed Form 1040 instead of Form 1040-NR, or vice versa.
Instructions for Form 1040-X
The IRS specifies the paper amendment's explanation and corrected-return attachment procedure.
Resident and nonresident aliens
Enter in Part II—Explanation of Changes the reason you are filing Form 1040-X. Complete a new or corrected return (Form 1040, 1040-SR, 1040-NR, etc.). Across the top of the new or corrected return, write “Amended.” Attach the new or corrected return to the back of Form 1040-X.
IRS Publication 519 (2023)
A joint full-year-resident choice calls for a worldwide-income recalculation, not merely a filing-status change.
Nonresident Spouse Treated as a Resident
You are both taxed on worldwide income.
These are the official rules in the cited versions as of the dates shown; tax rules and filing instructions can change.
This is general information about official tax processes, not legal advice, and SettleKit is not a law firm.
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