The spouse, the wife is the nonresident alien.  I believe she came in with a tourist visa.  Husband is citizen for many years.  The immigration lawyer is trying to obtain her alien residency status, that is to obtain the green card.  The spouse came into the country late 2020.  Taxpayer husband needs to file his 1040.  My question is can I just file HOH for the husband with the child as dependent. I have trouble here with California.  For HOH, the husband cannot be married.   We don't mind filing joint without the SS# or ITIN.  We will just put foreign and then paper file.  Somewhere along the way, I have read the nonresident alien should also be in the US for one year before they can file joint.  

Celine