My husband is foreign citizen and resident. He doesn't have ssn but system asks. What do I do?

If your spouse is not a US citizen or resident and does not have an SSN or ITIN, it might be the easiest to file Married Filing Separately.   

If you are filing jointly, without your spouse's SSN or ITIN, you won't be able to e-file, unfortunately.  IRS requires everyone on the tax return have either SSN or ITIN on the tax return.  To apply for an ITIN, you will have to file a Form W-7 separately.  

You would need to submit your taxes and apply for ITIN simultaneously with TurboTax program:

-In the program, as you enter the information, leave the SSN space blank

-After entering all your information, print out returns and required forms ( write APPLIED in the SSN space) 

-As TurboTax does not support the Form W-7, fill out the forms by following

 https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/General-ITIN-Information and attach to other required  documentation

-Submit everything including your tax forms to IRS Austin location in Texas.  ( Form W-7 instructions)

If you file Married Filing Separately, you would not need to apply for ITIN for your spouse.  But you will not able to e-file either.  You can still use the program to prepare the tax forms but will have to submit by mail.  

To file separately without the SSN or ITIN: 

• In the program, leave the SSN space blank
• After completing the return, print out the forms.  Write “NRA” in the spouse's SSN space. ( NRA stands for Nonresident Alien). Do not leave the space blank. 
• Submit all the forms and required documents to IRS based on the instructions on your print-out.

[Edited 4/6/2020 | 12:29 PM]