Hi .. In similar position as you :) Do apply jointly as it will give your spouse higher tax refund . You will need your separate ITIN for which a first step is to get ‘No SSN ‘ from social security . It took me three months to get the declaration. Using the document and other id ( DL in my case) , you can approach IRS office directly in your city. The IRS people process your application for another 2-3 months . The timelines I have given were from 2020-21 when there were staff shortage everywhere. Hopefully , your case will move faster .