Claiming an alien spouse

I was married in Feb, 2007. My wife is working in Malaysia and I am retired
USAF living with her in Malaysia. She is not a citizen of the US, and does not
have a SS#. We will not be moving to the US until her contract is up over a
year from now. I want to file "married, filing separately (or jointly), but
since she doesn't has a SS#, how do I get around that? Also do I claim her as a
dependent?

Grw,

Please accept my late congratulations on your marriage.

You are married and living with your spouse, so you must file Married,,,,
the question is filing jointly or separately?

Your spouse must have either a SSN or ITIN for:
- you to file a joint return.
- you file a separate return and claim an exemption for your spouse.
- your spouse files a separate return.

if your spouse is not eligible for an SSN she can get an ITIN by filing form W-7 with the IRS. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf

You may have a situation that is known as "Dual-Status Alien. You should see chapeter 1 of IRS Pub 519, US Tax Guide for Aliens: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p519.pdf

My opinion is your wife needs an SSN or ITIN, and then you can file Married Filing Jointly.