If one spouse is a resident of Virginia and the other is a resident of another state, you cannot file a joint return unless you both agree that the joint income is taxable to Virginia as if you both are residents.
If not, the Virginia resident spouse would file a Virginia resident return (Form 760) and the nonresident spouse would file a Virginia nonresident return (Form 763). The filing status on both returns would be Married Filing Separate.
How do I allocate the exemptions?
The spouses must determine their itemized deductions and allocate the exemptions for the dependents (if any) as if they filed Married Filing Separate federal returns. As a general rule, a spouse claiming an exemption for a dependent must be reporting at last half of the total federal adjusted gross income.
Each spouse must also be able to support their claim for the itemized deductions. If each spouse cannot account for the deductions separately, the deductions must be allocated based on their share of the joint federal adjusted gross income. For example, if the total income on the return is $80,000 and one spouse earned $20,000 while the other earned $60,000, only 25% of the deductions can be allocated to the spouse earning the $20,000. The other spouse is allocated the other 75% of the deductions.