How Do I File an Affidavit of Support
for a Relative?
What is an Affidavit of Support?
For whom is an Affidavit of Support Required?
When do I file a Form I-864 if my relative is a "K" nonimmigrant?
Are there any exceptions to the sponsorship requirements?
Where Can I Find the Law?
Who is required to be a Sponsor?
Can anyone else be a sponsor?
Who can be a joint sponsor, and when is a joint sponsor allowed?
How can I reinstate a visa petition that was revoked by the death of the original petitioner?
What is a “substitute sponsor” and how can I be one?
How Do I File an Affidavit of Support?
What are the income requirements for an Affidavit of Support?
What are My Responsibilities as a Sponsor?
Poverty Guidelines 2004
What if my address changes?
Can Anyone Help Me?
Frequently Asked Questions [FAQs]
What is an Affidavit of Support?
If you are bringing a relative to live permanently in
the United States, you must accept legal responsibility for financially
supporting this family member. You accept this responsibility
and become your relative's sponsor by completing and signing
a document called an affidavit of support. This legally enforceable
responsibility lasts until your relative becomes a U.S. citizen
or can be credited with 40 quarters of work (usually 10 years.)
For Whom is an Affidavit of Support Required?
You must complete and submit an affidavit of support,
USCIS
Form I-864, if you are bringing a relative to the United States. (This means that you filed or are filing a USCIS Form
I-130, Petition for Alien Relative or USCIS Form
I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as Immediate Relative.
See our list
of How Do I's? for more information
on bringing relatives to the United States). An affidavit of support,
USCIS
Form I-864, is required for all immediate relatives of U.S.
citizens (which include parents, spouses, and unmarried children
under the age of 21, including orphans) and relatives who qualify
for immigration to the United States under one of the family-based
preferences:
- First Preference: Unmarried, adult sons and daughters
of U.S. citizens. Adult means 21 years of age or older.
- Second Preference: Spouses of lawful permanent residents
and the unmarried sons and daughters (regardless of age) of lawful
permanent residents and their unmarried children.
- Third Preference: Married sons and daughters of U.S.
citizens, their spouses and their unmarried minor children.
- Fourth Preference: Brothers and sisters of adult U.S.
citizens, their spouses and their unmarried minor children.
You must also complete an affidavit of support if you are a U.S.
citizen or lawful permanent resident and filed an employment-based
immigration petition (USCIS Form
I-140) for a relative or if you have a significant ownership
interest (5 percent or more) in a business that filed an employment-based
immigrant petition for your relative.
Persons whom the USCIS has approved as self-petitioning widows or widowers
or battered spouses and children are exempt from this requirement.
(These individuals file a USCIS Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian,
Widow(er) or Special Immigrant. For more information, please see How
Do I Apply for Immigration Benefits as a Battered Spouse or Child?).
Relatives who enter as refugees or asylees also do not require
affidavits of support. For more information, please see How Do I Get
Resettled in the United States as a Refugee? or How Do I Apply for
Asylum in the U.S.?
All relatives for whom you file a separate I-130 or I-140 petition
must have an original affidavit of support and accompanying documentation.
You may submit photocopies of the affidavit of support you complete
for your relative for any spouse or children immigrating with
your relative and listed on the petition. You do not need to photocopy
the accompanying documentation for these family members.
Other types of aliens, including parolees, students, and diversity
immigrants are not sponsored using Form I-864. A
different affidavit of support (USCIS Form
I-134) is used for these aliens if an immigration or
consular officer requires it.
When do I file a Form I-864 if my fiancé(e), spouse, or child is a “K” nonimmigrant?
If your relative is either a “K-1” fiancé(e), a “K-3” spouse, or a “K-2” or “K-4” child of fiancé(e) or spouse, you do not need to submit a Form I-864 at the time you file your Form I-129F petition. Instead, you should submit a Form I-864 at the time that your fiancé(e), spouse, or child adjusts status to permanent resident after coming to the United States.
Are there any exceptions to the sponsorship requirements?
There is no need to submit a Form I-864 if the intending immigrant can show EITHER that the intending immigrant has already worked, or can be credited with, 40 qualifying quarters as defined in title II of the Social Security Act OR that the intending immigrant is the child of a citizen and that the intending immigrant, if admitted for permanent residence on or after February 27, 2001, would automatically acquire citizenship under § 320 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by the Child Citizenship Act of 2000. For more specific information about these exceptions, please see the May 2001 section of the “New USCIS Policy and Procedural Memoranda”.
It is important to note that, in calculating the qualifying quarters that may be credited to an intending immigrant, the intending immigrant may not count any qualifying quarters worked during any period after December 31, 1996, in which the person who claims to have worked the qualifying quarters received a Federal means-tested public benefit.
Where Can I Find the Law?
The Immigration and Nationality Act is a law that governs
the admission of all immigrants to the United States. For the
part of the law concerning affidavits of support, please see INA
§ 212(a)(4) and
213A. The provisions are codified in Title 8, United States Code, as sections 1182(a)(4) and 1183a. The specific requirements
for affidavits of support can be found in Title 8 of the Code
of Federal Regulations (CFR) at
8
CFR part 213a.
Who is Required to Be a Sponsor?
If you filed an immigrant visa petition for your relative, you must be the sponsor. You must also be at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen or a lawful permanent resident.
You must have a domicile in the United States or a territory
or possession of the United States. Usually, this requirement
means you must actually live in the United States, or a territory
or possession, in order to be a sponsor. If you live abroad, you
may still be eligible to be a sponsor if you can show that your
residence abroad is temporary, so that you still have your domicile
in the United States.
Can anyone else be a sponsor?
INA section 213A permits both a "joint sponsor" and a "substitute sponsor" in certain cases.
Who can be a joint sponsor, and when is a joint sponsor allowed?
If the visa petitioner's household income is not sufficient to meet the requirements of INA section 213A and 8 C.F.R. § 213a, INA section 213A permits a joint sponsor to sign an affidavit of support, in addition to the affidavit of support signed by the visa petitioner. A joint sponsor is someone who is willing to accept legal responsibility for supporting your family member with you. A joint sponsor must meet all the same requirements as you, except the joint sponsor does not need to be related to the immigrant. The joint sponsor (or the joint sponsor and his or her household) must reach the 125 percent income requirement alone. You cannot combine your income with that of a joint sponsor to meet the income requirement.
How can I reinstate a visa petition that was revoked by the death of the original petitioner?
Typically, when the visa petitioner dies, the approved I-130 originally filed by the visa petitioner is automatically revoked. However, following the passage of the Family Sponsor Immigration Act, P.L. 107-150, beneficiaries of these petitions may file for reinstatement so long as they can provide an I-864 Affidavit of Support filed by a “substitute sponsor”.
In order to seek reinstatement of the visa petition, you must submit a statement to the USCIS office where the original visa petition was filed formally requesting reinstatement of the visa petition. The statement should list reasons why your case warrants reinstatement, such as your ties to the United States, or hardship that would occur to you if the request for reinstatement were not granted.
You must also include with your reinstatement request a Form I-864 Affidavit of Support completed by a “substitute sponsor”. A substitute sponsor must be a citizen or national, or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, at least 18 years of age, and resident in the United States. A substitute sponsor must also be related to you as one of the following: spouse, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, sibling, child (if at least 18 years of age), son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, grandparent, or grandchild. This substitute sponsor is filing the I-864 in place of the deceased petitioner, and must meet all of the financial requirements of a sponsor pursuant to INA 213A.
With your reinstatement request you must provide documentary evidence of the death of the original petitioner, plus documentation of the relationship between you and the substitute sponsor. Finally, include a copy of your approved I-130, if available.
What is a “substitute sponsor” and how can I be one?
A substitute sponsor is a sponsor who files an I-864 Affidavit of Support in place of a visa petitioner who has died. In order to be a “substitute sponsor,” you must be related to the intending immigrant in one of the following ways: spouse, parent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, sibling, child (if at least 18 years of age), son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, grandparent, or grandchild. You must also be a U.S. citizen or national or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence, be at least 18 years of age, domiciled in the United States, and meet all of the financial requirements of a sponsor pursuant to INA 213A.
Should the request for reinstatement be approved, and the intending immigrant ultimately obtains permanent residence in the United States, you will assume all of the obligations of a I-864 sponsor.
In order to be a “substitute sponsor,” complete Form I-864 and submit it to the USCIS office where the revoked visa petition (Form I-130) was originally filed, along with a statement from the intending immigrant formally requesting reinstatement (See “How can I reinstate a visa petition that was revoked by the death of the original petitioner?”) and evidence that you are related to the intending immigrant in one of the ways listed above.
How Do I File an Affidavit of Support?
You should complete an I-864 Affidavit of Support when your relative
has been scheduled for an immigrant visa interview with a consular
officer overseas or when your relative is about to submit an
application for adjustment to permanent resident status with the USCIS or
with an Immigration Court in the United States. If you have a joint
sponsor, the joint sponsor must also complete USCIS Form I-864 at this
time. If you are using the income of other household members to
qualify, then each household member who is accepting legal
responsibility for supporting your relative must complete a separate
USCIS Form I-864A, Contract Between Sponsor and Household Member.
The USCIS Forms I-864 and I-864A include instructions and a checklist
for the supporting documents that you must include with the
affidavit of support. It is important that you read the instructions
carefully and submit all required documentation. Forms are available
by download, by submitting a request through our forms by mail
system, or by calling 1-800-870-3676.
You are required to provide U.S. Federal income tax returns for the
3 most recent tax years as well as proof of current employment. If
you were not required to file a tax return in any of these years you
must provide an explanation. Failure to provide the tax returns
or evidence establishing that you were not required to file will delay action on your relative's application for permanent residence and, if not provided, will result in denial of an immigrant visa or adjustment of status.
When you have completed the affidavit of support, compiled the
necessary documentation, and had the affidavit notarized in the
United States or before a U.S. consular or immigration officer, you
should provide this packet of information to your relative to submit
with his or her application for permanent resident status. If you
are given specific instructions to file your affidavit of support
directly with the National Visa Center, you should follow those
instructions.
What are the income requirements for an Affidavit of Support?
You also must meet certain income requirements (whether you are a sponsor, a joint sponsor, or a substitute sponsor). You must show
that your household income is equal to or higher than 125 percent
of the U.S. poverty level for your household size (See table below.)
Your household size includes you, your dependents, any relatives
living with you, and the immigrants you are sponsoring. For example,
if you have a spouse and two children and you want to sponsor
your brother and his wife, you must prove that your household
income is equal to or higher than 125 percent of the U.S. poverty
level for a family of six, or $31,512, from the table below. You
must also include in your household size any immigrants you have
previously sponsored under this part of the law. In the above
example, if you had previously sponsored your parents and your
sister, your household size would be nine persons and you would
need a household income of $43,387 ($39,462 + $3,925).
If you, the sponsor, are on active duty in the Armed Forces of
the United States, and the immigrant you are sponsoring
is your spouse or child, your income only needs to equal 100 percent
of the U.S. poverty level for your family size.
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