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 (which means that you filed or are filing a Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative or Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as Immediate Relative). For more information on bringing relatives to the United States, please see:

• Marriage
• BringingMy Children to Live in the U.S.
• BringingMy Parents to Live in the U.S.
• Bringing My Brother or Sister to Live in the U.S.

An affidavit of support, 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:

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 (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 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has approved as self-petitioning widows or widowers or battered spouses and children are exempt from this requirement. (These individuals file an 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 (Form I-134) is used for these aliens if an immigration or consular officer requires it.

Am I Eligible to Sponsor a Relative?

To be a sponsor of an immigrant relative, you must be at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen or a legal 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.

• If you are a US Citizen you may petition for the following foreign national relatives to immigrate to the United States; however you must be able to provide proof of the relationships:

• Husband or wife;
• Unmarried child under 21 years old;
• Unmarried son or daughter over 21;
• Married son or daughter of any age;
• Brother or sister, if you are at least 21 years old; or
• Parent, if you are at least 21 years old

• If you are a lawful permanent resident you may petition for the following foreign national relatives to immigrate to the United States; however you must be able to provide proof of the relationships:

• Husband or wife; or
• Unmarried son or daughter of any age

You also must meet certain income requirements. 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 the 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% of the U.S. poverty level for a family of six, or $27,925, 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 $38,500 ($34,975 + $3,525).

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.

1999 Poverty Guidelines for the 48 Contiguous States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam:

1999 Poverty Guidelines for Alaska

1999 Poverty Guidelines for Hawaii

If you cannot meet the minimum income requirements using your earned income, you have various options:

• You may add the cash value of your assets such as money in savings accounts, stocks, bonds, and property. You may not include the value of your primary residence. To determine the amount of assets required to qualify, subtract your household income from the minimum income requirement (125 percent of the poverty level for your family size). You must prove the cash value of your assets is worth five times this difference (the amount left over).
  
  Example for a household size of 4:

• You may count the income and assets of members of your household who are related to you by birth, marriage, or adoption. To use their income you must have listed them as dependents on your most recent federal tax return or they must have lived with you for the last 6 months. They must also complete a Form I-864A, Contract between Sponsor and Household Member. If the relative you are sponsoring meets these criteria you may include the value of their income and assets, but the immigrant does not need to complete Form I-864A unless he or she has accompanying family members.

• You may count the assets of the relatives you are sponsoring.

• You may have a joint sponsor. 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 Do I File?

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 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 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. 

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 either tax returns or a satisfactory explanation 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 My Responsibilities as a Sponsor?

When you sign the Affidavit of Support, you accept legal responsibility for financially supporting the sponsored immigrant(s) until they become U.S. citizens or can be credited with 40 quarters of work. Any joint sponsors or household members whose income is used to meet the minimum income requirements are also legally responsible for financially supporting the sponsored immigrant. If the immigrant receives any "means-tested public benefits," you are responsible for repaying the cost of those benefits to the agency that provided them. If you do not repay the debt, the agency can sue you in court to get the money owed. When in doubt, ask the benefit provider whether the benefit is a "means-tested public benefit."

Currently, Federal means-tested public benefits include Food Stamps, Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and the State Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP). States and local jurisdictions may also designate certain of their programs as means-tested public benefits.

The following types of programs are not counted as means-tested public benefits: emergency Medicaid; short-term, non-cash emergency relief; services provided under the National School Lunch and Child Nutrition Acts; immunizations and testing and treatment for communicable diseases; student assistance under the Higher Education Act and the Public Health Service Act; certain forms of foster-care or adoption assistance under the Social Security Act; Head Start programs; means-tested programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; and Job Training Partnership Act programs.

What If My Address Changes?

If you change your address after you become a sponsor, you are required by law to notify the USCIS within 30 days by filing USCIS Form I-865, Sponsor's Notice of Change of Address. If you fail to notify USCIS of your change of address, you may be fined.

Help!

• For assistance outside of the U.S., contact the nearestU.S. Consulate. 

• For inquiries on visa cases in progress overseas, contact the appropriate U.S.Embassy or Consulate handling your case.

• For assistance within the U.S., contact your nearest USCIS District Office or Sub Office or call the national USCIS toll-free information service at 1-800-375-5283.

• You may also want to seek the advice of an immigration attorney, or an immigrant assistance organization accredited by the Board of Immigration Appeals.