Family Based Affidavits of Support (form I-864)

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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.)

You must complete and submit an affidavit of support, CIS Form I-864, if you are bringing a relative to the United States. (This means that you filed or are filing an CIS Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative or CIS Form I-600, Petition to Classify Orphan as Immediate Relative.). An affidavit of support, CIS 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 legal permanent residents and the unmarried sons and daughters (regardless of age) of legal 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 (CIS 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 CIS has approved as self-petitioning widows or widowers or battered spouses and children are exempt from this requirement. (These individuals file an CIS Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er) or Special Immigrant.). Relatives who enter as refugees or asylees also do not require affidavits of support.

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 (CIS Form I-134) is used for these aliens if an immigration or consular officer requires it.

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 specific requirements for affidavits of support can be found in Title 8 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 8 CFR § 213a.

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.

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 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 $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.

To view the most current poverty level guidelines, please click here.