Affidavit of Support

[Brandon&Re 1]

Hey VJers,

I thought there was a forum for Affidavit of Support questions but I couldn't find it, anywho, I have 2 people that said they would be willing to sponsor, both are just barely over the 125% poverty line can I add both of them to the I-864 for added security? Also one of them filed for bankruptcy in the past but it has been cleared up will that effect anything? One last question, how far over the poverty line do you have to be, my friend made just a couple hundred over the 2 person 125% line will that still be okay and it was only this past year, how many past tax returns do they usually require?

Thanks,

Brandon & Renata

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

Hey VJers,

I thought there was a forum for Affidavit of Support questions but I couldn't find it, anywho, I have 2 people that said they would be willing to sponsor, both are just barely over the 125% poverty line can I add both of them to the I-864 for added security? Also one of them filed for bankruptcy in the past but it has been cleared up will that effect anything? One last question, how far over the poverty line do you have to be, my friend made just a couple hundred over the 2 person 125% line will that still be okay and it was only this past year, how many past tax returns do they usually require?

Thanks,

Brandon & Renata

There are only two cases where more than one joint sponsor is allowed. If the joint sponsors live with each other as qualifying household members, or one is a dependent of the other for tax purposes, then the sponsor can sign an I-864 and the household member or dependent can sign an I-864A to combine their income with the sponsor. The second case is if there are multiple immigrants being sponsored, in which case two joint sponsors can be used and they can split the immigrants between them, one joint sponsor sponsoring some of the immigrants and the other sponsoring the rest.

If neither of the above scenarios apply then you have to pick only one joint sponsor.

The law requires three tax returns or transcripts with an I-864 (INA section 213A), but the law also gives DHS or DoS the discretion to accept only one. As a matter of policy, both DHS and DoS will usually accept only one tax return or transcript if it shows clearly sufficient income, and income for previous years indicate a good likelihood that their income will continue to be sufficient. A bankruptcy is usually not a problem, as long as they don't also have a tax lien. A sponsor who is very close to the threshold, and who did not meet the threshold in previous years, might not convince the CO that they will capable of meeting the "public charge" requirement. They will consider the likelihood that the sponsor's income will continue to qualify for the foreseeable future.

[Brandon&Re 1]

There are only two cases where more than one joint sponsor is allowed. If the joint sponsors live with each other as qualifying household members, or one is a dependent of the other for tax purposes, then the sponsor can sign an I-864 and the household member or dependent can sign an I-864A to combine their income with the sponsor. The second case is if there are multiple immigrants being sponsored, in which case two joint sponsors can be used and they can split the immigrants between them, one joint sponsor sponsoring some of the immigrants and the other sponsoring the rest.

If neither of the above scenarios apply then you have to pick only one joint sponsor.

The law requires three tax returns or transcripts with an I-864 (INA section 213A), but the law also gives DHS or DoS the discretion to accept only one. As a matter of policy, both DHS and DoS will usually accept only one tax return or transcript if it shows clearly sufficient income, and income for previous years indicate a good likelihood that their income will continue to be sufficient. A bankruptcy is usually not a problem, as long as they don't also have a tax lien. A sponsor who is very close to the threshold, and who did not meet the threshold in previous years, might not convince the CO that they will capable of meeting the "public charge" requirement. They will consider the likelihood that the sponsor's income will continue to qualify for the foreseeable future.

Thank you very much for all of the information, it's very helpful!