Mother Furious!

[justashooter 430]

The worst case scenario is that the pair divorce and the alien stops working. He's within his right to do that. If he does that, then the sponsor is responsible for providing support at 125% of the poverty guidelines until one of the terminating conditions occur. And note that, barring murder or suicide, NONE of the terminating conditions are under the sponsor's control -- it's all up to the alien. This could become a lifetime financial obligation.

this is not true in a general sense, and i wish people would stop posting it. what you are suggesting is that a sponsor of an immigrant automatically steps into a time machine upon divorce and is thrown back into the days of alimony. such support is not often awarded these days except in a few states and in case of long standing marriages in which one party sacrifices opportunity in the interest of the marriage and is in need of compensation for such sacrifice.

you are making it sound like any immigrant can pull this scam the day after they get married. it just ain't so, joe. the cases you cite are extremely limited in application.

the only thing worse than no knowledge, is a little knowledge.

Edited March 5, 2010 by justashooter

[Christi and Ian 24]

Mother Furious!

Daughter will soon marry allege boyfriend who talked her into marriage so he can stay in U.S. His student visa will soon expire. This is not true and sincere relationship. Both of legal age she 21 he's 26. What can mother do? Report to USCIS?

I'm curious - how does mom know it's not a true and sincere relationship?

[lucyrich 20]

this is not true in a general sense, and i wish people would stop posting it. what you are suggesting is that a sponsor of an immigrant automatically steps into a time machine upon divorce and is thrown back into the days of alimony. such support is not often awarded these days except in a few states and in case of long standing marriages in which one party sacrifices opportunity in the interest of the marriage and is in need of compensation for such sacrifice.

you are making it sound like any immigrant can pull this scam the day after they get married. it just ain't so, joe. the cases you cite are extremely limited in application.

the only thing worse than no knowledge, is a little knowledge.

No, I said nothing about alimony, and state divorce law has nothing to do with it.

I'm just suggesting the affidavit of support is an enforceable contract, and means what it says, as is stated on the I-864, as stated in INA 213A, and as has been demonstrated in case law.

If you actually read the I-864, in Part 8, just above the Sponsor's signature, it says (slightly edited):

What does signing the Form I-864 require me to do?

If an intending immigrant becomes a permanent resident in the United States based on a Form I-864 that you have signed, then, until your obligations under the Form I-864 terminate, you must provide the intending immigrant any support necessary to maintain him or her at an income that is at least 125 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines for his or her household size.

What If I Do Not Fulfill My Obligations?

If you do not provide sufficient support to the person who becomes a permanent resident based on the Form I-864 that you signed, that person may sue you for this support.

When Will These Obligations End?

Your obligations under a Form I-864 will end if the person who becomes a permanent resident based on a Form I-864 that you signed:

* Becomes a U.S. citizen;

* Has worked, or can be credited with, 40 quarters of coverage under the Social Security Act;

* No longer has lawful permanent resident status, and has departed the United States;

* Becomes subject to removal, but applies for and obtains in removal proceedings a new grant of adjustment of status, based on a new affidavit of support, if one is required; or

* Dies.

Note that divorce does not terminate your obligations under this Form I-864.

Also, if you look at the lawyer's articles that I linked to above, you will see that this has held up in federal court, and sponsors have been required to provide support to the aliens which they sponsored. In all the cases I've heard of the support was granted completely separate from divorce court or alimony.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

No, I said nothing about alimony, and state divorce law has nothing to do with it.

I'm just suggesting the affidavit of support is an enforceable contract, and means what it says, as is stated on the I-864, as stated in INA 213A, and as has been demonstrated in case law.

If you actually read the I-864, in Part 8, just above the Sponsor's signature, it says (slightly edited):

Also, if you look at the lawyer's articles that I linked to above, you will see that this has held up in federal court, and sponsors have been required to provide support to the aliens which they sponsored. In all the cases I've heard of the support was granted completely separate from divorce court or alimony.

This is true when the affidavit is used in a civil suit. I remember reading several cases many months ago, and I recall one case where the affidavit was used in a divorce proceeding, and the judge based the spousal support on the amount specified in the affidavit.

I also recall reading a few cases where civil suits based on the affidavit failed. The reason cited in at least one of those cases was that the beneficiary was not a party to the contract, and therefore had no right to sue. Essentially, the judge was saying that the US government would have to sue on behalf of the beneficiary. Perhaps it depends on the state where the suit is filed.

Anyway, I think justashooter's point was that collecting on the 'promise' in the affidavit is not very common, and is not automatic. The beneficiary would have to be living below the poverty line already AND be willing and able to sue to the sponsor. They'd probably also need to find an attorney willing to take the case for their share of the relatively small payout. 125% of the poverty guidelines for one person is about $13,500 per year. Even if the attorney were allowed to keep all of that (and he wouldn't be allowed to), that's about two weeks worth of the attorney's time.

[TracyTN 237]

The mother is so furious she couldn't be bothered to come back to the thread and read/respond.

Yeah ok.

[martindart 0]

The mother is so furious she couldn't be bothered to come back to the thread and read/respond.

Yeah ok.

Now don’t get your panties all bunched up… I appreciate all in information but I wanted to wait and read all responses which did generate wide discussions on this matter. Now, I am writing for a friend who tells me her daughter boyfriend told her (Mom) that he had no interest in living with the daughter but wanted to marry her daughter... what would you conclude?

Thanks for all replies.

[TracyTN 237]

Now, I didn't have them in a wad. I just assumed you were a troll (which happens around here more than you'd think).

Now, I'd probably conclude the same thing as you.