Financial Support

[fruto123 0]

Hi All,

What does the immigration law say about financial support for your fiancee? Let's say if we are married and separated after one year or two years or whenever, do I still need to suport her indefinitely after the separation?

Thank you.

[Alex+R 0]

Divorce or separation don't release you from the affidavit of support. Some other stuff does though. Like if she becomes a citizen. Or you die.

[YuAndDan 153]

The Court in Cheshire v. Cheshire analyzed, after reviewing Section 213A, that the sponsor’s obligation to support the sponsored immigrant under the Affidavit of Support only terminated upon the occurrence of one of the five circumstances:

1) the sponsor’s death,

2) the sponsored immigrant’s death,

3) the sponsored immigrant becoming a US citizen,

4) the sponsored immigrant permanently departing the US, or

5) the sponsored immigrant being credited with a total of 40 qualifying quarters of work.

Number 5 is the most damning, 40 qualifying quarters of work means the immigrant needs to work at least 10 years. Here is the catch, what if the immigrant chooses not to work, in the case the immigrant remarries and chooses to stay ate home?

The best bet is to have a happy marriage, and get the immigrant naturalized ASAP.

[garya505 2]

The Court in Cheshire v. Cheshire analyzed, after reviewing Section 213A, that the sponsor’s obligation to support the sponsored immigrant under the Affidavit of Support only terminated upon the occurrence of one of the five circumstances:

1) the sponsor’s death,

2) the sponsored immigrant’s death,

3) the sponsored immigrant becoming a US citizen,

4) the sponsored immigrant permanently departing the US, or

5) the sponsored immigrant being credited with a total of 40 qualifying quarters of work.

Number 5 is the most damning, 40 qualifying quarters of work means the immigrant needs to work at least 10 years. Here is the catch, what if the immigrant chooses not to work, in the case the immigrant remarries and chooses to stay ate home?

The best bet is to have a happy marriage, and get the immigrant naturalized ASAP.

So if you get divorced and he/she remarries, you still have to support him/her? Yikes!

[Anastassia 0]

Hhhhhmmmm I would think that if they re-marry sponsor obligation is over no ?

I just love this country. Who said it was a free country ?

If USC wants to marry a druggie from the neighbourhood they can go right ahead. But if USC wants to marry a foreigner he/she needs to take so much ####### it's not even funny. I would call it discrimination.

When I came here I could not work for 6 months, but refugees who are brought here can work from day 1 and get food stamps and Medicaid from the taxes USC's pay.

Does it make sense ?

It doesn't to me.

[PurrSuede 0]

Here is the catch, what if the immigrant chooses not to work, in the case the immigrant remarries and chooses to stay ate home?

The best bet is to have a happy marriage, and get the immigrant naturalized ASAP.

So if you get divorced and he/she remarries, you still have to support him/her? Yikes!

first of all, that's never been tested, legally, where someone remarried but sued for support from the previous spouse under the I-864.

Secondly, I have a feeling the court would likely consider the income of the second-spouse in any support decision. Though I am not a lawyer and didn't sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

I am sure a good lawyer, however, would look at the fact the immigrant is re-married and suing the previous spouse for support and have a field-day with it.

So before we go and say "still has to support them", let's remember this from the Wheeler memo on ILW:

source: http://www.ilw.com/articles/2006,0110-wheeler.shtm

At the same time, it is important to provide a realistic assessment of the probability of actions to enforce the affidavit of support. The author is not aware of any successful actions to obtain reimbursement for means-tested benefit programs obtained by the alien, largely due to the following: (1) sponsored aliens are barred from receiving these benefits for a five-year period in most jurisdictions; (2) after this five-year period, the income of the sponsor is deemed to the alien in determining financial eligibility; and (3) most states have not implemented a system for seeking such reimbursement in cases where the alien does access benefits. Over the course of the last nine years, only a handful of actions have been brought against sponsors by the sponsored alien, and all have been by disgruntled spouses.

My immigration attorney told me that in all his years of practice he had NEVER seen the I-864 used against the sponsor for means-tested benefits.

And in all the cases where it has been used for "support" by the immigrant spouse, it appears to have ONLY been used in divorce cases where they received NO support from their divorce and were not making sufficient money to be over the 125% poverty level.

Also in those cases (a handful in NINE years) the income of the immigrant was used to offset any support ordered awarded by the court against the obligations of the I-864.

It is very very rare that this would happen but of course it is possible. Probability is a different story all together

-- Dan

Edited November 15, 2006 by PurrSuede

[YuAndDan 153]

Hhhhhmmmm I would think that if they re-marry sponsor obligation is over no ?

I just love this country. Who said it was a free country ?

If USC wants to marry a druggie from the neighbourhood they can go right ahead. But if USC wants to marry a foreigner he/she needs to take so much ####### it's not even funny. I would call it discrimination.

When I came here I could not work for 6 months, but refugees who are brought here can work from day 1 and get food stamps and Medicaid from the taxes USC's pay.

Does it make sense ?

It doesn't to me.

Remarrying is not one of the 5 outs determined by the court, take out an I-864 for an look carefully at the instructions included with this form.

In page 3 note what it states:

How Long Does My Obligation

as a Sponsor Continue?

Your obligation to support the immigrant(s) you are

sponsoring in this affidavit of support will continue until the

sponsored immigrant becomes a U.S. citizen, or can be

credited with 40 qualifying quarters of work in the United

States.

Although 40 qualifying quarters of work (credits) generally

equate to ten years of work, in certain cases the work of a

spouse or parent adds qualifying quarters. The Social Security

Administration can provide information on how to count

qualifying quarters (credits) of work.

The obligation also ends if you or the sponsored immigrant

dies or if the sponsored immigrant ceases to be a lawful

permanent resident and departs the United States. Divorce

does not end the sponsorship obligation.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-864.pdf

I wonder how many sign this form not knowing what they are signing, especially the co-sponsors?

When entering into a relationship, and signing this form the sponsors had better realy know the person that they are sponsoring.

Edited November 15, 2006 by YuAndDan

[fruto123 0]

Thanks all. You answer my question.

[Yodrak 7]

fruto,

To sum up, your obligation remains but the amount that you might be obligated for will depend on circumstances that may have to be sorted out in a court of law. You, not the US government, remain her 'safety net' after the marriage ends until such time as she qualifies to move over to the government's 'safety net'.

Yodrak

Hi All,

What does the immigration law say about financial support for your fiancee? Let's say if we are married and separated after one year or two years or whenever, do I still need to suport her indefinitely after the separation?

Thank you.

[BJZags 17]

What does the immigration law say about financial support for your fiancee? Let's say if we are married and separated after one year or two years or whenever, do I still need to suport her indefinitely after the separation?

Of course, in your scenario it appears that she is still a fiancee, and not your wife. So you have not adusted under I-485. The legal obligations imposed by the I-134 affidavit of support signed while she is a fiancee are dubious at best.