The I-864, is there any escaping it?

[Kathryn41 3,205]

One post has been edited to remove personal email address.

Please remember that anyone can read Visa Journey whether they are a member or not; you only have to be a member to post. Posting a personal email address is never a good idea as anyone can read it and spam your address. Please use the PM (personal/private message) function on VJ to share any personally sensitive information. Thanks!

VJ Moderation

Edited July 7, 2014 by Kathryn41

[bronco37 16]

I-864 is a messed up, ill-drafted, contract document that was created with the intention of getting the immigrant upto speed to take care of him/herself as soon as possible without costing the taxpayers.

By contract law, both sides need to show evidence to mitigate damage prior to enforcing this affidavit. In addition, every contract has to have a finite duration. It can't be said "till death do them apart". I do not believe drafters of this document ever thought of having this document enforced in a court of law by anyone other than federal govt. Now, many immigrants going Pro Se and trying to move courts to enforce this document.

https://www.floridabar.org/divcom/jn/jnjournal01.nsf/c0d731e03de9828d852574580042ae7a/2cbe6a52e76636f28525763b00661a63!OpenDocument&Highlight=0,*

The problem is in the interpretation of this very borad and vague document. This also makes enforcement a nightmare and, of course, opens up possibilities of counter-litigations.

Per Travel.gov: http://travel.state.gov/content/visas/english/immigrate/immigrant-process/documents/support/i-864-frequently-asked-questions.html

Federal means tested public benefits are the following:

• Food stamps
• Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
• Medicaid
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
• State Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

The following types of assistance are not considered means tested public benefits and do not have to be repaid.

• Emergency Medicaid
• School lunches
• Immunizations and treatment for communicable diseases
• Student assistance to attend colleges and institutions of higher learning
• Some kinds of foster care or adoption assistance
• Job training programs
• Head start
• Short-term, non-cash emergency relief

If you go thru the list and realy think this thru, there is almost no way an immigrant can apply for and receive any means tested benefits today without becoming a citizen (or being an LPR for 5 years) in most states.

I believe personal lawsuits between the sponsor and petitioner can be limited by signing a post-sponsor agreement where the immigrant waives the right to sue the sponsor to enforce affidavit of support. It is not illegal simplay because the immigrant is saying, in other words, "Hey, I will take care of myself in pursuit of my Happiness." As long as that agreement is legally binding, you can't get into pro se nonsense of I-864 debacle.

But, for other institutions suing you to recover money for the expenses it incurred for the immigrant, it is possible. However, it is unlikely as it makes zero sense to do so. Think about a situation where the immigrant covered by I-864 got sick and went to a hospital that receives medicare funds..the immigrant will receive the needed medical help regardless of financial arrangement. The hospital will ask the immigrant to apply for emergency medicaid. And that's something the immigrant must do. The medicaid will pay for whatever was reasonable. Till that decision is made, its satus quo. Once that decision is made, the hospital in most cases will not receive all that it asked for, thanks to our healthcare system. It can then ask for the rest from the immigrant. Now, riddle me this, something that the institution could not get from the govt., how will the institution be able to get from the immigrant/sponsor thru any legal means? All those services would be labled unncessary or non-essential and hence, they were not paid by the govt. How will it be possible to recoup the money for those unnecesasry and non-essential services from another individual entity? It's practically impossible. Litigation costs will be a lot more than the money to be recovered in most cases. That said, it is really time that DHS reviews this particular document for its applicability. I believe USCIS/FDNS receives many "my spouse scammed me for GC" complaints simply because of this document which otherwise, would have been simply "my spouse is a jerk".

It's appalling how outdated this document actually is.