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Hi everyone, So, I'm currently employed, but will be moving to China in March to be there through the rest of the K-1 process (We submitted 7/29/17, NOA1 8/1/17). So, I won't have income once the interview finally rolls around (fingers crossed it's in May!). Since I won't have income, I will be asking my father to be a cosponsor. For the past year, he has been working on starting a new company. I believe he has been receiving a salary since June 2017. Is this long enough? Is there a requirement for a length of time he needs to have been working? In the past 3 years, he has changed jobs twice and there may have been a gap in income. Will this be a problem? If any of this is dicey, is it acceptable to have to cosponsors? We have a mutual friend who would happily be a cosponsor if needed. As always, thanks for the help! Everyone has been so nice and helpful!

Hi everyone, I'm petitioning my husband for a spousal greencard and I was wondering if I could include my husband in my household income on form i864, and whether he would have to file form i864 a if I did that. My income alone isn't above the poverty threshold but our combined incomes are. I am planning to use a joint sponsor as well but thought it would make sense to include my husband's income since he is officially part of my household. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! Allie

Dear Mam or Sir, I will be taking my wife and step-daughter to Guangzhou next week for their immigration interview. I have searched for a specific answer to the following question but can't find it. My confusion is this: I filed two separate petitions, one for my wife and one for my 15 years old step-daughter. I am now currently filling out two separate I-864 forms. Since I am using my wife and my assets, should my wife fill out a form I-864A? One of her U.S. based accounts are exclusively in her name. I want to use our assets on the I-864 since I have no U.S. based income. I might have a sponsor lined up but want to try to avoid it if possible. Also, I am wondering how much a job offer really helps. I am in China and am luck enough to have received an offer in the United States. Thank you so much for all of your help on this site. I have been reading this information for almost 2 years and am grateful!

Howdy, My father is joint-sponsoring my spouse. As such, I had my mother fill out an I-864A because she lives in the same household as my father and they file taxes jointly. (She doesn't have an income). Now, who signs the "sponsor's promise" part of my mother's I-864A? Would that be me or my father? I'm guessing it's my father, right? Also, what's the document intake process? Document intake takes place on the day of and immediately before the interview, right? Best, J

Hey all, I'm preparing form I-864 for myself and my co-sponsor and I'm confused on mine. I've been working in China for the past two tax years and all of my income was excluded using the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. My tax for 1040 shows 0 on line 22 (total income), my tax transcripts also show 0 under the TOTAL INCOME line item. Am I gonna report 0 for my income on the I-864 or just my gross income without taking into consideration the FEIE? Oi vey... Best, J

Hey all, My honey and I are preparing for the interview and are waiting until the new I-864 edition comes out. According to http://www.uscis.gov/i-864, the current edition expires at the end of this month and it seems that versions previous to the current edition are not accepted. I just thought I'd make everybody at the same stage in the game as I aware of this. Peace, J

I got a letter from NVC. It says: [x] Item 19. Your ____________ income must match the total (gross) income reported on your ___________________________________ Federal income tax returns. If you filed Form 1040EZ, use the adjusted gross income instead I filled out that section with my gross income based on my W2. because I thought it's 1-864EZ form means I'm the only one sponsor. In 1040EZ , it's My husband's and my income together, we file joint tax return every year. Should I fill it out with the adjusted gross income of both of us ?

Hello, Both my mother and brother will be joint sponsor's for my wife. In his I-864 he only sent me his 2013 1040 tax returns. It says on the I-864 that 3-years is optional. Is that necessary to have 3 years worth of 1040 tax returns? Thank you for your responses. Best regards, Julian

My wife had the interview today and did great. She said she was one of the only few speaking English the entire interview. So proud of her! Even though my fathers income as reported on his I-864 exceeds their standards, they requested an I-864a from my mother. Few questions: First, I planned on submitting her passport with the documents. Confirming this is the correct course of action. Second, my fathers I-864 would technically be incorrect since we did not include my mothers income. Should I worry about this or assume they can do the math? Third: how much time does this usually take? Thanks

Howdy, Please note, I am doing DCF in Guangzhou. I feel bad posting a thread every day, but I honestly don't know what to do when my searched turn up nothing or conflicting answers for some specific questions. But please know that I've been researching these questions for over a day and am still coming up short on answers. They're pretty brief questions, so here it goes: The Guangzhou Consulate website says to also bring the beneficiary's passport when filing the I-130, or if you don't have it you should bring the birth certificate. Is this true in practice? By beneficiary doesn't have a passport yet, but will have one before the interview... My father will need to cosponsor the beneficiary. I have a few questions regarding this:My father also lives with my mother in the household, but my mother doesn't provide any income. Is it necessary for my mother to fill out an I-864A?It's okay to have a co-sponsor when filing DCF, right?My father isn't going to be asked to be present at the time of filing nor interviewed, right?The household size would be 4 on both my father's and I's I-864, right? We intend to live in my parent's home (my father, mother, myself, my wife).I'm concerned that my girlfriend's hukou city (Changyuan, Henan which is near Xinxiang and I guess technically "belongs" to Xinxiang) isn't going to have a clue with regards to translating the necessary documents. I've read that the translations need to be done at, at least, a city-level notary. Changyuan is like a county. We are going to need to go to the designated notary in Zhengzhou to get our marriage certificate(s) translated, could this office also translate the rest of the documents we get from her Hukou city?I've heard from some Chinese friends that they received two marriage booklets and that is their marriage license. Exactly, what document(s) is/are received after registration of the marriage?Finally, I've read the filing guide on the Guangzhou embassy website and also the FAQ that states: I've read a bunch of reports of people's experiences submitting their I-130 petition and they included a bunch of evidence with it. So, in practice, is it necessary and/or helpful to submit as much evidence as you can at the time of petition filing? Thanks a ton, guys... All the best, Jake

My mother is our co-sponsor and has completed the i-864 form and provided her tax transcripts for 2013 as well as proof of income and birth certificate. My parents are both retired, married/live together, and file their taxes jointly and I'm wondering whether I need to supply an i-864A for my father. If so, does he need to provide the same documentation as my mom? (tax transcripts would be the same, but birth cert and income proof?) Their income far exceeds the poverty line due to pensions and social security.

Sorry for all these questions...about everything. I'm needing to fill out the I-864 for the visa process for my wife's daughter. My wife is the petitioner (she sent in the I-130 for her daughter), I'm going to be the sponsor. Do I just fill out the regular I-864 or ? It gives these options.... You can use the I-864EZ if all three of the following are true: You filed a Form I-130 petition, for your relative (I didn't file the 130. My wife did.)There is only one applicant on the Form I-130 petition, and (There is only one applicant on the 130, her daughter)All your qualifying income comes from a salary or pension and shows on one or more W-2 Forms that you receive (All the qualifying income does come from my salary and shows on my tax returns I'll be sending in.)Then it gives this.... If none of the above apply (but some of them do apply) and you can use the regular I-864 So my main question would be is my wife the sponsor and I am a supporting sponsor? Or am I the sponsor as it's 'my' income it will be based off of. And what form do we use????? Sorry. Maybe I have "form overload" and they all scare me!!! Or at least making a mistake on them does. Thanks again!!

I know Randy sort of answered the question before when I asked if we needed to bring all original documents we sent copies of to NVC to GUZ for my wife's daughter's interview, but do we need to supply my birth certificate? Last 3 years of tax returns (which I sent to NVC)? Proof of my employment? Our marriage license from USA? I need to be sure. If they go and don't have something because I said we didn't need it you know who's gonna pay! Thanks!

I'm an American woman married to a Chinese man and we're DCF-ing from Beijing. We've scheduled our interview (hooray!) and are gathering the documents for my husband to bring to his interview. I've been doing some research but am confused about the I-864 because I am seeing different answers. I filled out an I-864 form as the petitioner and primary sponsor for my Chinese husband. However, I don't meet the poverty guidelines, so my mom will be the joint sponsor. I included her in our personal household size (just me, my husband, and my mom) because we will be living with her when we move back to California. I have a driver's license and bank statements to prove that my mom and I reside at the same address. In this situation, where we are from the same household and she is my joint sponsor, does she fill out the I-864A or the I-864? I originally thought that the joint sponsor who's in my household fills out the I-864A to supplement my income, but now I am going over the instructions again and wondering if I misread them. Please clarify!

I'm working on P3, and the i-864 affidavit of support. Since my income is in China, and thus (1) isn't much, and (2) won't continue after we make it to the USA, my mom has agreed to submit an i-864a. My question arises from the fact that her taxes are filed jointly with her husband. The i-864a form asks for "total income" as listed on the 1040 tax return. Since they file jointly, that "total income" line is their joint income. However the form also uses the word "individual" income. I assume that this means income for just the one person (in this case my mom), especially since there is only a place for one person to sign the form at the end. My mom and her husband could both file these i-864a forms if it would help in some way, but my mom's income is enough on its own, and besides even if they both did it, it still wouldn't be clear how to fill out the form, given that it still asks for "individual income" and only has space for one person's information on each form. So I think it makes the most sense to ask only my mom to do an i-864a and only count her income. So my proposed solution to this is to just use the income numbers from my mom's W-2's themselves (and attach the W-2s along with the tax returns). Does this seem right? My concern is that the income numbers on the i-864a don't match the income numbers on the tax returns (since the tax returns include two people's income). Either way they're both above the income requirement (125% of poverty line), so it shouldn't matter, I just don't want to delay the process with improperly filled out forms. Another minor concern is household size. When we arrive in the USA, we will be living with my mother and her husband. We are only using my mom's income for the i-864a, so we only need to count her as a member of the household, but it seems strange to count her and not her husband. On the other hand, the instruction page says you don't need to count parents etc as a household member unless you are using their income to meet the income requirement. So I guess we don't need to include him. Any thoughts?

It would be nice if anyone could post an example form of the I-1864 A. Would anyone happen to have a sample form?

Here are the applicable links for the I-864 changes... and below that are a few observations I thought worth mentioning, although the coverage of the rule changes cover all visa types affected not just family-based ones and the write-up has too much discussion to easily summary... Do not assume that any excerpt shown here fully represents the issue; Read the write-up's applicable sections. All statements below are from the Federal Register text, except for those cases were I formatted the material for readability and added underlines for emphasis. Maybe a glaring omission is the discussion on household income and household members.. but this has been discussed before and will likely continue to as a common and applicable topic. Probably the items to note: - household members who are used as joint sponsors (I-864a) can "pool" their income with the sponsor; they make up the different. This is not the case for joint sponsors (I-864) not listed as household members]. - No more than one joint sponsor is allowed for a sponsored individual; although different sponsors may be applied to different individuals. ------------------------------------------- Federal Register: I-864 (final rule) DOS: Revised Rules for I-864 ------------------------------------------- - Use of I-864EZ A sponsor may use this Form I-864EZ: 1) The sponsor is the Form I-130 visa petitioner 2) and there is no need for a joint sponsor or a Form I-864A) 3) the affidavit of support is filed on behalf of only one intending immigrant; 4) the sponsor is seeking to qualify based on the sponsor's own income alone (not on the basis of assets); 5) and all the sponsor's income is shown on IRS Forms W-2. - I-134 (no changes) The discretion concerning use of Form I-134 has long been quite broad. The sole purpose of 8 CFR 213a.5 is to retain that broad discretion. For this reason, the final rule makes no change to 8 CFR 213a.5. - Discretion can discount the I-864 The interim rule, at 8 CFR 213a.2?2)(v), provided that a Department of State officer, immigration officer, or immigration judge may find an affidavit of support to be insufficient, even if the sponsor's income meets the income threshold, if the officer finds that it is unlikely that the sponsor will be able to maintain that income. It is not enough that the sponsor has sufficient income. Section 213A(f)(1)(E) of the Act clearly specifies that the sponsor must demonstrate that he or she can maintain that income. The final rule does specify, however, that, if the sponsor satisfies all other requirements of section 213A of the Act, a sufficient income will ordinarily make the affidavit of support sufficient, unless, on the basis of the specific facts of a given case, the deciding officer finds that the sponsor has not demonstrated his or her ability to maintain that income over time. In most cases, the affidavit of support will carry the greatest weight. In a particular case, however, there may be specific facts about the intending immigrant's situation, under the factors specified in section 212(a)(4)( B ) of the Act--the alien's age, health, family status, assets, resources and financial status, education and skills--that warrant a finding that the intending immigrant remains inadmissible on public charge grounds, even if the affidavit of support meets the requirements of section 213A of the Act. - Concealment or misrepresentation According to the Supreme Court's decision in Kungys v. United States, 485 U.S. 759 (1988), a concealment or misrepresentation of fact is material if disclosure of the truth would have had a natural tendency to influence an official decision. The critical question is whether the sponsor has, and can maintain, a household income that is at least 125 percent of the Poverty Guidelines for a household of the same size. Certainly, misrepresentations or concealments about household size, income, or employment history would always be material. Whether other concealments or misrepresentations would be material would depend on the facts of particular cases. - Verifying income, employment, assets The Federal Government may pursue verification of any information provided on or with Form I-864, including information on employment, income, or assets, with the employer, financial or other institutions, the Internal Revenue Service, or the Social Security Administration. To facilitate this verification process, the sponsor, joint sponsor, substitute sponsor, or household member must sign and submit any necessary waiver form when directed to do so by the immigration officer, immigration judge, or Department of State officer who has jurisdiction to adjudicate the case to which the Form I-864 or I-864A relates. A sponsor's, substitute sponsor's, joint sponsor's, or household member's failure or refusal to sign any waiver needed to verify the information when directed to do so constitutes a withdrawal of the Form I-864 or I-864A, so that, in adjudicating the intending immigrant's application for an immigrant visa or adjustment of status, the Form I-864 or Form I-864A will be deemed not to have been filed. - When does obligation commence The interim rule did not specify precisely when the obligations under Form I-864 or Form I-864A actually commence. Nevertheless, the final rule clarifies that the mere signing of Form I-864 or Form I-864A does not impose any obligations on the sponsor, joint sponsor, or household member. A sponsor may file a fully sufficient Form I-864, but the intending immigrant may be held to be inadmissible on some other basis. In another case, the intending immigrants included in a Form I-864 or Form I-864A may not all acquire permanent residence on the same day. The final rule clarifies that, for the obligations to arise, the intending immigrant must actually acquire permanent resident status on the basis of the application supported by the Form I-864 or Form I-864A. - Conditions stopping support Obligation Section 213A of the Act specifies the two circumstances that end the support obligation: The sponsored immigrant's (1) naturalization or (2) having acquired 40 quarters of coverage under the Social Security Act. The interim rule added two more: 1) The death of the sponsor or sponsored immigrant or 2) the sponsored immigrant's abandonment of status and permanent departure from the United States. It is not always the case, however, that an alien who abandons permanent residence does so formally, such as by filing a USCIS Form I-407 when departing the United States. In many cases, the issue of abandonment is determined only in a later removal proceeding. The final rule makes clear that a formal adjudication in a removal proceeding that an alien has abandoned permanent resident status will also terminate any remaining obligations under any Form I-864 or I-864A submitted when the person became a permanent resident. Support stops when the sponsored immigrant: 1) becomes a citizen 2) Has worked, or can be credited with, 40 qualifying quarters of coverage 3) Ceases to hold the status of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence and departs the United States 4) Obtains in a removal proceeding a new grant of adjustment of status as relief from removal 5) The sponsor, substitute sponsor or joint sponsor dies. A household member's obligation under Form I-864A terminates when the household member dies. 6) Withdrawal of Form I-864 or Form I-864A. 7) The sponsor, substitute sponsor, joint sponsor, or household member may disavow his or her agreement - Disavowing a I-864 VISA: the sponsor, substitute sponsor, joint sponsor, or household member may disavow his or her agreement to act as sponsor, substitute sponsor, joint sponsor, or household member if he or she does so in writing and submits the document to the Department of State officer before the actual issuance of an immigrant visa to the intending immigrant. Once the intending immigrant has obtained an immigrant visa, a sponsor, substitute sponsor, joint sponsor, or household member cannot disavow his or her agreement to act as a sponsor, joint sponsor, or household member unless the person or entity who filed the visa petition withdraws the visa petition in writing, as specified in 8 CFR 205.1(a)(3)(i)(A) or 8 CFR 205.1(a)(3)(iii)? and also notifies the Department of State officer who issued the visa of the withdrawal of the petition. ADJUSTMENT: In an adjustment of status case, once the sponsor, substitute sponsor, joint sponsor, household member, or intending immigrant has presented a signed Form I-864 or Form I-864A to an immigration officer or immigration judge, the sponsor, substitute sponsor, joint sponsor, or household member may disavow his or her agreement to act as sponsor, substitute sponsor, joint sponsor, or household member only if he or she does so in writing and submits the document to the immigration officer or immigration judge before the decision on the adjustment application. - Joint sponsor deemed not necessary Any person completing and submitting a Form I-864 as a joint sponsor or a Form I-864A as a household member is not bound to any obligations under section 213A of the Act if, notwithstanding his or her signing of a Form I-864 or Form I-864A, the Department of State officer (in deciding an application for an immigrant visa) or the immigration officer or immigration judge (in deciding an application for admission or adjustment of status) includes in the decision a specific finding that the sponsor or substitute sponsor's own household income is sufficient to meet the income requirements under section 213A of the Act. - Domicile: The final rule does provide in section 213a.2?1)(ii) a single exception, under which a sponsor who is not domiciled in the United States (i.e., cannot show his or her residence abroad has been only temporary) may submit a Form I-864. The sponsor may do so only if the sponsor establishes, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the sponsor will have established his or her domicile in the United States no later than the date of the intending immigrant's admission or adjustment of status. The intending immigrant will, however, be inadmissible as an alien likely to become a public charge if the sponsor has not actually become domiciled in the United States by the date of the decision on the intending immigrant's application for admission or adjustment of status. Thus, the sponsor must arrive in the United States before, or at the same time as, the intending immigrant, and the sponsor must intend to establish his or her domicile in the United States. - Death of Petitioner If the petitioner dies before approval of the visa petition, there is no basis for approving the visa petition. The legal situation is different if the visa petitioner dies after approval of the visa petition. Section 205 of the Act authorizes revocation of approval of a visa petition for ``good and sufficient cause.'' The related regulation, 8 CFR 205.1(a)(3)(i)? provides that the petitioner's death automatically revokes approval of a family-based immigrant petition. This same regulation, however, allows the approval to remain in force if USCIS, in the exercise of discretion, determines that for humanitarian reasons revocation would be inappropriate. Public Law 107-150 amended section 213A(f)(5) of the Act to permit another relative to sign the affidavit of support if the petitioner dies after the visa petition is approved, where it is determined that revoking the approval would not be appropriate. A substitute sponsor must be either a citizen or national, or else an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence. The substitute sponsor must also be at least 18 years of age, and must have a domicile in the United States. - Death of Petitioner (who was the spouse) The final rule also adopts a special rule for cases in which the alien beneficiary was, before the petitioner's death, the spouse of a citizen. Under section 201( b )(2)(A)(i) of the Act, if an alien was married to a citizen for at least 2 years at the time of the citizen's death, the alien may file a petition on his or her own behalf, so long as the alien does so within 2 years of the citizen's death, and has not remarried. Section 212(a)(4)?i)(I) of the Act, in turn, relieves that alien of the affidavit of support requirement, once USCIS approves the new petition. The final rule provides that it will not be necessary for the beneficiary to file a new petition (Form I-360, Petition for Amerasian, Widow(er), or Special Immigrant) as the widow(er) of a citizen. Instead, the final rule provides for automatic conversion of the citizen's spousal Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, to a widow(er)'s petition upon the citizen's death if, on that date, the widow(er) meets the requirements of section 201( b )(2)(A)(I) of the Act as it relates to widow(er)'s petitions. This automatic conversion will apply whether the citizen spouse dies before or after approval of the Form I-130. - Change of address The final rule provides that USCIS will accept the United States Postal Service certificate of mailing and a return receipt or delivery confirmation as proof that the sponsor or joint sponsor filed the Form I-865 with the office whose address appears on the certificate of mailing and return receipt. If the sponsor uses a commercial delivery service, USCIS will accept the delivery service's shipping label and proof of delivery of the properly completed Form I-865 to the appropriate USCIS office. - Children born after visa issuance This provision waives the immigrant visa requirement for certain children who accompany their immigrant parent(s) to the United States, but who are born after issuance of the immigrant visa to the parent(s). These children are not counted against the numerical limits on immigration, nor is any separate visa petition filed for them. Thus, section 204 of the Act does not form the basis of their admission, and they are not properly classified as ``immediate relatives,'' ``family-based immigrants'' or ``employment-based immigrants.''

When filing an I-864 Affidavit of Support and the petitioner is unable to meet the poverty guidelines it seems they have two options: 1) find a joint sponsor(s) who will also file an I-864 or 2) get a household member to file an I-864A. "A 'household member' is any person ( a ) sharing a residence with the sponsor for at least the last 6 months who is related to the sponsor by birth, marriage, or adoption, or ( b ) whom the sponsor has lawfully claimed as a dependent on the sponsor's most recent federal income tax return even if that person does not live at the same residence as the sponsor..." If one files an I-130 via Direct Consular Filing that means they are currently living in the foreign country. Does that mean they are ineligible to have family co-sign as household members? If the USC "shared a residence for at least the last 6 months" prior to living in the foreign country, would they still be eligible? Do future plans for living arrangements have any bearing i.e. the USC and petitioning alien will live with household members upon return to the United States?