Financial Sponsor Needed for a Family-Based Green Card (2024)

In order to gain entry into the United States and become a permanent resident (green card holder), a foreign national must meet certain eligibility requirements and also prove that they are not inadmissible under INA § 212(a). There are numerous grounds of inadmissibility -- economic grounds of inadmissibility is one.

The need for a financial sponsor is rooted in the requirements that a new immigrant not be inadmissible to the United States. In fact, a foreign national who is deemed to be a “public charge” is inadmissible by law. The U.S. government defines a public charge as a person who is likely at any time to become primarily dependent on the government for subsistence. Generally, subsistence includes persons who receive public cash assistance or institutionalization for long-term care at government expense. Institutionalization for short periods of rehabilitation does not constitute such primary dependence.

This immigration law helps ensure that new immigrants will not need to rely on public benefits. Examples of public benefits include food stamps, Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. If the new immigrant uses certain cashed-based public benefits in the future, the agency that gave the benefits can require that the financial sponsor repay that money.

Source: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Poverty Guidelines (2024)

The guidelines above apply to residents in the 48 contiguous states (as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands). Certain active-duty military sponsoring a spouse or child may qualify at 100 percent of the FPG. For sponsors residing in the states of Alaska or Hawaii, there are modified guidelines.

The sample chart above is for 2024. The financial sponsor will need to check the most current federal poverty guidelines before filing Form I-864, Affidavit of Support. If USCIS increases the guidelines later, it won’t affect applications that have already been filed. Sponsors who want guidance through this process can use CitizenPath to prepare Form I-864. Our Affidavit of Support Package makes it easy to determine household size, household income, and make sure you meet the requirements to sponsor a green card holder.

The sponsor submits Form I-864 at the time the beneficiary is applying for a green card. For adjustment of status applicants, Form I-864 is typically submitted with the Form I-485. For consular processing applicants, sponsors submit Form I-864 when requested by the National Visa Center.

Adjustment of status applicants will generally submit all forms together. If you're applying for a green card while inside the United States, file Form I-864 (Affidavit of Support) concurrently with Form I-485 (Application to Adjust Status).

Individuals who will apply for a green card from outside the United States, do not file Form I-864 with the Form I-130. Instead, they wait until USCIS approves the I-130 petition and transitions the case to the National Visa Center (NVC). The NVC contacts the petitioner and beneficiary to let them know it's time to submit a Form I-864, Affidavit of Support. Typically, this is several months after filing Form I-130.

If the financial sponsor’s income does not meet the requirement, personal assets such as checking and savings accounts, stocks, bonds, or property may be considered as part of the sponsor's financial resources. The assets must be convertible to cash within one year. Further, the assets don’t get counted at their full cash value. The value will be adjusted on the affidavit of support.

Most people don’t have the cash assets required to qualify. So it’s easier to find a household member or joint sponsor who can contribute. If there is a relative (spouse, adult child, parent, or sibling) that lives in the same household as the main sponsor, they can generally participate as a household member that contributes income. On the other hand, a joint sponsor is an additional sponsor that doesn’t have to be related (to either party) and doesn’t have to live at the same address. Learn more about the differences between a household member and joint sponsor.

Jean Paul is a permanent resident who wants to help his Haitian spouse get a green card and move to the United States. Jean Paul is young and is still attending college. In fact, he has no income because of his status as a full-time student. He is also living alone, so he has no household members to help him sponsor his wife. Jean Paul’s father, who also lives in the U.S., steps in as a joint sponsor. Since he is not living with Jean Paul, he cannot be a household member. Instead, he is a joint sponsor. Jean Paul must submit Form I-864 even though he doesn’t have an income. Then, his father also submits Form I-864 as a joint sponsor.

Making a determination about the household and joint sponsors can be confusing. Let CitizenPath service help guide you through this process. The Affidavit of Support service is free to get started. Get started to see if your household income is sufficient to sponsor your relative. Get help from our team if you run into a problem.

A financial sponsor’s obligations under Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, will end if the person who becomes a lawful permanent resident based on that affidavit:

• Becomes a U.S. citizen;
• Has worked, or can receive credit for, 40 quarters of coverage under the Social Security Act;
• No longer has lawful permanent resident status and has departed the United States;
• Is subject to removal, but applies for and obtains, in remove proceedings, a new grant of adjustment of status, based on a new affidavit of support, if one is required; or
• Dies.

However, divorce does not terminate a financial sponsor's obligations under Form I-864.

It’s uncommon, but there are a few exceptions to the requirement for an affidavit of support. Perhaps most common is the exception for parents of a petitioned child (under age 18) that will immediately obtain U.S. citizenship through derivation. If the immigrant beneficiary is a child who will become a U.S. citizen immediately upon approval or entry to the U.S. for permanent residence, no Form I-864 must be filed for the child. In this case, the petitioner should submit a Form I-864W to explain the situation.

Individuals who have been working in the United States already for many years may also be exempt from filing Form I-864. To qualify, the green card applicant must have earned or received credit for 40 qualifying quarters (credits) of work in the United States as defined by the Social Security Act. If you think you may qualify, obtain your SSA earnings statement as evidence.

Additional exceptions may apply for self-petitioning widows or widowers of U.S. citizens and self-petitioning battered spouses or children.