What Does it Mean to  Sponsor an Immigrant?

When you are filing for legal immigration status, you will come across lots of formalities, terminologies, and forms that are related to the process. This means that you should have enough information on your fingertips regarding all these terms of trade for a smoother process. One of these vital processes is sponsoring an immigrant with an Affidavit of Support, and in this article, we are going to delve deeper into this topic.

The majority of people think that sponsoring a potential immigrant means ‘vouching ‘ for a pal, as in, ‘Trust me, he is good for his money.’ Or ‘he is a hard worker, and he will make it the moment he attains a work permit.’ Contrary to these opinions, sponsoring in United States Immigration lingo means something totally different. First, we will learn who a sponsor is before we dive into the article, and learn who can be sponsor, among other aspects.

Who is a Sponsor?

In simpler terms, sponsoring an immigrant implies that you become their financial sponsor. Think of this scenario, like hosting an international exchange student at your home where you will be responsible for their living expenses. This person will not have work authorization, and hence you will offer them shelter, food, pay for their medical care, and give them spending money.

A financial co-sponsor or a joint sponsor is a lawful permanent resident (green card holder) or a United States citizen who agrees to the legal responsibility of financially supporting a petitioner for a family-based green card.

Declaration of Financial Support

The Affidavit of Support or Form I-864

Maybe you are thinking, ‘this is a piece of cake. It’s only short-term, and I can easily handle that!’ Now, before you go on, you should know that, according to the United States Immigration and Citizenship Services (USCIS), immigrant sponsorship exists until the immigrant gets U.S. citizenship, or after the immigrant has reached a specific number of work-quarters, usually lasting a decade.

The Affidavit of Support or Form I-864 demonstrates that the sponsor makes enough money to support their relative or family member in the U.S. Generally, the stipulated income is $20,000 – $30,000 annually. Nevertheless, in case the sponsor doesn’t make enough money, there are other ways of confirming that they can support the immigrant. By filling out this form and giving the USCIS access to your tax records, you will be responsible for the person’s expenses for up to ten years.

Don’t Sponsor a Public Charge

Maybe you are wondering why the form is so comprehensive and why your financial documents and tax returns are needed. Now, you can understand the reason is that you will be financially obligated to the immigrant. By accepting the responsibility of sponsoring the immigrant, you are, in essence, agreeing to pay their bills. This brings us to a crucial aspect of this process; never allow the immigrant to become a public charge.

For instance, you sponsored an immigrant, but they ended up on welfare. This means that they file for public benefits, including food stamps and medical care. This is what it means to be a public charge.

This is not supposed to happen since you vouched for the person and promised the government to handle all their expenses. When this happens, you, as the sponsor, might have to refund the government all the costs incurred by the immigrant. Note that if you do not repay the costs incurred by the U.S. government on behalf of the immigrant, the USCIS or the immigrant can sue you for the money.

Who Can Be a Sponsor?

Not everybody can be a sponsor. In case you aren’t directly related to the immigrant, you can only be a joint-sponsor. Still, joint sponsors can add their resources to the main sponsor’s input to support the immigrant. However, the joint sponsors have to obey the same regulations as the main sponsors and are also liable for the immigrant’s costs.

Who Can a Citizen Help to Immigrate to the U.S.?

As a native-born or naturalized U.S citizen, in some instances, you can help your relatives born abroad to get a green card. In case you started out with a green card, you can only sponsor your spouse and unmarried children. But after you get U.S citizenship, things get better for:

• Family members you had already commenced the immigration process for, including your unmarried children (below 21 years old) and spouse, who can immigrate immediately.
• Other members of your family, such as siblings, parents, and married children, for whom you can immediately begin the immigration exercise. However, this doesn’t apply for your nephews, grandparents, uncles, aunts, nieces, and cousins.
• Also, same-sex marriages are currently considered for immigration law purposes, as long as they are recognized by the government where the marriage took place.

Experienced Immigration Attorney

If you were not sure what being a financial sponsor means, this article has shed some light on the issue. If you run across some challenges while navigating this process, it is always advisable to consult an experienced immigration lawyer.

Lastly, if your lawyer suggests that they can help you to find a sponsor, ditch them fast. Also, if they offer to provide the affidavit for a fee, don’t pay a cent. You will be paying for illegal practices, and you might get into trouble.