The Complete Guide to Form I-864P

When you go to the land where supposedly the American dream lies, you expect that there will not be any financial issues in your family again. However, when things go bad, you may end up needing financial support from the state itself – which obviously doesn’t really make the state happy.

To make yourself acceptable within the American state, you need to be able to prove that you can support yourself – or that your sponsor has the ability to provide financial support. For this, the form I-864P will have to be filled, where you will have to include all the informational data.

What Is Form I-864P

Form I-864P is a family or marriage-oriented affidavit that is used by most immigrant marriage spouses – but also some employment-based immigrants. The purpose of this form is to show that they have the means necessary to financially support themselves (or the immigrant spouse) so that they do not become public charges.

Simply put, with this form, the sponsor will take up the responsibility of sponsoring the immigrant. You need to prove that you have what it takes to provide them a decent way of living – no matter if you are a spouse sponsoring your significant other or an employer paying an immigrant worker to live there.

Who Needs to File Form I-864P?

The sponsor is the one that needs to file Form I-864P. They need to be at least 18 years old and be domiciled in the U.S. – or at least in its possessions or territories. The petitioning sponsor needs to be the one to submit the form, even if there is one more joint sponsor out there. Sometimes, a second sponsor might be necessary in order to meet the minimal requirements.

The list below will tell you precisely who needs to be a sponsor and who needs to sign form I-860P when the need asks for it:

1. The US citizen, permanent resident by law, or U.S. National that has filed a petition for a fiancé, a family member, a member, an adoptee, an orphan relative, or a worker. Forms used in this category may be I0129F, I-130, I-600, or I-800.
2. The U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident that has filed for a worker, spouse, child, parent, or sibling, using form F-140. The sponsored person needs to meet the following clauses:

• Have a significant interest of ownership (at least 5%) in the business that has filed for the worker-based immigration visa.
• Is related to the immigrant in cause as a parent, spouse, child, or sibling.

As long as these requirements are met, you should be able to successfully file the form I-860P.

I-864P Minimum Income Requirements

In order for a sponsor to qualify for the marriage-based green card, they need to accept the financial stability that comes with it. In this regard, they have to show that they meet the minimum annual income requirement of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.

Bear in mind that in order to calculate the number of people living in your household, you will be required to include the following:

• Yourself (the person filing the petition and sponsoring your spouse or relative)
• Your spouse (the applicant for the green card)
• Any children below the age of 21 that are unmarried
• Anyone who will also be applying for a green card and accompany your spouse to the United States
• Anyone else that you may be sponsoring using form I-860P

For the visa interview to go as successfully as possible, you need to be truthful about the answers that you provide and go through the proper green card processing steps. If you cannot meet the requirements based on the number of people living in your household, you may want to bring in a second sponsor.

I-864 Frequently Asked Questions?

If you are petitioning for the first time, then it is likely that you may have a few questions. We have already addressed the most common ones for you.

What sources of income can I include?

Technically speaking, the annual income as a sponsoring spouse should be the same figure that you report every year on your federal U.S. tax return. This annual income should include anything that is taxable – meaning that you have to add salaries and wages, alimony, retirement benefits, child support, interest or dividends earned, as well as other forms of income that you have earned from legal sources.

Can I include income from other members of my household?

If you cannot meet the sponsoring requirements by yourself, then other members living in your household might also be included – and this includes parents, siblings, or children. Bear in mind that they may only include their income via another petition, proving that they are willing to act as supporters for the person applying for a green card.

Can I include income from other people outside my household?

In the event that the income in your household does not meet the financial requirements, you may reach out to people outside your household as well. These people are referred to as “joint sponsors,” and they have to submit their own application where they accept full financial responsibility.

Can I include income from the spouse seeking the green card?

The spouse that is looking to get their green card may also add their own income. But only if they prove that this income will come from the same source even after they have obtained their green card.

What if my income still isn’t high enough? Can I count my assets?

If your household income still isn’t high enough to meet the minimum requirements, then you may list your assets as a substitute for that income. Your other household members may do the same, but only as long as the following criteria are met:

• They are related to you by marriage, birth, or adoption
• They either lived in the same household as you for the past 6 months prior to submitting the petition or they were listed as your dependents on your recent tax returns.

Can I count my spouse’s assets? What if my spouse’s assets are outside the United States?

Yes, you may also list your spouse’s assets in an attempt to meet the requirements, regardless of where those assets are placed (inside or outside the U.S). The assets only have to meet the following conditions:

• The assets have to be “liquid assets” (i.e. they need to be convertible into money within a year).
• The spouse needs to be able to move the assets from their home country to the U.S., remaining within the asset value that they may bring into the country.
• The value of those aspects needs to be at least 5 times the difference that the sponsor is missing. For example, if you are short $5,000, then the value of those assets needs to be at least $25,000 to cover it.

What amount of assets do I need to include?

In order to figure out how much of your assets you need to include, you need to follow these steps:

• Determine the minimum annual amount of income necessary from the table above.
• Subtract your income from the minimum required sum.
• Multiply that difference by 3 if the sponsor is a U.S. citizen or by 5 if the sponsor is a green cardholder.

The result of that will be exactly the total value of your assets that you will have to make available.

What kinds of assets can I include?

You may only include assets that can be converted into cash without too much hardship (e.g. a savings account, a mutual fund investment, a deposit certificate, individual bonds and stocks, and so on). You may also include the appraised value of your home.

Final Thoughts

Living on a green card in the U.S. means that you will have to prove that you can support yourself. In this case, you will need the help of your sponsoring spouse, to prove that you will not become a liability to the state.

Frank Gogol

I’m a firm believer that information is the key to financial freedom. On the Stilt Blog, I write about the complex topics — like finance, immigration, and technology — to help immigrants make the most of their lives in the U.S. Our content and brand have been featured in Forbes, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and more.

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