Affidavit of Support Forms I-864 and I-864A
U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents who are sponsoring family-based green cards for their close relatives to come to live and work in the U.S. permanently, need to take responsibility for their beneficiaries. They need to ensure that the beneficiaries do no become dependent on the government for any welfare, or they need to accept responsibility to pay back any welfare the government might extend to the beneficiaries.
Select the correct form you need to file, for your family member to get a green card, here.
This responsibility is undertaken by means of a contract between the sponsor and the government. The sponsor has to file form I-864, Affidavit of Support Under Section 213 of the Act, to make the contract legally binding. By signing the contract, the sponsor accepts legal responsibility until the beneficiaries become a U.S. citizen, or until he or she can be credited with 40 quarters of work in the United States.
When the sponsor is not able to meet the minimum financial requirements to sign Form I864, he or she can get a member(s) or dependent(s) of his or her household to co-sponsor. To do this, each co-sponsor has to complete and sign a separate Form I-764A, Contract Between Sponsor and Household Member. This makes them responsible, along with the sponsor, for the intending immigrant.
I-864 and I-864A Affidavit of Support Forms Updated
Both Form I-864 and I-864A were recently updated by the USCIS. The current forms have Edition Date 09/19/11. USCIS accepts previous editions too. It is best, however, to use the latest version of the forms that the government provides.