What Are the Requirements for a Household Member to Sign USCIS Form I-864a?

Form I-864a, issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), is a contract between an immigrant’s family petitioner/ sponsor and a household member of the sponsor's. The household member who signs Form I-864a indicates permission for the main sponsor to use the household member’s income to support the immigrant, and to include that income when promising the U.S. government to reimburse it for need-based public assistance that the immigrant might receive in the United States.

For example, a U.S. citizen petitioning for his or her parents could have a spouse, child, child, parent, or brother or sister who lives with him or her sign an I-864a to help out in the process.

Form I-864a is not a required form. It need only be used in cases where the main sponsor has insufficient income and assets to show on the main Affidavit of Support, on Form I-864, which he or she must sign. The purpose of the petitioner signing a Form I-864 is to show that he or she will make sure that the immigrant does not become a "public charge" (a ground of inadmissibility to the U.S.), but instead will be supported for a legally required period of time.

Here is what prospective household members should know about their eligibility and obligations when signing Form I-864a.

Household Member Must Be Eligible to Sign

Only certain eligible household members can sign Form I-864a. To be eligible, the person must:

• be the spouse, adult child, parent, or sibling of the sponsor, and
• reside with the sponsor in the same principal residence.

Alternately someone whom the sponsor has claimed as a dependent on his or her income tax return can also sign the Form I-864a as a household member. This is true even if the dependent does not live with the sponsor.

The immigrant can also be a household member for the purpose of Form I-864a under certain circumstances described below.

It perhaps goes without saying that, in order to be qualified to sign, the household member should also actually be earning an income. In fact, the main sponsor will need to take a careful look at the federal Poverty Guidelines to make sure that the sponsor's income, plus that of the household member(s), are enough to reach the minimum required to support both the existing household and dependents the incoming immigrant(s) at 125% of the minimum. You can find the Poverty Guidelines' required levels on USCIS Form I-864P. They are updated annually. 

If, even after combining the main sponsor's and the household member's income and assets, the amount is still not enough, the sponsor may need to look for someone else to sign a separate Affidavit of Support as a "joint sponsor." This does not need to be someone living in the same house, but can be a friend or relative in the United States.

When the Immigrant Can Serve as a Household Member                                                                                      

According to the law, the immigrant applicant can serve as a household member if:

• the immigrant lives with the sponsor (as a practical matter, this must be in the United States), or
• the immigrant is the spouse of the sponsor.

In both cases the immigrant must show that the immigrant’s source of income will remain the same even after the immigrant becomes a permanent resident.

The immigrant may not even need to sign Form I-864a, unless his or her income (not assets) is being used and the immigrant is being accompanied by immigrant dependents (most likely children).

Household Member's Tasks When Submitting Form I-864a

The household member must provide information about his or her:

• relationship to the sponsor
• residence in the sponsor's household (unless you are the sponsor's spouse)
• employment and income
• assets, and
• federal income taxes.

This will involve not only filling out the information on Form I-864a (and giving it to the sponsor for inclusion with the rest of the application packet) but supplying various documents, such as a birth certificate, proof of address, pay stubs or employer letter, proof of ownership of and appraisal reports for assets, and copies of federal (not state) tax returns or an IRS tax transcript.

Household Member's Ultimate Responsibilities After Signing Form I-864a

It is important to understand the extent of the responsibility you may be undertaking when signing Form I-864a. You will not just be responsible for any "leftover" amount owed after the immigrant or the U.S. government collects any money from the main sponsor. You will be undertaking "joint and several liability," meaning you can potentially be hit up for the entire amount owed to either the immigrant or to a government agency.

The immigration law itself is fairly clear in explaining the basic obligation, stating that "Each individual who signs Form I-864A agrees . . .  to provide to the sponsor as much financial assistance as may be necessary to enable the sponsor to maintain the intending immigrants at the annual income level required by section 213A(a)(1)(A) of the Act, to be jointly and severally liable for any reimbursement obligation that the sponsor may incur, and to submit to the personal jurisdiction of any court . . . [in] a civil suit to enforce the contract or the affidavit of support. The sponsor, . . . may bring suit to enforce the contract. The intending immigrants and any Federal, state, or local agency or private entity that provides a means-tested public benefit to an intending immigrant . . . may bring an action to enforce the contract in the same manner as third party beneficiaries of other contracts." (See I.N.A. Section 213a.2.)

How long will your responsibilities after having signed Form I-864a last? Until the immigrant either:

• becomes a U.S. citizen
• has worked, or can be credited with working, 40 quarters as defined by Social Security (about ten years)
• loses or gives up permanent residence and leaves the United States
• is granted, in a removal proceeding, adjustment of status as relief from removal, or
• dies.

But even if one of these happens, you will still owe any reimbursement obligation that accrued before your support obligation ended. You may or may not find it comforting to know that your own death also ends your support obligation under Form I-864A.