Meeting the Affidavit of Support requirements for a CR1 Marriage Visa or Adjustment of Status to Legal Permanent Resident

There are various sources of income and assets that can be used to meet the requirements of an I-864 Affidavit of Support for a CR1 Marriage Visa or Adjustment of Status to LPR.

The easiest and most commonly used source is income. The I-864 Affidavit of Support requires the petitioner to earn at least 125% above the Federal Poverty Guideline for your family size. When your income meets or exceeds the required amount, you qualify. There is no need to provide any further sources of income or assets. However, when the petitioners income does not meet the required level, you will need to provide other sources of income and/or assets to make up any differences. In lieu of the petitioners income, you may also submit evidence of:

Sponsor’s assets
Income and assets form each household member who can legally sign form I-864
Assets from the intending immigrant if available once in The United States

You can rely on one additional source above or you can combine all sources of income and assets to meet the I-864 Affidavit of Support requirements.

The assets that will be accepted by USCIS in lieu of income must be liquid. Meaning that the assets must be easily and quickly be converted to cash. Also, the required value of the assets must equal to a minimum of 5 times the difference between your household income and 125% of the current poverty guidelines for your household size.

For example:

125% of 2016 poverty guideline for a family of 3 : $20,420

Sponsor’s income : $18,000

Difference : $2,420

Multiply by 5

Required assets in lieu of income : $12,100

In this example, the amount required in assets to supplement the required level of income is $12,100.

If you have questions about the CR1 Marriage Visa, or adjusting status to Legal Permanent Residency by way of marriage to a US Citizen, you are welcome to call me anytime. You can reach me tool free at 1-888-515-3529.

Attorney Jeff Pettys