How to fill in Form I-864 (Affidavit of Support, USA)

What the form is for

Form I-864 is required for most family-based immigrants and some employment-based ones. It is a contract between the sponsor and the U.S. government. By signing it you agree to use your resources to support the immigrant you sponsor if necessary. If the immigrant later receives certain means-tested public benefits, the agency that paid them can ask you to repay the cost and can sue you if you do not.

The sponsor completes and signs the form and gives it, with the supporting documents, to the immigrant, who files it with Form OF-230 (immigrant visa) or Form I-485 (green card inside the U.S.). If the immigrant files Form I-485 online, they can upload the I-864 with it. A paper filing goes to a USCIS lockbox (a central mail-in processing site): see the USCIS chart "Lockbox Filing Locations for Certain Family-Based Forms" on the I-864 page.

The USCIS page gives no processing time for the I-864. The sponsor must sign by hand: USCIS rejects an unsigned form. Use the current edition: since 1 October 2026 USCIS only accepts edition 08/24/26 (see the bottom of each page).

Who needs it

Who files and who counts (from the official Form I-864 instructions, edition 08/24/26):

• Which immigrants need an I-864: in general immediate relatives of U.S. citizens (spouse, unmarried child under 21, parent of a citizen aged 21 or older), all family-preference immigrants, K-1 fiancé(e)s and K-2 children who adjust status, and workers in certain employment-based categories when a relative filed the Form I-140 or owns 5 percent or more of the company that filed it.
• The petitioner is the sponsor. If you filed Form I-129F, I-130, I-600 or I-800 for the immigrant, you must complete and sign an I-864, even if a joint sponsor also files one. A sponsor must be at least 18 and domiciled in the U.S. or its territories. For an employment-based immigrant, the sponsor is the relative who filed the I-140 or owns 5 percent or more of the business.
• Income rule: you must show income of at least 125 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines for your household size, or 100 percent if you are the petitioner, on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces or Coast Guard, and sponsoring your spouse or child (this does not apply to joint or substitute sponsors). The amounts are in Form I-864P and change every year (the current table says it is effective from 1 March 2026). Look up your household size there; this guide gives no dollar figures.
• If your income is not enough you can add: income of relatives living with you or of your dependents who sign Form I-864A (they must be 18 or older); the immigrant's own income, if it will continue from the same source (a spouse's income counts wherever he or she lives; for another relative the immigrant must live with you); your assets, the immigrant's assets or those of household members; or a joint sponsor.
• Joint sponsor: any U.S. citizen, national or green card holder, 18 or older and domiciled in the U.S., who is willing to be liable together with the petitioner. He or she does not have to be related to anyone. There can be at most two joint sponsors, each one must meet 125 percent on their own, and the petitioner still files an I-864.
• Substitute sponsor: when the petitioner died after the I-130 was approved but before the immigrant became a permanent resident. He or she must be a citizen, national or green card holder and be related to the immigrant in one of the ways the instructions list (for example spouse, parent, sibling, adult child, grandparent or legal guardian).
• Who does not need an I-864: an immigrant with 40 qualifying quarters of work (their own, a spouse's during the marriage, or a parent's while under 18); a child who becomes a U.S. citizen automatically on admission; self-petitioning widow(er)s and VAWA self-petitioners (abused spouses and children who petition for themselves, Form I-360); and many other categories such as refugees, asylees, diversity visa and special immigrant juveniles. The instructions list all of them.
• Form I-864EZ is a shorter form. You may use it only if all are true: you are the petitioner; the relative you sponsor is the only person on the petition; your income comes entirely from a salary or pension shown on IRS Form W-2s; and that salary or pension alone reaches the Form I-864P level (so no assets or household members' income needed). Otherwise, and always for self-employed sponsors or when you filed an I-140, use the I-864.
• Fee: the USCIS fee schedule (Form G-1055, edition 10/26/26) lists $0 for Form I-864, I-864A and I-864EZ. If you file through the Department of State (immigrant visa), see travel.state.gov for its fees.
• How long it lasts: until the immigrant becomes a U.S. citizen or can be credited with 40 quarters of work, dies, or stops being a permanent resident and leaves the U.S., or until a new grant of status in removal proceedings; also if you die. Divorce does not end it.

Before you start

• Your latest federal tax return (the most recent tax year, counted from the date you sign): an IRS transcript, or a photocopy with every W-2 and 1099 (not needed with a transcript, unless you filed jointly and qualify on your income alone). If you were not required to file, a typed explanation with evidence. You may add the two earlier years. Do not send state tax returns.
• Proof of your status as citizen, national or green card holder: needed for joint and substitute sponsors and for relatives sponsoring employment-based immigrants. A petitioner who already sent this proof with the I-129F, I-130, I-600 or I-600A does not need to send it again.
• Form I-864A from each relative or dependent whose income or assets you use, with their evidence. The intending immigrant does not need one unless he or she has a spouse or children coming too.
• If you use assets: proof of the owner, the value and the date of purchase, plus any loans against them. Only assets that can be turned into cash within one year count. A home needs proof of ownership, a recent appraisal and its loans.
• Optional but useful: an employer letter with your salary and recent pay stubs. If the immigrant's income counts, evidence that it will continue after immigration.
• If you live abroad: a typed explanation and evidence that the U.S. is still your domicile (for example you work for the U.S. government or are abroad only temporarily).
• A full English translation of every foreign-language document, with the translator's signed certificate that it is complete and accurate.
• Copies, not originals, unless USCIS asks. If an attorney or accredited representative helps you, add Form G-28. Keep a copy of the completed affidavit.

Section by section

Here is what each part asks, in plain words, in the order it appears.

1. 1

   Part 1: Why you are filing

   Tick only one box. 1.a: you are the petitioner. 1.b: you filed an I-140 for a relative (write the relationship). 1.c: you own 5 percent or more of the company that filed it (write its name and the relationship). 1.d: you are the only joint sponsor. 1.e: you are the first or the second of two joint sponsors. 1.f: you are the substitute sponsor (write how you are related to the immigrant). The box at the top for an attorney is only for Form G-28.

2. 2

   Part 2: Information about you (the sponsor)

   Your full legal name, mailing address and, if different, your physical address. Item 5, country of domicile: where your main home is and where you plan to live. Date of birth (mm/dd/yyyy), country of birth, your U.S. Social Security number (required), your status (citizen, national or green card holder), your A-Number (alien registration number) and USCIS online account number if you have them (otherwise "N/A"). Item 12, military service, is only for petitioning sponsors: tick Yes if you are on active duty in the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force or Coast Guard, other than for training.

3. 3

   Part 3: Information about the principal immigrant

   The principal immigrant is the main beneficiary of the visa petition. Full name, mailing address, country of citizenship, date of birth, A-Number and online account number if any, and a daytime phone.

4. 4

   Part 4: The immigrants you are sponsoring

   Item 1: Yes if you sponsor the principal immigrant. Say No only if you are a second joint sponsor, or sponsor family members arriving more than six months later. Item 2: tick it if you also sponsor a spouse or children who come with the principal immigrant or within six months. Item 3: family members who come more than six months later. Then list up to four family members (name, relationship, date of birth, A-Number). More go in Part 11. Do not list a relative who has a separate petition: that person needs a separate I-864.

5. 5

   Part 5: Your household size

   Count nobody twice. Item 1: the immigrants you sponsor in this affidavit. Item 2 is already filled in (yourself). Item 3: write 1 for your spouse, or 0 if already counted in item 1. Item 4: unmarried children under 21. Item 5: any other dependents you claimed on your last tax return. Item 6: people you sponsored before and still support. Item 7: relatives living with you whose income you add with Form I-864A. Item 8: the total.

6. 6

   Part 6: Your work and income

   Tick how you work (employed, self-employed, retired, unemployed) and give the employer or occupation. Item 7: your own current annual income. Items 8 to 11: income of other people counted in your household (name, relationship, income); then tick 13 or 14. Item 12: the total household income, which USCIS compares with Form I-864P. Do not count means-tested public benefits or income from illegal acts.

7. 7

   Part 6 (continued): Tax returns

   Item 15: whether you filed federal returns for the last three years. In item 16.a write the most recent tax year and your total income; do not leave it blank. Write "zero" if the amount was zero, or "N/A" if you did not have to file. Items 16.b and 16.c are for earlier years you also send, otherwise "N/A". Tick item 17 only if your income was below the IRS filing level and you attached evidence.

8. 8

   Part 7: Assets (only if needed)

   Skip it if your income already reaches the Form I-864P level. Otherwise fill in your cash and savings, the net value of real estate, other assets, the assets of household members (from their I-864A) and the immigrant's assets. Item 10 is the total. As a rule it must be at least 5 times the gap between your income and the poverty line, 3 times if you are a citizen sponsoring a spouse or a child aged 18 or older, and 1 time for an orphan who will be adopted in the U.S. The instructions have a worked example.

9. 9

   Part 8: Contract, contact and signature

   Read the contract before signing. Item 1: tick A if you read and understood English yourself, or B if an interpreter read it to you (and write the language). Item 2: tick if a preparer filled it in for you. Then daytime phone, mobile and e-mail. Sign in ink and date it (mm/dd/yyyy): a typed or stamped name is not accepted. The declaration includes an authorization for USCIS and the State Department to obtain consumer credit reports.

10. 10

    Parts 9, 10 and 11: Interpreter, preparer and extra space

    Part 9 is for the interpreter and Part 10 for the person who prepared the form (if not you), each with a signature. Part 11 is extra space: write your name and A-Number, the page, part and item number of each answer, and sign and date any extra sheet.

11. 11

    How to write the answers

    Type or print in black ink. Write dates as month/day/year. If a question does not apply, write "N/A"; if the answer is zero or none, write "None" unless the form says otherwise.

Common mistakes

• Forgetting to sign

  An unsigned I-864, or one with a typed or stamped name, is rejected. A scan or photocopy of the original signed form counts.

• Using an old edition or missing pages

  Since 1 October 2026 only edition 08/24/26 is accepted. Make sure all pages are there and from the same edition.

• Skipping the petitioner's I-864 because there is a joint sponsor

  The petitioner must always complete and submit an I-864 with his or her latest tax return, even if a joint sponsor files one too.

• Counting a person twice in Part 5

  If your spouse or children are among the immigrants in item 1, write 0 in items 3 and 4.

• Leaving item 16.a blank or sending no tax return

  Write the year and the income ("zero" or "N/A" if it applies) and attach the return or transcript for the most recent tax year.

• Using a relative's income without Form I-864A

  Every relative or dependent whose income or assets you add must sign an I-864A and be at least 18.

• Using Form I-864EZ when you do not qualify

  The wrong affidavit delays processing. Use the I-864 if you are self-employed, have income other than a W-2 salary or pension, the immigrant is not the only person on the petition, or your salary or pension alone is not enough for the Form I-864P level (for example you need assets or a household member's income).

• Counting income that does not count

  Means-tested public benefits and income from illegal acts cannot be used to meet the income requirement.

• Not reporting a change of address

  After the immigrant becomes a permanent resident, you must tell USCIS if you move, using Form I-865. Do not send the I-865 together with the I-864. A late or missing notice can lead to a civil fine.

• A credit freeze that slows the case

  The 08/24/26 edition lets USCIS and the State Department check consumer credit reports. If you have a credit or security freeze, answer quickly when asked to lift it, or you may be delayed.

• Writing dates in the wrong order

  The form wants mm/dd/yyyy, month first. 11 March 1986 is 03/11/1986; 11/03/1986 would mean 3 November.