Who doesn't need an Affidavit of Support? Hi, I'm Jim Hacking, immigration lawyer practicing law throughout the United States at our offices in St. Louis, San Diego, and Washington DC, where I just got back from an interview, two interviews actually, at the Fairfax Field office, which is across the river from Washington DC. In today's video, we're talking about who does not need an Affidavit of Support. Now, most people who watch our videos know that when you apply for a green card based on marriage, that you are required to file an I-864, that's the Affidavit of Support. That's a promise from the US citizen or lawful permanent resident petitioner that if their beneficiary, if their loved one ever receives public benefits, that they, the US citizen or green card petitioner will provide and pay back the government for any of those expenses that the government incurs.
The question then becomes, and we've been getting a lot of these questions is, who doesn't have to file an Affidavit of Support? Well, so first of all, if you're applying for a green card based on asylum, or having come to the United States as a refugee, you do not need to submit an I-864 with your green card application. If you are applying for an employment-based green card, you don't need an Affidavit of Support. So I assume that the government believes that if you're being sponsored by an employer, that they will be paying you enough of a salary so that you don't need to fulfill the Affidavit of Support requirements. And then the last group is people who are applying for lawful permanent residence on an I-360 through the VAWA program.
So one of my interviews this week was up in DC, was a VAWA green card application. It was a case that I took over, it wasn't a case that I had originally filed, and the applicant had not included an I-864W, that's a waiver request to not have to file the I-864. But you do not need a petitioner, you do not need a financial sponsor if you are applying under the Violence Against Women Act. So those are the three main instances in which you will not need an Affidavit of Support. If you're applying as an asylee or refugee, that is you received asylum in the United States, or you came as a refugee, if you have an employment-based green card and you're being sponsored by an employer, or if you are applying through the Violence Against Women Act, VAWA. If you're applying for adjustment based on that basis or any of those three bases, you will not have to file an Affidavit of Support. Everybody else, you should plan on doing it. And of course, if your sponsor does not make enough money on your Affidavit of Support, you're going to need a co-sponsor.
So I really hate the Affidavit of Support. I know it's an important document. Now, I don't hate it or complain about it as much after we've gone through a year and a half of that I-944, which was the Petition of Self-Sufficiency under President Trump. That was a whole lot worse and this Affidavit of Support is mild in comparison, but it is a confusing form. And we have seen lots of people get tripped up by it. So if you have questions about the Affidavit of Support, or whether or not you're required to submit one, or if you need help with your immigration case, feel free to give us a call, (314) 961-8200.
You know we have our Facebook group, it's called Immigrant Home, and there are immigrants in there, I think 5,000 as of the recording of this video and they're all trading information and talking about their immigration cases and asking questions. Sometimes I even jump in there. And then you know we have our YouTube channel. You should subscribe to that YouTube channel, that way you'll get updates whenever we make videos, just like this one. And we post a new video every single day. And then on Tuesdays and Thursdays, usually at noon Central, this week I wasn't able to do it because I've been traveling, but usually you'll find me in our Facebook group and on our YouTube channel answering as many of your immigration law related questions as possible. Thanks a lot. Hope to see you there.
