2009 Poverty Guidelines Become Effective For Affidavit of Support (I-864) Filings

The Department of State (DOS) has released a cable to its consular posts to begin using the 2009 poverty guidelines in calculating the levels of income and assets required by immigrant visa petitioners and joint sponsors.  DOS requires that when processing immigrant visa cases subject to the Affidavit of Support (I-864) requirement, consular posts must use 125 percent of the applicable poverty guidelines as the minimum income that a petitioner and/or a joint sponsor must demonstrate, or 100 percent for an active member of the U.S. Armed Forces sponsoring his or her spouse or children.

The 2009 poverty guidelines were released on January 23, 2009, by the Department of Health and Human Services. The  DOS cable directs all consular posts to begin using the new guidelines and require that immigrant visa petitioners and joint sponsors completing Forms I-864 and I-864EZ (Affidavit of Support) to show sufficient income/assets to comply with the new guidelines.  The effective date is March 1.