Income Documents For I-864 (Affidavit of Support)

Income Documents For I-864 (Affidavit of Support)

In order to show the U.S. government that the marriage-based Green Card applicant will not need government financial assistance, required income documents must be provided by the marriage-based Green Card sponsor(s) when submitting Form I-864 (Affidavit of Support).

The U.S. government must be assured that the marriage-based Green Card applicant will not require additional financial assistance upon their arrival to the United States. In order to assure this, the U.S. government requires the sponsor to file a Form I-864 (Affidavit of Support) in the marriage-based Green Card application process.


I. What are the necessary income documents?

When filling out a Form I-864, the affidavit of support, the main sponsor is required to provide income documents to prove their ability to sponsor the marriage-based Green Card applicant. The main forms of acceptable income documents will be a U.S. federal income tax return transcript identifying most line items inclusive of the adjusted gross income (AGI). The tax transcript will further show applicable forms and schedules that are filed with the main tax return. These U.S. federal income tax return transcripts can be requested from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS).


II. What must I do if I cannot obtain a U.S. federal income tax return transcript?

If a U.S. federal income tax return transcript is unavailable or you are unable to request one when submitting Form I-864(affidavit of support), you must provide a signed affidavit which further explains the efforts used to obtain the income documents, as well as statements indicating continued efforts to obtain necessary U.S. federal income tax return transcripts by the Green Card interview date.

If the main sponsor did not file a U.S. income tax filing, an exemption letter indicating the reasons behind a no-file situation will need to be provided.

Get related information right away!