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The Immigrant Visa Process

Affidavit of Support Instructions

Notice: New Form I-864

The National Visa Center (NVC), as well as U.S. Embassies and Consulates now require the 3/22/13 Form I-864. Applicants who submitted the 09/09/11, Form I-864 version prior to March 23, 2013 are not required to submit the new form version unless the U.S. Embassy or Consulate requires it. 

Forms I-864, I-864EZ, I-864A, and I-864W

You should be viewing this page if:

  • You are sponsoring an immigrant visa applicant and you are required to submit an Affidavit of Support; or
  • You are a self-petitioning widow(er), battered spouse or child.

Follow the guidance in the chart below to determine the appropriate Affidavit of Support form for your situation. The Affidavit of Support forms must be downloaded from the USCIS website. Instructions for completing each form and the required supporting documents are provided.

IF…

THEN you need to…
Any of the following is true:
  • The immigrant visa applicant has earned or can be credited with at least 40 eligible quarters under the Social Security Act (SSA), or
  • You are a self-petitioning widow(er) with an approved Form I-360, or
  • You are a self-petitioning battered spouse or child with an approved From I-360, or
  • You are sponsoring a child who will become a U.S. citizen immediately upon entry under the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 (CCA)

Have the immigrant visa applicant complete an I-864W

All three of the following are true:

  • You filed a Form I-130 petition for your relative, and
  • there is only one applicant on the Form I-130 petition, and
  • all your qualifying income comes from a salary or pension and shows one or more W-2 Forms that you receive


 Complete an I-864EZ

If none of the above apply

Complete an I-864 and possibly an I-864A. Visit the USCIS Affidavit of Support webpage to learn which forms you must use.

Important Notice

In order to download forms, you must have a recent version of Adobe Reader installed on your computer. If you do not have Adobe Reader on your computer, please visit http://www.adobe.com/. There is no charge to download Adobe Reader.

Please note that you may receive a "file corrupted" error message if you are using an older version of Adobe Reader.

How to submit the Affidavit of Support to the NVC

How you should submit the Affidavit of Support and supporting financial documents to the NVC depends on which U.S. Embassy or Consulate will process your visa. Learn how to submit your Affidavit of Support to the NVC.

Questions?

Back to: Establish Financial Support

Who's Involved

National Visa Center

After petition approval, the National Visa Center (NVC) handles processing for certain kinds of documents, sending them onward to U.S. Embassies & Consulates.

When and how to Contact NVC