When do I send the affidavit of support? 19 Answers as of November 30, 2011

You file the affidavit of support with the petition and the other supporting documents. If you do not include it, your petition will be rejected as incomplete.

Once the petition is approved by the USCIS, it will be forwarded to the NVC (national visa center) for further processing at the Consulate abroad. At that time, you will be asked to submit additional fees for the visa processing and affidavit of support and once payment is received, you will be asked to submit additional forms, including the affidavit of support, along with supporting documentation.

If the beneficiary is conducting a consular process, the National Visa Center will request the Affidavit of Support before the matter is routed to the U.S. Consulate abroad. This is usually about a year after the I-130 is filed in the U.S.

Normally you submit to the National Visa Center. They forward to the consulate. Some consulates also want the person to have these originals at the consular interview. In that instance, the consulate normally provides a list of documents to bring.

You will have to file an affidavit of support for your husband. You do not have to file the affidavit of support until the immigrant visa petition is approved and the case is transferred to the National Visa Center. Typically, the Department of State will send you detailed instructions of what needs to be filed once the case is received by the National Visa Center and an immigrant visa is available for your spouse.

The affidavit of support will be requested by the National Visa Center once the I-130 has been approved and the case has been transferred to the Department of State for consular processing. The I-864 is the form for the affidavit of support. To petition for your husband, you must complete an affidavit of support and demonstrate that you have income at 125% of the poverty guidelines based on your household size. The poverty guidelines can be accessed here: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=73c63591ec04d010VgnVCM10000048f3d6a1RCRD. Any income from lawful sources will count including income from SSI, unemployment or disability. You will demonstrate your income through your most recent tax return as well as pay stubs and a letter from your current employer if you are employed. If you do not qualify based on your income alone, then you can use your assets to qualify you. If you want to use assets, you must demonstrate that the assets are easily convertible to cash and that the total assets is equal to 5 times the difference between your income and the amount required under the poverty guidelines. As an example, if the poverty guidelines require household income of $10,000, and your household income is $0, you would have to demonstrate assets in the amount of 5 x $10,0000 or $50,0000 to qualify. If you cannot demonstrate sufficient assets to qualify under the poverty guidelines, you can obtain a joint sponsor to complete an affidavit of support. The joint sponsor must be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident and he or she must independently qualify under the poverty guidelines.

You file it when you send documents to national visa center.

Neither. After the petition is approved and the case is being processed with National Visa Center, they will request the affidavit of support.

Yes, you are required to file an I-864 Affidavit of Support, even if you have no income. If you don't have sufficient income, you will need a willing co-sponsor to also file an I-864. The I-864 affidavit is NOT filed with the I-130 petition, but after the approval of the I-130, the National Visa Center will request you to pay a fee for reviewing the I-864, and they will ask you for the I-864 at that time.

When you file the application.