Brother or Sister Immigrant Visa, Sibling's Immigrant Visa Application, I-864, Affidavit of Support

Question:

I want to apply immigrant visa for my sister to come U.S. Do I need to file form 864 or form I-134 as the Affidavit of Support? and how to prepare the financial documentation?

Answer:

As a U.S. citizen, if you meet the requirements and wish to bring your brother or sister to the United States, you will need to show that your household income exceeds 125% of the poverty level in the U.S., meaning that you can financially support your own family, as well as your brother's or sister's family.

You will need to prepare an Affidavit of Support on USCIS Form I-864, which is essentially a contract with the U.S. government. If your sibling does end up claiming needs-based government assistance, your having signed this affidavit allows the government to come to you for reimbursement of these amounts.

After filing the USCIS Form I-130 for your brother or sister immigrant visa, the U.S. citizen should begin to consider to file the form I-864, which is needed near the end of the application process - once the Form I-130 petition reaches the U.S. embassy in the foreign sibling's home country.

To prepare the USCIS Form I-864, U.S. citizen should contact the bank or other financial institutions, and request information on their procedures to provide the financial documentation required by the Form I-864. For some cases, people may be surprised that gathering the required bank or other financial documentation from them is not simply an office visit, and may require several weeks for them to mail the requested documents and forms.