Friends, the government is proposing major changes to the affidavit of support.
If you're interested in hearing what those changes are, watch this video.
I'm also going to give you my four tips on how to deal with this issue,
Guys.
Thanks so much for watching this video.
If you're new to me, welcome to my channel.
I'm Latoya, McBean Pompey and immigration lawyer in New York.
And I just want to give a shout out to two of my followers on Instagram.
They've been so awesome.
If you're interested in being featured in any of my upcoming videos, just take a screenshot
of this video right now, posted in your Instagram story and be sure to tag me at McBean immigration
law.
And you may be featured in my upcoming video.
Now let's get into it.
On October 1st, USC sent everyone an email with their press release, announcing that
they're going to introduce a rule that would make major changes to the affidavit of support.
Now, this is only a proposal at this point.
It is not in effect yet.
And in fact, I'm not sure when it's going to be in effect because it looks like there's
going to be a 30 day comment period.
And then there's another period in which they're considering the comments that the public has
given them.
And then eventually they'll publish the final rule.
I'll keep you guys posted on that timeline as things progress, but for now, just know
that this is just a proposal that they shared with us on October 1st.
Now, what are they proposing to do?
The first thing is that they'd like the sponsor to submit a credit report and the credit score.
The second thing that they're proposing is that the sponsor submit certified copies of
the last three years of their tax returns.
The third thing that the government wants to do is that sponsors submit bank account
information.
Yes, bank account information.
Certainly you may have heard me talk about some of these changes in the past, and I'm
going to link to that video here.
The fourth thing that the government is proposing is that if the sponsor had received any means
tested benefits, right?
Public benefits within the last 36 months of filing the I eight 64 affidavit of support,
that will be a problem that will be a problem.
Or if the person had defaulted on any previous obligations that they have under other affidavit
of support, that would also be a problem.
So if the sponsor has any of those issues, you're going to need a joint sponsor who has
not access public benefits.
Those means tested benefits within the past 36 months.
And also your joint sponsor must not have defaulted on any other obligation that it
has on the record.
The fifth thing that the government wants to do is they want to be able to have some
sort of streamlined process to file civil against sponsors.
And then lastly, the sixth thing that they propose they're proposing to do is they want
to limit the type and number of household members who can file the [inaudible], which
is the contract between the sponsor and household members.
So those are the six major things that they're proposing under this rule.
Now, how should you deal with this?
Right?
If you're going through the immigration process, what are the things that you do to handle
this news?
Don't want to just give you bad news without tips on how to deal with it.
The first thing that you can can do to deal with this situation is green.
Your sponsors very carefully.
Now, if you're a petitioner, you must submit an affidavit of support.
There's no getting around that.
The petitioner must be a sponsor as well.
And if the petitioner's income and assets are not enough to carry the file to carry
the case all the way through then a joint sponsor is required, but screen them very,
very carefully.
I did a video on 10 things that you need to look for when you're selecting a joint sponsor,
you're going to really need to make sure the individual has the right income, the right
background, that they have not accessed certain public benefits in the past.
You want to make sure that their household size is not too large and they must be well
in to provide their bank account information to the government because that's the direction
that this rule is taken us.
The second thing that you can do friends is prepare your file right away before this rule
goes into effect.
And I know you've heard me say that in the past with respect to other policies and other
changes that the government has introduced over the last like three years, four years,
this is one of them guys.
If you think that it's going to be a problem for your sponsor to meet the new requirements
that the government has proposed here, you're going to want to try to get your case completed
and submitted as soon as possible so that your sponsor would not have to go through
that process.
Now, the third thing that you can do is have more than one sponsor lined up the worst thing
that can happen.
Well, not really the worst thing, but what you don't want to have happen, guys, is you
start your case.
And then only to discover that your sponsor actually had access certain benefits within
the last 36 months, or they refuse to now give their bank account information.
And it's like, Oh my God, now I'm stuck.
No, from the very beginning, line it up, have a backup person in mind who can really meet
these obligations.
The fourth tip friends is that if you have a joint sponsor in your file, I want you to
know that for public charge purposes, it can be a weakness.
Here's what I mean by that.
It means that your sponsor is not able to take care of you and your sponsor is a household
member, right?
And now you're dependent on a joint sponsor to come in and say, Hey, I have your back.
I will be able to support you over the next 10 years, right.
That doesn't really look so great for public charge, because remember, again, public charge
is sizing you up as the applicant and public charge once is answering the question of whether
you're likely to become a public charge down the road, right?
And you want to make a strong case that no, I'm not likely to be a public charge in the
future.
So if you do have a joint sponsor friends, my tip is that you bolster, you boost, you
emphasize your positive factors because having a joint sponsor, in my opinion, guys can make
your file appear a little weaker on the public charge side of things.
So focus on boosting evidence related to your education, your skills, your health, those
other factors that are positive about your, your file, your you have private health insurance,
right?
And some other positive factors.
If you're interested in learning more about public charge, I'm going to link to my playlist
on public charge because I have a lot of videos over 20 videos out there on public charge.
So guys, I hope you found this video helpful to you.
In summary, the government has proposed major changes to the affidavit of support process.
However, I've given you four tips that can help you get around deal with handle this
issue.
Don't forget to subscribe to this channel, hit the notification bell, and then guys share
this video with other people, comment below.
Let me know your thoughts and I will see you in the next one.
Bye bye.