Mike

Immigrants who are currently the beneficiaries of sponsorship obligations may be sponsors. They must meet the income requirements on their own or obtain a joint sponsor in the same manner that other petitioner-sponsors qualify. This situation would most likely occur when permanent residents petition for their spouses or unmarried sons and daughters under the second preference, since most other petitioners would be U.S. citizens.

john

What are the change of address responsibilities that a sponsor has and what is the penalty for not complying?

Mike

During the period in which the affidavit of support is in force, sponsors are required to

report all changes in their addresses to the Immigration and Naturalization Service on Form I-865, Sponsor's Change of Address, within 30 days of the change. If a sponsor fails to comply with this provision, he or she is subject to a penalty ranging from $250 to $2,000, unless the sponsor knew that the sponsored immigrant had received means-tested public benefits. In this instance the fine will range from $2,000 to $5,000. The law requires that sponsors also report their changes in address to the States in which the sponsored immigrants reside. INS will not assess penalties if sponsors have reported their address changes to INS.