Who Can Be a Joint Sponsor for a Green Card Application?
Who can be a joint sponsor for a green card application?
Anyone who meets the requirements below can be a joint sponsor:
- All immediate relatives of U.S. citizens (spouses, unmarried children under 21 years of age, and parents of U.S. citizens 21 years of age and older);
- All family-based preference immigrants (unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, spouses and unmarried sons and daughters of lawful permanent residents, married sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, and brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens 21 years of age and older); and
- Employment-based preference immigrants in cases only when a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or U.S. national relative filed the immigrant visa petition or such relative has a significant ownership interest (five percent or more) in the entity that filed the petition.
To help meet the minimum annual income requirement for financial sponsorship, a joint sponsor may also include income and assets from members of their own household, such as their:
- Adult children
- Adult siblings
- Parents
To qualify as a household member, relatives must have either been claimed as a dependent on the joint sponsor’s most recent individual federal income tax return or be living with them for the past 6 months. The joint sponsor may also include any adult they claimed as a dependent but did not live with them. Households or adult dependents must also submit Form I-864A if they combine their income and/or assets with the joint sponsor’s to meet the necessary annual income requirement. To deal with the complexities of joint sponsorship, we recommend working with an experienced Attorney.