Immigration

Generally speaking, an I-864 affidavit of support will be enforceable unless any of the following happen:

1) the immigrant has naturalized

2) the immigrant has completed 40 working quarters in the US

3) the immigrant has lost their LPR status and departed the US

4) the immigrant readjusts status based on a new affidavit of support or

5) the immigrant or the sponsor dies.

Page 7 of the I-864 form explain these circumstances a bit more if you want to take a look.

Divorce does not terminate the obligation to support the spouse nor does abuse committed by the immigrant. There was one federal court case, for example, called Belevich v Thomas where the immigrant was criminally charged with sexually abusing the sponsor’s 6 year-old daughter. The sponsor wanted to court to use equitable defenses (defenses that come from fairness or equity) to rule that the sponsor should no longer have to continue with the financial obligation to support the immigrant. The court ruled that the two issues were unrelated under the law.

Of course you can consult with an immigration attorney if you wanted to see whether there would be any way to bring a court case of your own to challenge the affidavit of support. Here are links for lawyers in STATE [HYPERLINK] and some that are national organizations that you may want to contact.