Affidavit of Support After Divorce: The Five Events That End It

Divorce does not end an affidavit of support. When you signed Form I-864 to sponsor an immigrant spouse, you entered a contract with the U.S. government, not with the person you married, and the obligation continues after your marriage ends.¹ You remain responsible for keeping your former spouse’s income at or above 125 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines until one of five specific terminating events happens. A divorce decree is not one of them.

Why the Divorce Itself Changes Nothing

The affidavit is a binding contract with the federal government, and the sponsored immigrant is a third-party beneficiary who can enforce it on their own.² The instructions to Form I-864 state plainly that “divorce does not end the sponsorship obligation.”³

Federal courts have rejected sponsors’ arguments that a divorce settlement or prenuptial agreement released them from the I-864. Because the contract runs to the government, the immigrant cannot bargain it away in a private agreement. A prenuptial clause disclaiming I-864 support is essentially meaningless against the federal duty. If your divorce lawyer treats the property settlement as the end of things, the affidavit is the piece that may be missing.

What You Still Owe

Your duty is to keep the sponsored immigrant’s income at or above 125 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.² Active-duty sponsors who sponsored a spouse or child use a 100-percent threshold instead.⁴

For 2026, the 125-percent thresholds in the 48 contiguous states are:⁵

Household of 2: $27,050 per year
Household of 3: $34,150 per year
Household of 4: $41,250 per year

The immigrant’s own earnings count against the threshold. If your ex earns $20,000 and the applicable guideline is $27,050, you owe the $7,050 difference. If they already earn at or above the guideline, you owe nothing for that period. The amount is not a fixed monthly payment. It fluctuates with the gap between their actual income and the guideline.

The Five Events That Actually End the Obligation

The affidavit terminates only when one of these happens:¹

The immigrant naturalizes as a U.S. citizen.
The immigrant earns 40 qualifying quarters of work credit under Social Security, roughly ten years. Quarters can also come from a spouse’s work during the marriage or a parent’s work while the immigrant was a minor.²
The immigrant permanently leaves the United States and abandons lawful permanent resident status. A trip abroad does not count.
The immigrant obtains a new grant of status through a different petition with a new I-864, which replaces yours.
Either the sponsor or the immigrant dies. A sponsor’s estate can still be liable for support that accrued before death.

Nothing else ends it. Not a divorce decree, not a separation agreement, not the passage of time, and not the immigrant’s remarriage.

The 40-Quarter Trap Divorce Creates

The 40-quarter path has a wrinkle that hits divorced immigrants hard. Federal law lets an immigrant count a spouse’s work quarters, but only quarters earned during the marriage, and only while the immigrant remains married to that spouse or the spouse has died.² Once the divorce is final, no further quarters from the ex-spouse count going forward.

An immigrant who was married six years and counting on a former spouse’s work history may be further from the 40-quarter mark than expected. Only quarters they earn through their own post-divorce employment continue to accrue. Naturalization is often the more practical exit.

One more catch: any quarter after December 31, 1996, in which the immigrant received federal means-tested public benefits does not count toward the 40.² Using assistance can push the end of the sponsor’s duty further out.

Joint Sponsors Stay Liable Too

If someone signed as a joint sponsor or household member to help meet the income requirement, that person carries the same obligation. Joint sponsors and household members are jointly and severally liable with the petitioning sponsor, so any one of them can be pursued for the full amount owed.¹ Your divorce does not release the joint sponsor.

How Your Ex Can Enforce It

A sponsored immigrant who is not receiving the required support can sue the sponsor in federal or state court.² They do not have to apply for public benefits first or prove destitution. It is a breach-of-contract claim: you promised to maintain income at a specific level and did not.

A winning immigrant can recover the accumulated shortfall, meaning the difference between 125 percent of the guideline and their actual income for each deficient period. Courts have also awarded attorney’s fees and costs, which puts legal help within reach even for a plaintiff with few resources. No federal statute of limitations applies specifically, so state contract limitations govern, commonly four to six years.

The Affidavit Is Separate From Alimony

The I-864 duty and state-court spousal support are legally distinct. A divorce judge can set alimony at zero while your federal obligation continues, or award alimony without addressing the affidavit at all. Some state courts have treated the I-864 as relevant evidence when calculating support; others have held the federal duty is outside their jurisdiction. Raise it with your divorce attorney early. Ignoring it in the divorce does not make it go away. It just moves the fight to a later federal suit.

Reimbursement to Government Agencies

You are also liable to reimburse any agency that provides means-tested public benefits to the immigrant.⁶ The programs counted as means-tested for this purpose are:⁴

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Medicaid, except emergency Medicaid
Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)

Emergency Medicaid, school lunch, immunizations, Head Start, and student financial aid are not treated as means-tested for I-864 reimbursement.⁴ If an agency demands reimbursement and you do not respond within 45 days or fail to follow a repayment agreement, it can sue. The government has 10 years from the date the immigrant last received the covered benefit to bring that action.²

Report Your New Address Within 30 Days

Moving out during or after the divorce triggers a duty most sponsors forget: you must notify USCIS of any change of address within 30 days by filing Form I-865.⁷ The requirement lasts as long as the I-864 obligation does. Missing it carries a civil fine of $250 to $2,000, rising to $2,000 to $5,000 if you knew the immigrant had received means-tested benefits.² File the I-865 whenever you move until one of the five terminating events ends your sponsorship.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Affidavit of Support
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1183a – Requirements for Sponsors Affidavit of Support
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-864 Instructions for Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-864P, HHS Poverty Guidelines for Affidavit of Support
5
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2026 Poverty Guidelines – 48 Contiguous States
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form I-864, Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How to Change Your Address