USCIS Sponsor Income Requirements and Poverty Guidelines

To sponsor a family member for a green card, USCIS sponsor income requirements ask you to show household income of at least 125% of the federal poverty guidelines for your household size. Active-duty military members sponsoring a spouse or child only need to hit 100%. You promise this support by signing Form I-864, an affidavit that becomes a legally binding contract with the U.S. government. For 2026, a sponsor with a household of two needs at least $27,050 in annual income, and the figure climbs with each additional person.

Who Can Be a Sponsor

You must be at least 18, a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, and living in the United States or one of its territories.¹ If you filed the immigrant visa petition, you are required to be the sponsor. There is no option to hand the role off to a wealthier relative because you don’t earn enough. If your income falls short, someone can join you as a joint sponsor, but you still have to file your own Form I-864.

How Household Size Is Counted

Your required income is tied to household size, and the number is usually larger than people expect. It includes you, the immigrant you are sponsoring, any dependents you already have, and any relatives living with you whose income you claimed on your most recent federal tax return.¹ If the immigrant’s spouse and children are also immigrating, they count too.

Undercounting is one of the most common reasons an affidavit gets rejected. Count every person first, then check the threshold.

2026 Income Thresholds

USCIS updates the numbers each year using the Department of Health and Human Services poverty guidelines. The 2026 figures took effect on March 1, 2026.² The minimums below apply to sponsors in the 48 contiguous states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Household of 2: $27,050 at 125% / $21,640 at 100% for active-duty military
Household of 3: $34,150 / $27,320
Household of 4: $41,250 / $33,000
Household of 5: $48,350 / $38,680
Household of 6: $55,450 / $44,360
Household of 7: $62,550 / $50,040
Household of 8: $69,650 / $55,720

For each additional person beyond eight, add $7,100 at the 125% level.³ The 100% threshold is limited to sponsors on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces or Coast Guard who are petitioning for a spouse or child.⁴

Alaska and Hawaii are higher because of cost of living. A household of two needs $33,813 in Alaska and $31,113 in Hawaii at the 125% level.³

What Income Counts

Qualifying income includes wages, salary, retirement income, self-employment earnings, alimony, child support, and dividends or interest.⁴ Social Security retirement benefits count as retirement income. Means-tested public benefits such as SSI or TANF do not count toward your total.

To prove your income, you must submit an IRS transcript or a photocopy of your federal tax return for the most recent year, together with all W-2s, 1099s, and schedules you filed. You may voluntarily add returns for the two prior years if that strengthens your case. If you were required to file for the most recent year but didn’t, file the late return with the IRS before submitting the affidavit.⁴ Pay stubs from the previous six months and a letter from your employer stating your annual salary help show your current earnings are consistent. Self-employed sponsors should include profit-and-loss statements or business tax returns.

If Your Income Falls Short

There are three ways to close a gap between what you earn and what the guidelines require.

Use Assets

You can make up the shortfall with assets, but the multiplier is steep. The net value of qualifying assets must equal at least five times the difference between your income and the required amount. For U.S. citizens sponsoring a spouse or child, the multiplier drops to three. For U.S. citizens sponsoring an orphan who will acquire citizenship on admission, the multiplier is one.⁴⁵

Only assets convertible to cash within one year qualify: savings, stocks, bonds, and real estate including home equity. Bank statements, brokerage summaries, and property appraisals establish value and ownership.⁴ The intending immigrant can add their own assets too, including property abroad, as long as those assets can be converted to cash within 12 months and lawfully moved out of the country holding them. Many countries limit how much money can leave, so check those rules early.⁵

Combine Income With a Household Member

Certain people in your household can pool their income with yours by signing Form I-864A, which makes them jointly responsible for supporting the immigrant. They must be at least 18.⁶ The list of who qualifies:

Your spouse, who does not need to live at your address but must show their income will continue from a lawful source after the immigrant arrives.
The intending immigrant, if you are relying on their continuing income to support their own spouse or children.
A parent, child, adult son or daughter, or sibling who shares your principal residence.
Anyone you claimed as a dependent on your most recent federal tax return, whether they live with you or not.

Income from illegal sources cannot be counted, even if taxes were paid on it.⁶ Anyone who signs a Form I-864A takes on real liability: if the sponsored immigrant later receives means-tested public benefits, the agency that paid them can pursue the household member the same way it can pursue the sponsor.

Add a Joint Sponsor

A joint sponsor is not the same as a household member. A joint sponsor files their own Form I-864 and independently accepts full legal responsibility for the immigrant. Their income is not added to yours; they must meet the 125% threshold for their own household size on their own.¹ A joint sponsor may still use Form I-864A to combine income with their own household members.⁷

A joint sponsor does not need to be related to the immigrant. They must be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, at least 18, and living in the United States. No more than two joint sponsors can be used per family unit immigrating on the same petition, and no individual immigrant can have more than one joint sponsor. Each joint sponsor is responsible only for the immigrants named on their own Form I-864.⁷

What You Are Agreeing To

Form I-864 is an enforceable federal contract. By signing it, you agree to maintain the sponsored immigrant at or above 125% of the federal poverty guidelines. The obligation continues until one of these things happens:

The immigrant becomes a U.S. citizen.
The immigrant is credited with 40 qualifying quarters of work under Social Security, roughly 10 years of employment.
The immigrant gives up lawful permanent resident status and leaves the United States.
Either you or the immigrant dies.

Divorce does not end it.⁴ In Erler v. Erler (2016), the Ninth Circuit held that once a sponsored immigrant separates from the sponsor’s household, the sponsor must still provide whatever support keeps the immigrant’s income at 125% of the poverty level for a household of one. The court looked only at the immigrant’s own income, ignoring earnings of anyone else in the new household who was not a sponsored immigrant.⁸

If the immigrant receives means-tested public benefits such as SNAP, Medicaid, SSI, TANF, or SCHIP, the agency that paid them can sue you for reimbursement, and the immigrant can sue you directly to enforce the support promise.⁹² Medicare, unemployment, Social Security retirement or disability benefits, and student financial aid are not means-tested and do not trigger reimbursement claims.¹⁰

Reporting Address Changes

While the sponsorship obligation is in effect, you must notify USCIS within 30 days of any move by filing Form I-865, Sponsor’s Notice of Change of Address.¹¹ The fine for failing to report runs from $250 to $2,000, and it jumps to between $2,000 and $5,000 if the sponsored immigrant received means-tested public benefits during the period you were out of contact.¹²

False Information on the Affidavit

Misrepresenting your income, your household size, or your finances on Form I-864 can wreck the case and expose you personally. Fraud or misrepresentation in immigration documents can carry a federal prison term of up to 10 years for a first or second offense, plus fines.¹³ For the immigrant, a finding of fraud or willful misrepresentation carries a lifetime bar from admission to the United States unless a waiver applies.¹⁴ USCIS checks claims against federal databases and may interview sponsors to confirm accuracy. Rounding up income to clear the threshold is not worth what a false statement costs on the back end.

1
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Affidavit of Support
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-864P, HHS Poverty Guidelines for Affidavit of Support
3
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2026 Poverty Guidelines
4
USCIS. Form I-864 Instructions for Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA
5
Travel.State.Gov. I-864 Affidavit of Support FAQs
6
USCIS. Form I-864A, Instructions for Contract Between Sponsor and Household Member
7
Foreign Affairs Manual. 9 FAM 601.14 Affidavit of Support
8
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Erler v. Erler, No. 14-15362
9
eCFR. 8 CFR Part 213a – Affidavits of Support on Behalf of Immigrants
10
USCIS. Form I-912, Instructions for Request for Fee Waiver
11
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. How to Change Your Address
12
USCIS. Instructions for Sponsor’s Notice of Change of Address (Form I-865)
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1546 – Fraud and Misuse of Visas, Permits, and Other Documents
14
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Chapter 2 – Overview of Fraud and Willful Misrepresentation