Can I Sue My Immigration Sponsor for Financial Support?

Yes, you can sue your immigration sponsor for financial support. When a sponsor signed Form I-864, the Affidavit of Support, they entered a legally enforceable contract that lets you, the sponsored immigrant, take them to court for any period your income fell below 125% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.¹ The shortfall is money the sponsor legally owes you, and courts routinely order them to pay it.

Why You Have the Right to Sue

The statute that creates the I-864 obligation explicitly calls it a contract and says the sponsored immigrant can enforce it directly, not just government agencies.¹ You are a third-party beneficiary of the agreement between the sponsor and the U.S. government, which gives you standing to walk into court and demand the sponsor honor the promise.

The promise is specific. The sponsor must keep your household income at or above 125% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines for the sponsor’s household size, starting the moment you became a lawful permanent resident.¹ If you earn some income but fall short, the sponsor must make up the difference. If you earn nothing, the sponsor owes the full amount. You do not need to have received any public benefits to sue. The claim exists simply because your income fell below the guaranteed floor and the sponsor did not fill the gap.

Who You Can Sue

More than one person may have signed paperwork accepting financial responsibility for you. Each is a potential defendant.

The Primary Sponsor

The petitioning sponsor who signed the I-864 is the obvious target. Their obligation is personal and does not depend on whether your immigration petition was family-based or employment-based. They signed, they promised, and they can be sued if they break the promise.

Joint Sponsors

If the primary sponsor’s income was too low on its own, a joint sponsor may have signed a separate I-864 to meet the threshold. That joint sponsor took on an independent obligation to support you at 125% of the poverty guidelines.¹ You can pursue the joint sponsor directly.

Household Members Who Signed Form I-864A

Some sponsors asked a household member to sign Form I-864A, a separate contract where that person agreed to use their income to help support you.² Many immigrants have no idea a household member co-signed, which is one reason to gather the full immigration file before filing suit.

What You Can Recover

The remedies under the federal statute go beyond a one-time check.

Back support. The difference between your actual income and 125% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines for each period the sponsor fell short. This is the most common recovery.
Specific performance. A court order requiring the sponsor to make ongoing payments going forward, not just catch up on what was missed.¹
Legal fees and collection costs. The statute specifically allows these, which can make hiring a lawyer financially realistic even when the amounts at stake are modest.¹

If the sponsor looks broke on the surface, that is not a reason to walk away. You often do not see the full financial picture until discovery in litigation forces the sponsor to disclose bank accounts, investments, and other assets. A joint sponsor or I-864A household member may give you additional sources of recovery you did not know existed. Courts have also treated I-864 judgments as domestic support obligations under bankruptcy law, meaning the sponsor cannot wipe out the debt by filing bankruptcy.

How Much Does the Sponsor Owe You?

What the sponsor owes depends on the Federal Poverty Guidelines in effect during the shortfall period. USCIS publishes its own poverty guideline table each year for I-864 purposes. The 2026 figures, effective March 1, 2026, set the 125% threshold for the 48 contiguous states at:³

Household of 2: $24,650 per year
Household of 3: $31,075 per year
Household of 4: $37,500 per year
Household of 5: $43,925 per year
Household of 6: $50,350 per year

Each additional person adds $6,425. Alaska and Hawaii have higher amounts. The minimum household size is two, because the sponsor and immigrant are always counted.

To calculate what you are owed, subtract your actual annual income from the threshold for each year the sponsor failed to provide support. If you earned $15,000 in a year when the threshold was $24,650, the sponsor owes $9,650 for that year. Do the math for every year of shortfall using the guidelines in effect during each period.

Does Divorce End the Obligation?

No. This catches many sponsors off guard in marriage-based cases. Federal courts have ruled repeatedly that divorce does not end the I-864 obligation, and a prenuptial agreement or divorce settlement cannot waive it. The duty runs between the sponsor and the U.S. government for your benefit, and a family court judge dividing marital assets has no authority to erase it.⁴ The obligation continues after divorce until one of the terminating events below actually happens.

When the Sponsor’s Obligation Actually Ends

The I-864 obligation is not permanent, but only a few specific events end it:¹

You become a U.S. citizen through naturalization.
You earn 40 qualifying quarters of work, roughly ten years credited under Social Security. Quarters earned by your spouse during the marriage and by your parents while you were a minor count too. Any quarter after December 31, 1996, during which you received federal means-tested public benefits does not count toward the 40.
You permanently leave the United States.
You die.
The sponsor dies. Even then, the sponsor’s estate may be liable for support that should have been paid before death.

Where and When to File

The statute lets you bring the enforcement action in any appropriate court, state or federal.¹ Federal court may be more familiar with immigration-related contract claims. State court is often less expensive and procedurally simpler. The choice usually depends on the dollar amount at stake and where the sponsor lives.

No federal statute of limitations specifically governs how long you have to sue. The applicable deadline likely comes from state breach-of-contract limitations, which vary by state. Do not sit on this. The longer you wait, the greater the risk a court finds your claim too late.

What to Gather Before You File

You need documents proving both the sponsor’s obligation and the size of the shortfall:

The signed Form I-864. This is the contract at the center of your claim. It identifies the signer, the household size used for the threshold, and the start date of the obligation.
Your income records. Pay stubs, tax returns, or documentation that you had no income. These show how far below the threshold you fell.
Any Form I-864A. If a household member co-signed, they share liability. A copy should be in your immigration file.
Communication records. Emails, texts, or letters asking the sponsor for support and being refused or ignored. Not legally required, but useful for showing the sponsor knew about the shortfall.

If you do not have copies of your immigration forms, you can request them from USCIS through the Freedom of Information Act.⁵ Processing can take months, so start early.

One last concern worth putting to rest: suing your sponsor does not jeopardize your immigration status. The I-864 exists precisely so that sponsored immigrants have a private right to enforce the support promise. Exercising it is what the law contemplates.⁶

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1183a – Requirements for Sponsors Affidavit of Support
2
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-864A, Contract Between Sponsor and Household Member
3
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-864P, HHS Poverty Guidelines for Affidavit of Support
4
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. I-864, Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA
5
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Request Records through the Freedom of Information Act or Privacy Act
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS Policy Manual Volume 8, Part G, Chapter 6 – Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA