§1382j Attribution of Sponsor’s Income and Resources to Aliens

Summary

Counts a sponsor’s money and property as the immigrant’s for 3 years after the immigrant enters the United States. The sponsor’s income (and the sponsor’s spouse’s income if they live together) is treated as the immigrant’s unearned income. To figure how much, Social Security totals the sponsor’s yearly income, subtracts the maximum yearly federal benefit for a single eligible person with no other income plus one-half of that benefit times the number of the sponsor’s other dependents (not including the immigrant and the immigrant’s spouse). The result is the amount counted each year as the immigrant’s unearned income. The sponsor’s resources (and spouse’s, if living together) are totaled, reduced by the applicable resource exclusion, and then counted with the immigrant’s own resources. If the sponsor lives with the immigrant and provides room, board, or other support, that support won’t be separately counted as the immigrant’s income if it was already counted when deeming the sponsor’s income or resources. The immigrant must give Social Security the sponsor’s information and help the agency get what it needs. Social Security will get help from the State Department and the Attorney General and will tell sponsors about these rules when they sign an affidavit of support. The sponsor and the immigrant are both responsible for repaying any overpayment caused by wrong sponsor information during the 3-year period, unless the sponsor had no fault or good reason. Money not repaid can be taken from later payments. The rules do not apply if the immigrant becomes blind or disabled after arriving, or if the immigrant was admitted under certain refugee or asylum categories listed with dates (prior to April 1, 1980, under one rule; after March 31, 1980, under another; paroled as a refugee under 8 U.S.C. 1182(d)(5); or granted political asylum).