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

Summary

Counts a sponsor’s and the sponsor’s spouse’s money and assets as the immigrant’s unearned income and resources for 3 years after the immigrant enters the United States if the sponsor signed an affidavit of support or similar agreement. To find the yearly amount counted, the government totals the sponsor’s and spouse’s income, then subtracts a set allowance equal to the full federal benefit for one person for that year and another half of that benefit for each other dependent the sponsor has (not counting the immigrant or the immigrant’s spouse). The same idea applies to assets: total sponsor and spouse resources minus an allowed exclusion, and the remainder is added to the immigrant’s resources. During the 3 years the immigrant must give Social Security information and papers about the sponsor so these rules can be applied. If the immigrant lives with the sponsor and gets support in kind, a usual dollar reduction won’t apply, and sponsor help already counted under these rules is not counted again. If a wrong sponsor report causes an overpayment in those 3 years, the sponsor and immigrant are both responsible to repay it unless the sponsor had no fault or good reason; unpaid overpayments may be taken from later payments. The rules do not apply if the person becomes blind or disabled after arrival, or if the person falls into certain refugee, asylum, or specific pre- or post- April 1, 1980 immigration categories.