Death of the I-864 sponsor terminates obligation.

In a published New Jersey case, an appeals court followed the plain language of the Form I-864 to hold that support obligations end upon the death of a sponsor. Fox v. Lincoln Financial Group was primarily a state law case about whether marriage should automatically cause one spouse, by operation of law, to become the beneficiary of the other’s life insurance policy.[1] When a U.S. citizen spouse died, his foreign national spouse sued the life insurance company, and argued that the Affidavit of Support offered a justification for recovering against the policy. The trial and appeals courts rejected that contention, citing the plain language of the Form I-864, stating that the obligation ends upon the death of the sponsor.[2]

It is important to distinguish, however, between termination of the sponsor’s obligation and the viability of claims accrued up to the date of termination. If a sponsor has failed to provide support for a period of one year, for example, and then dies, his estate will remain liable for support arrears up to the date of his death. While the estate is not liable for future support – since the obligation has terminated – the beneficiary does not lose the ability to assert claims that accrued prior to the sponsor’s death.

Under the plain language of the Form I-864, the sponsor’s obligations commence when the beneficiary gains lawful permanent residency based on the sponsor’s affidavit. Of course, if the Affidavit is signed but never filed, then the sponsor never becomes obligated under the contract.[3]

[1] 109 A.3d 221 (2015).

[2] Id. at 223, 227-28.

[3] F.B. v. M.M.R., 120 A.3d 1062 (Pa. Super. 2015).

What is 40 "work quarters" for purpose of the I-864?

The sponsor’s obligation under the I-864 terminates when the beneficiary acquires 40 quarters of work under the Social Security Act.[1] But whose work quarters count towards that threshold? In the California case of Gross v. Gross, a pro se plaintiff argued that her husband’s quarters of work did not count towards the 40 quarters.[2] Following the plain text of the Form I-864 and underlying statute, the Court disagreed. The statute specifically provides that in counting quarters of work, the beneficiary shall be credited with “all of the qualifying quarters worked by a spouse of such alien during their marriage and the alien remains married to such spouse or such spouse is deceased.”[3]

The Form I-864 itself, official instructions, and statute all refer to work quarters with which the beneficiary may be “credited” rather than those she has earned.[4] As the Gross Court concludes, it is clear that a beneficiary can be credited with work quarters earned by her spouse. Note, however, that this does not necessarily resolve the issue of whether quarters can be double-stacked. If both the beneficiary and sponsor are working, it is not obvious that two work quarters should be simultaneously counted towards the 40-quarter threshold.[5]

[1] Clients and even immigration attorneys sometimes believe that I-864 obligations end after 10 years. That is incorrect. The obligations are terminated after the beneficiary may be credited with 40 quarters of work under the Social Security Act. That threshold could be met in ten years, but not necessarily.

[2] E060475 (Cal. App., 4th Dist., 2nd Div. Aug. 6, 2015).

[3] Id. (citing INA § 213A(a)(3)(A)).

[4] See id.

[5] Cf. Davis v. Davis, No. WD-11-006 (Ohio Ct. App. May 11, 2012) (Singer, J. dissenting) (arguing that double-stacking should not be applied).