New DOS Fee Proposed for Form I-864
Posted Mar 25, 2000

For the first time, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) proposes to assess a fee for submission of the I-864: Affidavit of Support.

As many of you may be aware, the I-864 is used only in the following types of cases:  immigrant (not temporary) visa and adjustment of status applications that are either (a) family based, or (b) employment-based where the petitioning employer is at least 5% owned by a relative of the beneficiary.  

Since the proposed fee only applies when the DOS processes the I-864, the proposed rule would not impose a fee for an I-864 submitted with an application for adjustment of status (Form I-485) through INS in the U.S. Furthermore, the fee relates only to the I-864, not to the other Affidavit of Support, Form I-134, used in connection with temporary visas or for dependents in employment-based immigrant visa and adjustment cases.

The DOS proposed rule, published in the Federal Register on March 13, 2000, states that the fee would be "set initially at $50" and would be used to assist sponsors in completing the I-864. The I-864 is indeed a complex form even though it appears fairly simple on review. There is also a re-designed I-864 under consideration, which will hopefully be clearer and easier to follow. 

For those cases which need more than one I-864 that contains the same information, for example where several family members are all applying for visas (either separately or together) and all have the same person sponsoring them, the fee is assessed only once, rather than for each I-864 submitted. This fee is in addition to any visa fee charged to the visa applicant.

The DOS is accepting written comments on the proposed rule, up to April 12, 2000.  Comments should be submitted in duplicate to: 

Office of the Executive Director
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Department of State
Washington, D.C. 20520-4818

The fax number is (202) 647-3677.

The Law Office of Sheela Murthy, P.C.