Co-Sponsor Question

[sam808 0]

My husband and I are on food stamps and our son is on gov't health insurance. Now my question is, our co-sponsor is a little concern about this. Will this affect our application even if we have a co-sponsor? I am applying for AOS by the way. What is the effect of this food stamps with regards to our co sponsor to the application? thanks....

[Bobby+Umit 161]

Means Tested Public Benefits

Federal means tested public benefits are the following:

Food stamps

Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

Medicaid

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)

State Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

Frequently asked questions about Means Tested Public Benefits

Can the applicant use government assistance or public benefits?

What assistance programs are not considered means tested public benefit programs?

Can the applicant use government assistance or public benefits?

If the sponsored immigrant uses federal means tested public benefits, the sponsor is responsible for repaying the cost of the benefits.

Source

It will not affect your application, however, your co-sponsor will be paying the cost of the benefits received.

Edited February 23, 2010 by Bobby+Umit

[sam808 0]

what do you mean by that?

Source

It will not affect your application, however, your co-sponsor will be paying the cost of the benefits received.

[Nik+Heather 122]

what do you mean by that?

It means that your cosponsor isn't just putting their name on a piece of paper. It means that if your husband avails himself of any of the named resources, the government will first come to you for the money to pay them back. As you're on foodstamps too, its likely you can't, so they will go to your cosponsor.

Your cosponsor is right to be having second thoughts if they thought it was just a paperwork issue. It's probably looking to them like it's a lay out the money issue.

[Anh map 2,098]

See this list of Federal Means Tested Benefits from the I-864 FAQ page posted on the State Dept. website >> I-864 FAQ

Your USC spouse and child can be on these programs without any problem. If the immigrant is signed for one of them then the sponsor(s) are held liable. The primary sponsor is the USC spouse. A co-sponsor would be liable along with the USC spouse.