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I’m a U.S. citizen, and my spouse came on a K1 visa. We married on June 1, 2020. Then my spouse got a Conditional Green Card in December 2020.

We divorced in August 2021.

Obviously I’m not going to help my ex with removing the green card conditional status. Anyway, my spouse has this conditional green card. But I’m worried. Am I on the hook because of the I-864 Affidavit of Support, and a bunch of other “support my spouse” documents?

If my spouse applies for removing of condition, and gets a “normal” green card, am I going to be on the hook still? Or will her “normal” green card invalidate my “on the hook” condition?

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    Note that the I-864 Affidavit of Support does not make the sponsor "financially responsible" for the immigrant. Rather, the I-864 obligation is only to supplement the immigrant's income to 125% of poverty level, if it does not already reach that level. If that obligation is met, the sponsor is not liable for any further support for the immigrant, nor responsible for any of the immigrant's bills or debts. Of course, a divorce order might mandate spousal support, but that's a separate issue.
    – user102008
    Oct 19, 2021 at 17:29

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Yes, it appears so.

The ways that your obligations under an affidavit of support can be terminated are found in 8 CFR §213a.2(e)(2). There are five options:

  1. The immigrant (your ex-spouse) becomes a US citizen.
  2. The immigrant works for 40 quarters (10 years), earning enough money to be covered under Social Security during each of those quarters, and not receiving any means-tested public assistance during that time.
  3. The immigrant abandons their green card status and departs the US.
  4. The immigrant is subject to removal, but successfully applies for adjustment of status in the removal proceedings and (as part of this adjustment of status) a new affidavit of support is agreed to.
  5. The immigrant dies.

The removal of the conditional status of your spouse's green card doesn't change your obligation. The conditional green card reflects the fact that you were married to your spouse for less than two years; and whether or not a spousal immigrant requires an affidavit of support is largely independent of how long they've been married. In other words, if you had been married for more than two years before you came to the US, your spouse would have always had a "normal" green card. But they still probably would have been required to provide an affidavit of support from you, agreeing to the same terms.

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  • But in order to remove the conditional status, the immigrant spouse will have to get another “affidavit of support”, which the U.S. spouse is NOT going to sign. So that immigrant spouse will have someone else to sign that. This gets the U.S. spouse off the hook
    – user41354
    Oct 18, 2021 at 20:56
  • @user41354: I'm not a lawyer (and it really sounds like you need one), but I don't think that's the case; can you point to some citations for that? As far as I can tell, a divorced spouse may independently file for removal of conditions if the marriage was entered into in good faith (and not to circumvent immigration laws.) See this page in particular, in the section on "How to Get a Waiver of the Requirement to File a Joint Petition".
    – Michael Seifert
    Oct 18, 2021 at 21:15
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    @user41354 I don't see anything on the USCIS website that suggests an affidavit of support must be filed when applying for removal of conditions, neither on the affidavit of support page nor on the removal of conditions page. The only provisions for a "substitute sponsor" apply if the original sponsor dies, not in cases of divorce.
    – phoog
    Oct 18, 2021 at 21:44
  • So the U.S. spouse is doomed :)
    – user41354
    Oct 18, 2021 at 21:56
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    @user102008 agreed, I was mainly trying to forestall time-wasting research into irrelevant administrative provisions. The provisions for a substitute sponsor are doubly (at least) irrelevant here.
    – phoog
    Oct 19, 2021 at 19:53

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