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The I-864 is a convoluted bit of paperwork required before the U.S. government will issue your child’s visa to come into the U.S. The purpose of the document is to prove that you will be able to support your child without government assistance after he comes to America. Your adoption agency will provide you with the form and instructions at the proper time in your adoption process.
The document looks at the income of the sponsor (the parent) and determines if it is adequate to meet the child’s needs. The standard that they use is the U.S. Poverty Guidelines. An adoptive family must make 125% of the Poverty Guidelines according to family size to bring a child into the U.S. You need to figure family size to include the new child or children you plan to adopt.
According to the 2007 Guidelines
–A family of four adopting one child would need $30,163.
– A family of 6 adopting 2 more kids would need $43,213.
–A family of 10 adopting 2 more kids would need $60,413.
The standards are lower for military families: they only have to meet 100% of poverty guidelines instead of 125%. If you live in Alaska or Hawaii, however, the standards are a little higher.
As you can see, families with more children have to prove significantly more income. Most adoptive families will not have a problem meeting these guidelines. However, there are ways to meet the requirements if your income happens to fall a little short of the 125% mark.
The first option is to find someone who is willing to be you co-sponsor. If you have a willing friend or relative who does make the required amount of money and is willing to vouch for you, then your problem is solved. Ask him or her to fill out a document agreeing to support your child if you should become unable to do so. I’ll talk in a future post about how to meet those requirements if you don’t happen to have a willing person to vouch for you.
Related links
Preparing Affidavit of Support Forms
Paperwork to bring a child to the U.S.
Black-belt paper pushing
Does the I-184 thing depend on country? I read that you don’t need it if both parents go to get the child in-country in MacLean’s Russian Adoption Handbook.
Man, is the paperwork ever intimidating. Not that it should be easy, but do you ever wish it was just a tad more… linear?
For awhile the US Embassy in Ethiopia did not require it. We ddin’t need it for our adoption in 2004. But they do require it now. It is on my list of things to do this week!