DOS Cable on Welfare Act Affidavit of Support
Fm SecState WashDC
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E.O. 12958: N/A
Tags: CVIS
Subject: Welfare Act Affidavit of Support
1. Summary: On August 20 the President signed H.R. 3734, the “Personal Responsibility Opportunity Act of 1995” (The Welfare Act) into law. This Act requires all affidavits of support filed pursuant to INA 212(A)(4) public charge provisions must be executed as a contract. As explained below, these affidavit of support provisions are not effective immediately. End Summary.
2. Affidavit of Support: The Act amends the INA by adding Section 213A, this new section lists the requirements for a sponsor’s affidavit of support. One requirement is that the sponsor must be the applicant’s petitioner. It must be understood that this amendment does not repeat not require the use of affidavits of support in all cases. It merely sets forth the requirements of an affidavit of support when one is accepted by either INS or a Consular Officer.
A. Enforceability: The affidavit must be executed as a contract which is legally enforceable against the sponsor by the sponsored alien, by the Federal Government, and by any subdivision of a State Government. Among other characteristics of the affidavit, the contract is enforceable until the alien becomes a United States citizen.
B. Form: The Attorney General is provided 90 days from date of enactment to prepare the affidavit form after consultation with the Department of State and the Department of Health and Human Services. Thus, the Attorney General has 90 days from August 20 to craft this affidavit.
C. Effective Date: The date that the affidavit will go into effect will be designated by the Attorney General. However, the statute requires the Attorney General to pick a date not earlier than 60 days and not later than 90 days from the date the form has been officially formulated. So, if the Attorney General uses all 90 days to prepare the affidavit form, then the earliest the form could be put into effect is 150 days from August 20.
3. Consular Operations: This law is most convoluted and will require extensive study. The Department will keep the field informed of significant developments regarding the new affidavit form and any relevant changes in procedures. The Department is also reviewing pertinent sections of this law to ascertain whether any of the changes concerning the administration of some of the welfare programs will introduce applicability of INA 212(A)(4). Furthermore, certain programs will become unavailable to certain (not all) permanent residents. Until our study with INS and HHS of this law leads us to some fundamental conclusions, there should be no changes in the consular adjudication of public charge cases or in the consular processing of affidavits of support.
4. Minimized Considered.
Christopher