Abstract
Sponsoring an immigrant spouse to come to the United States can be a labyrinthine task. Sponsorship requires completion of Form I-864, creating a binding contract between the sponsoring spouse and the U.S. government with the sponsored immigrant spouse as a third party beneficiary. Under this contract, the sponsor agrees to financially support the immigrant spouse, and both the U.S. government and the sponsored spouse have a contractual right to sue the sponsor for enforcement of this financial obligation.
Current case law further convolutes the issue, holding that nuptial agreements between U.S. citizen spouses and sponsored immigrants are unenforceable when an immigrant seeks financial reimbursement under Form I-864. This Note addresses the discordance between the current case law and common law contract principles and identifies the congressional purposes behind several immigration statutes. This Note proposes a change to the current enforcement of Form I-864 that would permit immigrants to waive their third party rights through valid nuptial agreements. Enforcing these waivers fulfills multiple statutory purposes and satisfies both immigration and contract law principles harmoniously.
Recommended Citation
Samantha Earls,
Your Marriage Didn’t Last, but Your Obligations Will: Why Nuptial Agreements Should Be Enforceable Against Sponsored Immigrant Spouses Under the I-864 Affidavit of Support,
46
S. Ill. U. L.J.
291
(2022).
Available at:
https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/siulj/vol46/iss2/4