Two requirements, not one
If you live in the United States and marry a foreign national, Form I-864 is paperwork. If you have been living in Colombia for years and marry a Colombian, the same form becomes the hardest document in the case — because two of its requirements assume the sponsor lives in the United States, and you do not.
The two are independent, and failing either one sinks the affidavit. You must be domiciled in the United States, and you must show qualifying income. Nearly everyone spends their preparation on the second and is ambushed by the first.
What the I-864 actually is
It is not a formality and not a statement of intent. It is a contract, enforceable against you by the sponsored immigrant and by any federal, state or local agency that provides them a means-tested public benefit. Signing it makes you financially responsible for the person you sponsor.
The obligation ends only when one of a short list of things happens: the immigrant naturalizes, is credited with 40 qualifying quarters of work, permanently departs the United States, or dies.
Divorce does not end the obligation. It is not on the list. A sponsor who divorces two years after admission remains contractually liable, and that liability is enforceable by the former spouse.
Domicile — the requirement expats fail
The sponsor must be domiciled in the United States or one of its territories or possessions. Domicile is neither citizenship nor physical presence on a given day: it is your principal residence together with the intention to maintain it. An American who has lived in Medellín for six years, pays Colombian tax, holds a Colombian lease and has no U.S. address is, on the face of it, not domiciled in the United States.
There are two ways through. Either you show you never abandoned U.S. domicile despite living abroad, or you show you will re-establish it on or before the date your spouse is admitted. For most long-term expats the second is the realistic route, and it requires evidence of concrete steps rather than declarations of intent.
A narrow set of sponsors are treated as maintaining domicile automatically — principally those employed abroad by the U.S. government and by certain qualifying organizations and institutions. If you fall inside one of those categories the problem largely disappears, so it is worth checking the current Form I-864 instructions before assuming you do not.
What re-establishing domicile looks like
Consular officers assess the whole picture. Evidence that carries weight:
- A U.S. residence secured — purchased or leased, with documentation.
- U.S. employment accepted or arranged, ideally with a start date.
- U.S. bank accounts maintained or reopened.
- A current U.S. driver's license and voter registration.
- Federal returns filed on a resident basis rather than solely as an expat.
- Dependants or immediate family already in the United States.
Evidence that carries almost none: a mailing address at a relative's house, a U.S. mobile number, and a stated plan to return at some point. The distinction being drawn is between arrangements you have made and arrangements you say you will make.
Income that counts vs. income that stops
The threshold is 125% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines for your household size, counting the intending immigrant. Active-duty military sponsoring a spouse or child use 100%. That part is arithmetic.
The trap is which income counts. Foreign income generally cannot be counted unless it will continue from the same source after you relocate. A Colombian salary from a Colombian employer stops when you move; it does not support the affidavit, however comfortably it clears the threshold. Income that qualifies is income that survives the move — a U.S.-source remote role, a business that relocates with you, U.S. rental income, dividends, distributions, a pension.
Two Americans in Bogotá earning the same amount — one from a Colombian employer, one remotely from a U.S. client — are in entirely different positions on the I-864. Nothing on either tax return makes that difference visible, and it is not the kind of thing a consular officer resolves in your favour at the interview.
What the FEIE does and does not do here
The foreign earned income exclusion is a tax mechanism, not an income-qualification mechanism, and the two are confused constantly. Foreign earned income still appears in total income on your return, with the exclusion taken as a separate negative adjustment — so the figure an officer sees is typically the pre-exclusion number.
But appearing is not counting. Whether that income qualifies for the I-864 turns entirely on continuation from the same source after relocation. Expats who have spent years optimizing around the exclusion often assume a healthy return settles the question. It does not.
Assets as a substitute
Where income falls short, assets can fill the gap. The general rule requires assets equal to five times the shortfall, reduced to three times where a U.S. citizen sponsors a spouse or child — which is the case this guide addresses. Assets must be convertible to cash within one year without hardship to the owner or family.
Colombian real estate is where this gets interesting, and where documentation decides it: valuation, ownership evidence, encumbrances, and a credible account of liquidity. A property you live in and have no intention of selling is a weak asset for this purpose.
The joint sponsor — what it fixes
A joint sponsor accepts the same contractual liability and must independently meet the threshold for their own household plus the intending immigrant, be a citizen or permanent resident, be at least eighteen, and be domiciled in the United States.
A joint sponsor cures an income problem. It does not cure a domicile problem. The petitioning sponsor must establish domicile no matter who else signs. Bringing in a well-off relative solves the number and leaves the harder requirement exactly where it was.
Sequencing the move
Work backwards from the consular interview rather than forwards from the petition. Establish which category your income falls into first, because that determines whether you need a joint sponsor at all. Start accumulating domicile evidence early — it is cumulative, and it cannot be manufactured in the month before the interview.
Then align the dates. Domicile must be in place by admission, and the year you move is the year both tax systems have a claim on you, so the immigration calendar and the Colombian residency calendar have to be planned together rather than in sequence. This is the point at which a tax question becomes an immigration question, and it is worth putting both in front of counsel who handles family-based immigration before you commit to a departure date — the ordering is hard to unwind once the petition is filed.
A short checklist
- Which of my income continues from the same source after I move?
- If none of it does, who is my joint sponsor, and do they independently qualify?
- What have I actually done — not planned — toward a U.S. residence?
- Do I fall into a category treated as maintaining domicile automatically?
- If relying on assets, can I document conversion to cash within a year?
- Does my move date align with breaking Colombian tax residency cleanly?
Poverty guideline figures are updated annually and asset multipliers, domicile categories and evidentiary expectations are set out in the current Form I-864 instructions. Check them against your filing year rather than against this page. The framework is INA §213A and 8 C.F.R. Part 213a.