What is Student Affidavit of Support in USA?

A Student Affidavit of Support is one of the most important documents required to pursue a degree abroad, especially the United States. In this article, we will inform you of everything about the student affidavit of support and give you more clarity about the paperwork as well, particularly for international students.

Once you have received acceptance from the university in the US, the next step is to complete a lot of paperwork in order to be admitted. One important document is the affidavit of support officially termed as Form I-864 is signed by the applicant's financial sponsorer. The United States follows one of the toughest immigration processes in the world. They want to be assured about the candidate's financial condition before offering a US student visa.

Affidavit of Support in USA

Applicants need to submit an Affidavit of Support, so, the school can issue the I-20 form to them. This form acts as proof that you are financially capable of managing your stay in the United States. It is issued by the sponsor showing sponsorship for the visa applicant which shows that they have enough income or source of money to support the applicant while he/she is staying in the US. Every university uses different terminology for the Affidavit of Support. Here are some of the terms used for Affidavit of Support:

• Undergraduate Sponsor Statement
• Financial Resources Statement
• Form I-134
• Affidavit of Financial Support
• Declaration & Certification of Finances

Just showing the amount of money you or your sponsor (it can be your parents or guardians) have will not be enough. You need to get it verified from a reliable source i.e. your bank that the money is really there. Your final admission confirmation will not be complete till your Affidavit of Support is completed.

Documents Required to Prove Financial Ability for I-864

In order to prove the financial capability to study in the US, students have to take care of the documentation process carefully. Documents like academic transcripts, SOP, LOR, passports, etc., have to be shown to prove financial stability. Some of the other documents that have to be shown to substantiate the financial stability are:

• Bank statement (usually of the last one year)
• Loan sanction documents
• ITR statement (usually of the last one year)
• I-20 form
• Salary documents of the sponsors
• Scholarship documents (if applicable)

Significance of a Sponsor for Affidavit of Support

The parents, relatives, or any family member who is supporting the education of a student financially is known as the Sponsor of the student. Now, when a student applies for a study visa, he/she has to submit an affidavit of support to justify to the visa or consulate authorities that there is a sponsor backing his / her financial needs while staying in the U.S.

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When is an Affidavit of Support required?

First of all, you should understand at what step you require the 'Affidavit of Support'. All these steps come after you have completed the application process. These are the steps that will be followed before finally submitting an affidavit of support:

• Firstly, the university scrutinizes the application submitted by a student and then, communicates the intent to accept a student in a particular course
• After getting the preliminary acceptance from the university, students are required to accept the offer
• Once the offer is accepted, students are required to contact the International Programs Officer. The International Programs Officer helps students to move ahead with the visa application. The officer also helps in submitting the affidavit of support to the university.
• After this, the affidavit of support has to be submitted.

What happens after submitting an affidavit of support?

The university processes all the documents submitted by students, including an affidavit of support. Once the scrutinizing of all the documents is done and if the university is satisfied with the contents of the affidavit of support, it issues the I-20 thereafter.

Affidavit of Support for F1 Visa

The U.S. government gives permission to students from India and other countries to come on an F1 visa in order to pursue higher education from the universities situated in the U.S. However, Indian students who are applying for the F1 must have an affidavit of support for student visa. It certifies the capability of students to fund their education and the cost of living in the U.S.

When an I-20 form is issued by the university, it specifies that a student has been admitted to a program and has shown the financial capability to pursue the course and fund the living expenses. Students must be aware of all the information they have submitted at the time of applying for an F1 visa. The visa officials may ask questions based on the information submitted in the affidavit of support.

Affidavit of Support for Scholarship Students

This must be the question in the student's minds who have received the scholarship (even 100% scholarship), whether they need to show the Affidavit of Support or not? Or what to do in case if the university wants you to list the full tuition amount. First of all, it doesn’t mean that you have to pay the amount. You need not pay the fee and your scholarship is also binding in this case. However, in some cases, US universities may ask you to show documentation related to the scholarship while submitting your Affidavit of Support. In some cases, students get a partial scholarship like 75%, then in that case, students have to submit an Affidavit of Support. This helps the university to get sure that a student can pay the difference between the tuition fee and the scholarship amount.

Bank Balance certificate: It is a document issued by your or the sponsor's bank stating the amount of money present in the account of the account holder. Here, the account holder is either you or your sponsor.

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