What is Form I-134?

Form I-134 is a declaration in which a person living in the United States says they will financially support someone during a temporary stay. The official page calls it the “Declaration of Financial Support”.

It is not the same as Form I-864. That one is a contract for immigrants coming to stay through a family petition; the I-134 is for certain temporary filings and for some humanitarian processes.

Form I-134 is not filed on its own. It is submitted together with the application or petition it supports, and the official page says where it goes depends on whether the supported person is inside or outside the country and on which filing it is.

One is filled out per supported person. Which filing takes an I-134 and which takes an I-864 is a legal question: we do not answer it and we do not choose for you.

According to the instructions, it is signed by the person committing to support, the one living here, not the supported person. It is almost always a relative or a close friend with income or savings they can document.

Whether your income is enough for that person's filing is decided by the reviewing officer, not by us. A licensed attorney or a Department of Justice accredited representative can guide you before you sign.

People almost always gather proof of income: pay stubs, a letter from the employer, the most recent tax return, bank statements. And the supported person's complete details.

The general list and the official sources live on the form's page; we do not repeat them here. What evidence each filing asks for is in that filing's own instructions.

We ask for your details, your job and your income, one thing at a time, and transfer the answers onto the official form with technical checks: dates, empty boxes, figures that disagree with each other.

You receive an unsigned PDF. You review it, sign it by hand and submit it with the filing it supports, or give it to the supported person to include in theirs, as that filing's instructions say.

Putting gross income in one box and net income in another. Leaving the relationship to the supported person blank. Signing without a date. Sending it loose, without the filing it supports.

And using this form when the filing calls for the I-864, or the other way around. Each filing's instructions say which one goes; it is worth reading them before filling anything out.

Because it travels inside another filing, the receipt notice that arrives is that filing's, not one of the I-134's own. If the officer wants more proof of income, they ask for it by letter.

In the guide on what happens after you mail your form we explain that notice and what each USCIS letter means.

We are not a law firm and we do not give legal advice. We fill the form in with your answers; whether committing is wise for you, and for how much, is your decision, one you can discuss with a licensed attorney.