We have published a new video that explains how to hire and pay for a lawyer to help you get financial support from your Form I-864 sponsor spouse.

If you have a green card and are earning little to no income, your sponsor spouse is required to financially support you — even after separation or divorce. That’s because of the Form I-864, Affidavit of Support, your sponsor signed. If they are not supporting you, you can sue them to get the support and arrears you are owed. And you can get the help of an attorney do so do. But how do you pay for an attorney? The government took this into account when creating the Form I-864 and included a fee-shifting provision. That means that if your spouse or ex spouse forces you to hire a lawyer to get support, the spouse has to pay your attorneys fees if you win. This is very different from hiring a divorce or immigration lawyer. The practical effect of this is it allows attorneys to take these cases on a contingency basis, where the lawyers only get paid if they are successful and recover money. This means that you can hire a lawyer to take your case even if you don’t have money to pay a lawyer. This helps ensure that the courts are open and accessible to sponsored immigrants who have not received support, especially if they have no money to hire a lawyer to help them.

You can view the video here or below.