1713
vided under section 403 of the Personal Re-
sponsibility and Work Opportunity Reconcili-
ation Act of 1996) during any such period.
‘‘(B) QUALIFYING
QUARTERS.—For pur-
poses of this section, in determining the number
of qualifying quarters of coverage under title II
of the Social Security Act an alien shall be
credited with—
‘‘(i) all of the qualifying quarters of
coverage as defined under title II of the
Social Security Act worked by a parent of
such alien while the alien was under age
18, and
‘‘(ii) all of the qualifying quarters
worked by a spouse of such alien during
their marriage and the alien remains mar-
ried to such spouse or such spouse is de-
ceased.
No such qualifying quarter of coverage that is
creditable under title II of the Social Security
Act for any period beginning after December
31, 1996, may be credited to an alien under
clause (i) or (ii) if the parent or spouse (as the
case may be) of such alien received any Federal
means-tested public benefit (as provided under
1714
section 403 of the Personal Responsibility and
Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996)
during the period for which such qualifying
quarter of coverage is so credited.
‘‘(C) PROVISION
OF
INFORMATION
TO
SAVE SYSTEM.—The Attorney General shall en-
sure that appropriate information regarding the
application of this paragraph is provided to the
system for alien verification of eligibility
(SAVE) described in section 1137(d)(3) of the
Social Security Act.
‘‘(b) 
REIMBURSEMENT
OF
GOVERNMENT
EX-
PENSES.—
‘‘(1) REQUEST FOR REIMBURSEMENT.—
‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—Upon notification
that a sponsored alien has received any means-
tested public benefit, the appropriate non-
governmental entity which provided such benefit
or the appropriate entity of the Federal Govern-
ment, a State, or any political subdivision of a
State shall request reimbursement by the spon-
sor in an amount which is equal to the unreim-
bursed costs of such benefit.
‘‘(B) REGULATIONS.—The Attorney Gen-
eral, in consultation with the heads of other ap-
1715
propriate Federal agencies, shall prescribe such
regulations as may be necessary to carry out
subparagraph (A).
‘‘(2) ACTIONS TO COMPEL REIMBURSEMENT.—
‘‘(A) IN CASE OF NONRESPONSE.—If with-
in 45 days after a request for reimbursement
under paragraph (1)(A), the appropriate entity
has not received a response from the sponsor
indicating a willingness to commence payment
an action may be brought against the sponsor
pursuant to the affidavit of support.
‘‘(B) IN CASE OF FAILURE TO PAY.—If the
sponsor fails to abide by the repayment terms
established by the appropriate entity, the entity
may bring an action against the sponsor pursu-
ant to the affidavit of support.
‘‘(C) LIMITATION ON ACTIONS.—No cause
of action may be brought under this paragraph
later than 10 years after the date on which the
sponsored alien last received any means-tested
public benefit to which the affidavit of support
applies.
‘‘(3) USE OF COLLECTION AGENCIES.—If the
appropriate entity under paragraph (1)(A) requests
reimbursement from the sponsor or brings an action
1716
against the sponsor pursuant to the affidavit of sup-
port, the appropriate entity may appoint or hire an
individual or other person to act on behalf of such
entity acting under the authority of law for purposes
of collecting any amounts owed.
‘‘(c) REMEDIES.—Remedies available to enforce an
affidavit of support under this section include any or all
of the remedies described in section 3201, 3203, 3204,
or 3205 of title 28, United States Code, as well as an
order for specific performance and payment of legal fees
and other costs of collection, and include corresponding
remedies available under State law. A Federal agency may
seek to collect amounts owed under this section in accord-
ance with the provisions of subchapter II of chapter 37
of title 31, United States Code.
‘‘(d) NOTIFICATION OF CHANGE OF ADDRESS.—
‘‘(1) GENERAL
REQUIREMENT.—The sponsor
shall notify the Attorney General and the State in
which the sponsored alien is currently a resident
within 30 days of any change of address of the spon-
sor during the period in which an affidavit of sup-
port is enforceable.
‘‘(2) PENALTY.—Any person subject to the re-
quirement of paragraph (1) who fails to satisfy such
1717
requirement shall, after notice and opportunity to be
heard, be subject to a civil penalty of—
‘‘(A) not less than $250 or more than
$2,000, or
‘‘(B) if such failure occurs with knowledge
that the sponsored alien has received any
means-tested public benefits (other than bene-
fits described in section 401(b), 403(c)(2), or
411(b) of the Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996) not
less than $2,000 or more than $5,000.
The Attorney General shall enforce this paragraph
under appropriate regulations.
‘‘(e) JURISDICTION.—An action to enforce an affida-
vit of support executed under subsection (a) may be
brought against the sponsor in any appropriate court—
‘‘(1) by a sponsored alien, with respect to finan-
cial support; or
‘‘(2) by the appropriate entity of the Federal
Government, a State or any political subdivision of
a State, or by any other nongovernmental entity
under subsection (b)(2), with respect to reimburse-
ment.
‘‘(f) SPONSOR DEFINED.—
1718
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec-
tion the term ‘sponsor’ in relation to a sponsored
alien means an individual who executes an affidavit
of support with respect to the sponsored alien and
who—
‘‘(A) is a citizen or national of the United
States or an alien who is lawfully admitted to
the United States for permanent residence;
‘‘(B) is at least 18 years of age;
‘‘(C) is domiciled in any of the several
States of the United States, the District of Co-
lumbia, or any territory or possession of the
United States;
‘‘(D) is petitioning for the admission of the
alien under section 204; and
‘‘(E) demonstrates (as provided in para-
graph (6)) the means to maintain an annual in-
come equal to at least 125 percent of the Fed-
eral poverty line.
‘‘(2) INCOME REQUIREMENT CASE.—Such term
also includes an individual who does not meet the re-
quirement of paragraph (1)(E) but accepts joint and
several liability together with an individual under
paragraph (5).
1720
‘‘(ii) does not meet the requirement of
paragraph (1)(E) but accepts joint and several
liability together with an individual under para-
graph (5).
‘‘(5) NON-PETITIONING CASE.—Such term also
includes an individual who does not meet the re-
quirement of paragraph (1)(D) but who accepts joint
and several liability with a petitioning sponsor under
paragraph (2) or relative of an employment-based
immigrant under paragraph (4) and who dem-
onstrates (as provided under paragraph (6)) the
means to maintain an annual income equal to at
least 125 percent of the Federal poverty line.
‘‘(6) DEMONSTRATION OF MEANS TO MAINTAIN
INCOME.—
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—
‘‘(i) METHOD OF DEMONSTRATION.—
For purposes of this section, a demonstra-
tion of the means to maintain income shall
include provision of a certified copy of the
individual’s Federal income tax return for
the individual’s 3 most recent taxable years
and a written statement, executed under
oath or as permitted under penalty of per-
jury under section 1746 of title 28, United
1721
States Code, that the copies are certified
copies of such returns.
‘‘(ii) FLEXIBILITY.—For purposes of
this section, aliens may demonstrate the
means to maintain income through dem-
onstration of significant assets of the spon-
sored alien or of the sponsor, if such assets
are available for the support of the spon-
sored alien.
‘‘(iii) PERCENT
OF
POVERTY.—For
purposes of this section, a reference to an
annual income equal to at least a particu-
lar percentage of the Federal poverty line
means an annual income equal to at least
such percentage of the Federal poverty line
for a family unit of a size equal to the
number of members of the sponsor’s
household (including family and non-family
dependents) plus the total number of other
dependents and aliens sponsored by that
sponsor.
‘‘(B) 
LIMITATION.—The 
Secretary 
of
State, or the Attorney General in the case of
adjustment of status, may provide that the
1722
demonstration under subparagraph (A) applies
only to the most recent taxable year.
‘‘(h) FEDERAL POVERTY LINE DEFINED.—For pur-
poses of this section, the term ‘Federal poverty line’ means
the level of income equal to the official poverty line (as
defined by the Director of the Office of Management and
Budget, as revised annually by the Secretary of Health
and Human Services, in accordance with section 673(2)
of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 (42
U.S.C. 9902)) that is applicable to a family of the size
involved.
‘‘(i) SPONSOR’S SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT NUM-
BER REQUIRED TO BE PROVIDED.—(1) An affidavit of
support shall include the social security account number
of each sponsor.
‘‘(2) The Attorney General shall develop an auto-
mated system to maintain the social security account num-
ber data provided under paragraph (1).
‘‘(3) The Attorney General shall submit an annual
report to the Committees on the Judiciary of the House
of Representatives and the Senate setting forth—
‘‘(A) for the most recent fiscal year for which
data are available the number of sponsors under this
section and the number of sponsors in compliance
with the financial obligations of this section; and
1723
‘‘(B) a comparison of such numbers with the
numbers of such sponsors for the preceding fiscal
year.’’.
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—
(1) Section 421(a)(1) and section 422(a)(1) of
the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1631(a)(1),
1632(a)(1)) are each amended by inserting ‘‘and as
amended by section 551(a) of the Illegal Immigra-
tion Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of
1996’’ after ‘‘section 423’’.
(2) Section 423 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1138a
note) is amended by striking subsection (c).
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE; PROMULGATION OF FORM.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by
this section shall apply to affidavits of support exe-
cuted on or after a date specified by the Attorney
General, which date shall be not earlier than 60 days
(and not later than 90 days) after the date the At-
torney General formulates the form for such affida-
vits under paragraph (2).
(2) PROMULGATION OF FORM.—Not later than
90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Attorney General, in consultation with the heads
of other appropriate agencies, shall promulgate a
1724
standard form for an affidavit of support consistent
with the provisions of section 213A of the Immigra-
tion and Nationality Act, as amended by subsection
(a).
SEC. 552. INDIGENCE AND BATTERED SPOUSE AND CHILD
EXCEPTIONS TO FEDERAL ATTRIBUTION OF
INCOME RULE.
Section 421 of the Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1631)
is amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘(e) INDIGENCE EXCEPTION.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For an alien for whom an
affidavit of support under section 213A of the Immi-
gration and Nationality Act has been executed, if a
determination described in paragraph (2) is made,
the amount of income and resources of the sponsor
or the sponsor’s spouse which shall be attributed to
the sponsored alien shall not exceed the amount ac-
tually provided for a period beginning on the date of
such determination and ending 12 months after such
date.
‘‘(2) DETERMINATION
DESCRIBED.—A deter-
mination described in this paragraph is a determina-
tion by an agency that a sponsored alien would, in
1725
the absence of the assistance provided by the agency,
be unable to obtain food and shelter, taking into ac-
count the alien’s own income, plus any cash, food,
housing, or other assistance provided by other indi-
viduals, including the sponsor. The agency shall no-
tify the Attorney General of each such determina-
tion, including the names of the sponsor and the
sponsored alien involved.
‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULE FOR BATTERED SPOUSE AND
CHILD.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2)
and notwithstanding any other provision of this sec-
tion, subsection (a) shall not apply to benefits—
‘‘(A) during a 12 month period if the alien
demonstrates that (i) the alien has been bat-
tered or subjected to extreme cruelty in the
United States by a spouse or a parent, or by a
member of the spouse or parent’s family resid-
ing in the same household as the alien and the
spouse or parent consented to or acquiesced to
such battery or cruelty, or (ii) the alien’s child
has been battered or subjected to extreme cru-
elty in the United States by the spouse or par-
ent of the alien (without the active participation
of the alien in the battery or cruelty), or by a