2017-13717. Agency Information Collection Activities; Revision of a Currently Approved Collection: Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the Act, Form I-864; Contract Between Sponsor and Household Member, Form I-864A; EZ Affidavit of Support ...

AGENCY:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security.

ACTION:

30-Day notice.

SUMMARY:

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will be submitting the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comments.

DATES:

The purpose of this notice is to allow an additional 30 days for public comments. Comments are encouraged and will be accepted until July 31, 2017. This process is conducted in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.10.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments and/or suggestions regarding the item(s) contained in this notice, especially regarding the estimated public burden and associated response time, must be directed to the OMB USCIS Desk Officer via email at [e-mail]. All submissions received must include the agency name and the OMB Control Number 1615-0075 in the subject line.

You may wish to consider limiting the amount of personal information that you provide in any voluntary submission you make. For additional information please read the Privacy Act notice that is available via the link in the footer of http://www.regulations.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

USCIS, Office of Policy and Strategy, Regulatory Coordination Division, Samantha Deshommes, Chief, 20 Massachusetts Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20529-2140, Telephone number [phone] (This is not a toll-free number; comments are not accepted via telephone message.). Please note contact information provided here is solely for questions regarding this notice. It is not for individual case status inquiries. Applicants seeking information about the status of their individual cases can check Case Status Online, available at the USCIS Web site at http://www.uscis.gov,, or call the USCIS National Customer Service Center at [phone]; TTY [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Comments

The information collection notice was previously published in the Federal Register on March 8, 2017, at 82 FR 13650, allowing for a 60-day public comment period. USCIS did receive comments in connection with the 60-day notice.

You may access the information collection instrument with instructions, or additional information by visiting the Federal eRulemaking Portal site at: http://www.regulations.gov and enter USCIS-2007-0029 in the search box. Written comments and suggestions from the public and affected agencies should address one or more of the following four points:

(1) Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility;

(2) Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used;

(3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and

(4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses.

Overview of This Information Collection

(1) Type of Information Collection Request: Revision of a Currently Approved Collection.

(2) Title of the Form/Collection: Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the Act; Contract Between Sponsor and Household Member; EZ Affidavit of Support under Section 213 of the Act; Intending Immigrant's Affidavit of Support Exemption.

(3) Agency form number, if any, and the applicable component of the DHS sponsoring the collection: Form I-864, Form I-864A, Form I-864EZ, and Form I-864W; USCIS.

(4) Affected public who will be asked or required to respond, as well as a brief abstract:

Primary: Individuals or households; USCIS uses the data collected on Form I-864 to determine whether the sponsor has the ability to support the sponsored alien under section 213A of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This form standardizes evaluation of a sponsor's ability to support the sponsored alien and ensures that basic information required to assess eligibility is provided by petitioners.

Form I-864A is a contract between the sponsor and the sponsor's household members. It is only required if the sponsor used the income of his or her household members to reach the required 125 percent of the Federal poverty guidelines. The contract holds these household members jointly and severally liable for the support of the sponsored immigrant. The information collection required on Form I-864A is necessary for public benefit agencies to enforce the Affidavit of Support in the event the sponsor used income of his or her household members to reach the required income level and the public benefit agencies are requesting reimbursement from the sponsor.

USCIS uses Form I-864EZ in exactly the same way as Form I-864; however, less information is collected from the sponsors as less information is needed from those who qualify in order to make a thorough adjudication.

USCIS uses Form I-864W to determine whether the intending immigrant meets the criteria for exemption of section 213A requirements. This form collects the immigrant's basic information, such as name and address, the reason for the exemption, and accompanying documentation in support of the immigrant's claim that they are not subject to section 213A.

(5) An estimate of the total number of respondents and the amount of time estimated for an average respondent to respond: The estimated total number of respondents for Form I-864 is 446,313 and the estimated hour burden per response is 6 hours; the estimated total number of respondents for Form I-864A is 42,892 and the estimated hour burden per response is 1.75 hours; the estimated total number of respondents for Form I-864EZ is 114,860 and the estimated hour burden per response is 2.5 hours; the estimated total number of respondents for Form I-864W is 98,119 hours and the estimated hour burden per response is 1 hour.

(6) An estimate of the total public burden (in hours) associated with the collection: The total estimated annual hour burden associated with this information collection is 3,138,208 hours.

(7) An estimate of the total public burden (in cost) associated with the collection: The estimated total annual cost burden associated with this information collection is $161,526,540.

Dated: June 26, 2017.

Jerry Rigdon,

Deputy Chief, Regulatory Coordination Division, Office of Policy and Strategy, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security.