Co-sponsoring a sibling

[xcs23]

Hello,

I am a US citizen. My older brother has been living in the US for 20 years but isn't a permanent resident. My mom applied for him to become a resident a while back. USCIS has finally responded and needs some paperwork. My mom can't sponsor him because she is no longer working. Although she paid taxes, the sponsor needs to be working it seems. It was brought up that I co-sponsor. I've read about my responsibilities. And how serious this can be. I am really worried about one situation:

What if my brother gets sick badly and racks up some serious medical bills? Right now he has some low cost health insurance, he is not on any govt programs (medicare, food stamps, etc). Am I liable for any of his medical bills?

He's been paying taxes for over 10 years on an ITIN number. Has all the paperwork, etc. Can he somehow file this with his immigration paperwork? I read that if you can prove you've been paying taxes for 10 years you don't need a sponsor to sign affidavit of support (read that at https://www.uscis.gov/greencard/affidavit-support under "Submitting an Affidavit of Support")

Thank you very much!

[newacct]

What if my brother gets sick badly and racks up some serious medical bills? Right now he has some low cost health insurance, he is not on any govt programs (medicare, food stamps, etc). Am I liable for any of his medical bills?

No. You are not liable for his bills. You can only be affected if 1) he sues you, or 2) he uses a need-based government benefit and the government sues you.

He's been paying taxes for over 10 years on an ITIN number. Has all the paperwork, etc. Can he somehow file this with his immigration paperwork? I read that if you can prove you've been paying taxes for 10 years you don't need a sponsor to sign affidavit of support (read that at https://www.uscis.gov/greencard/affidavit-support under "Submitting an Affidavit of Support")

It's not "paying taxes for 10 years", but rather that he must have accrued 40 quarters of Social Security credits. Paying taxes doesn't help if he didn't work. There are 4 quarters per year, so if he has been working (either as an employee paying FICA taxes, or as self-employed paying Self-Employment Tax) for 10 years, he has accrued 40 credits. Also, credits earned by his spouse during the period of marriage, and by his parents while he was under 18, also count towards the 40. If he has 40 credits, then neither you nor your mother has to fill out I-864; rather, your brother fills out I-864W.