The Affidavit of Support: The Federal Support Obligation That Survives Divorce

Devon Rood Slovensky, Founder | Slovensky Law PLLC

Devon Rood Slovensky is a family law attorney in Roanoke, Virginia, and the founder of Slovensky Law PLLC, where she handles contested and uncontested divorce, spousal support, child custody, and child support matters across Southwest Virginia. She litigated Madrid v. Robinson, the first case in the Western District of Virginia to enforce an I-864 immigration affidavit of support. A Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® since 2021, she is licensed in all Virginia courts, the U.S. District Courts in Virginia, and the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts in Virginia.

• Education & Credentials

Ms. Slovensky earned her J.D. from George Mason University School of Law and her B.A. in Economics and American Politics from the University of Virginia. She completed the National Institute for Trial Advocacy Public Service Trial College in 2015 and the National Trial Advocacy College in 2016. She holds the Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® (CDFA®) designation (2021) and is certified by the Supreme Court of Virginia as a guardian ad litem for incapacitated adults.

• Recognition & Leadership

She was named the Roanoke Bar Association Young Lawyer of the Year in 2019, one of The Roanoker’s 40 Under 40 in 2021, and a Virginia Skyline Girl Scouts Woman of Achievement in 2020. In 2017 she received the Pegasus Scholarship from the American Inns of Court, selected as one of two American attorneys to represent the organization in London, England, and she has been listed among Super Lawyers Rising Stars. She served as President of the Roanoke Chapter of the Virginia Women Attorneys Association (20152016) and on that organization’s statewide board, sits on the Board of the Roanoke Bar Association, and was appointed to the Virginia State Bar Special Committee on Access to Legal Services.

• Professional Involvement

Ms. Slovensky is a member of the Ted Dalton American Inn of Court, where she presented “Digital Evidence in Family Law” in March 2021, and she delivered a CLE presentation on guardianship at the Roanoke Bar Association Conference in May 2018. Her writing on the financial side of divorce includes “What You Need to Know About Money Before You Divorce” (ParentMap), and she authored the 2017 Pegasus Scholar Report. Her Pegasus Scholarship was featured by The Faculty of Advocates and Scottish Legal News in 2017.

• Experience

Ms. Slovensky litigated Madrid v. Robinson, the first case in the Western District of Virginia to enforce an I-864 immigration affidavit of support. As a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst®, her practice centers on the financial dimensions of divorce, including spousal support, and extends to custody modifications, international child custody and abduction, protection orders, and stepparent and other adoptions. She began her career as a staff attorney for legal aid before establishing her own firm, and her firm reports more than 600 cases handled and more than 1,500 people helped.

Gregory McLawsen, Founder | Sound Immigration

Gregory McLawsen represents green card holders in federal lawsuits across the country to enforce the financial support obligation a sponsor undertakes on Form I-864. Enforcement of the affidavit of support is the exclusive focus of his Seattle-based firm, Sound Immigration, which has handled matters in more than 25 states and operates on a model that recovers fees from sponsors rather than requiring clients to pay up front. He is admitted to the United States Supreme Court, the Washington Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fourth, Sixth, and Ninth Circuits, and U.S. District Courts in Washington, Texas, Michigan, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. McLawsen earned his J.D. with distinction from the University of Nebraska College of Law in 2009, where he was named to the Order of the Coif, and his B.A. with honors in Psychology and Philosophy from the University of Washington in 2004. He began his legal career with a two-year judicial clerkship, followed by work at an immigration law firm, before founding his own practice.

• Recognition & Leadership

He has been recognized by Super Lawyers in Washington State as a Rising Star and Super Lawyer in Consumer Immigration every year since 2015. He was a Fellow of the Washington Leadership Institute (2014–2015) and received the Washington Young Lawyer Committee Public Service Incentive Award in 2014. Within the bar, he chaired the Washington State Bar Association Small and Solo Practice Section (2015–2016) after serving as Chair-Elect, served on the Executive Committee of the American Immigration Lawyers Association Washington State Chapter as Secretary (2014–2015) and Treasurer (2013–2014), and has sat on the Clio Customer Advisory Board since 2020.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. McLawsen has written on I-864 enforcement for more than a decade, including the recurring “Suing on the Form I-864” series in Bender’s Immigration Bulletin (2012, 2014, 2017, and 2020); “The Federal Right to Immigration ‘Alimony’ under the Form I-864, Affidavit of Support,” Federal Bar Association Federal Litigation Section Side Bar (Spring 2021); “The I-864 Affidavit of Support: An Intro to the Immigration Form You Must Learn to Love/Hate,” ABA Family Law Quarterly (Winter 2015); “The Rules Have Changed: Stop Drafting I-864s for Joint Sponsors,” Bender’s Immigration Bulletin (2015); and “The Contractual Duty to Support an Immigrant Spouse,” Thurston Legal Brief (2012). He has also published on public charge inadmissibility and immigration practice management.

He speaks regularly on the affidavit of support to family law and immigration audiences, including the State Bar of Texas programs “Enforcing the I-864 Affidavit of Support in divorce proceedings & federal court” (2022), “The Affidavit of Support and the Right to Lifelong Alimony” (2021), and I-864 Sponsor Obligations (2024); the Northwest Justice Project Statewide Family Law Task Force (2024); the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (2025); and American Immigration Lawyers Association chapters nationwide, including the Michigan, Kansas-Missouri, Dakotas, Arizona, Carolinas, Oregon, Hawai’i, New England, Idaho, Philadelphia, and Chicago chapters (2024–2025). He presented at the AILA National Conference (2015, 2023) and served as a guest lecturer on public charge inadmissibility and Form I-864 enforcement at Seattle University School of Law (2025).

• Experience

Mr. McLawsen’s I-864 enforcement work has produced published decisions in federal and state courts, including Asilonu v. Okeiyi, 550 F.Supp.3d 282 (M.D.N.C. 2021); Pachal v. Bugreeff, 495 F.Supp.3d 963 (D. Mont. 2020); Cyrousi v. Kashyap, 386 F.Supp.3d 1278 (C.D. Cal. 2019); Rahman v. Chen, 281 F.Supp.3d 1124 (W.D. Wash. 2017); Dorsaneo v. Dorsaneo, 261 F.Supp.3d 1052 (N.D. Cal. 2017); Liu v. Kell, 299 F.Supp.3d 1128 (W.D. Wash. 2017); and Khan v. Khan, 332 P.3d 1016 (Wash. Ct. App. 2014).

His practice began in family-based immigration and moved progressively toward affidavit-of-support litigation as he found that few attorneys handle these claims and that many immigrants with valid claims cannot afford traditional representation. That work now spans federal litigation and I-864 enforcement in divorce proceedings on behalf of sponsored immigrants.

SESSION 1 – The Affidavit of Support Obligation: When It Terminates and Who Can Enforce It | 2:30pm – 3:30pm

This session examines the I-864 Affidavit of Support as a federally created contractual obligation under INA § 213A and 8 U.S.C. § 1183a, focusing on the five statutory termination events, the legal consequences of divorce and private agreements on that obligation, and who holds the right to enforce it. Attorneys will learn how courts calculate the sponsor’s financial duty — including the 125% Federal Poverty Guidelines framework refined by the June 2025 California Court of Appeal decision in In re Marriage of Adeyeye and Faramaye — and will identify the distinct enforcement rights of the sponsored immigrant versus government agencies. Attendees will leave with a practical understanding of joint-sponsor liability under I-864A, common calculation errors in divorce proceedings, and the gap between statutory government-enforcement authority and real-world practice.

BREAK | 3:30pm – 3:40pm

SESSION 2 – Litigating Affidavit of Support Claims and Drafting Settlements Around Them | 3:40pm – 4:40pm

This session equips attorneys to litigate I-864 breach-of-contract claims from complaint through judgment and to draft divorce settlement agreements that account for the federal support obligation that cannot be waived. Attendees will learn how to calculate damages under 8 C.F.R. § 213a.1, assess available affirmative defenses and their limits, choose between federal and state forum, and structure settlement language that avoids unenforceable waiver clauses. Attorneys leave with a practical framework for representing either sponsors or sponsored immigrants in I-864 disputes arising out of divorce.