How to write an affidavit

The word "affidavit" is all over the place in immigration, and I realize it can be confusing to people when you hear, whether from your lawyer or someone else, that you need to prepare an affidavit yourself, or get affidavits from other people, so I wanted to talk a bit about what is involved.

To start, what is an affidavit, anyway?  Essentially, it is a sworn statement by a person talking about something they have first-hand knowledge of.  It can be used in many different situations--to talk about someone's good moral character in a cancellation of removal case, or to talk about someone's marriage in a marriage based adjustment of status or removal of conditions case.  The applicant him or herself must prepare an affidavit in an asylum case, but in many cases, the affidavits you will be looking for will be written by other people.  If you have people who you are asking to write affidavits for you, you might want to show them this article, so that they understand what is involved.

There are three basic components to the affidavit for immigration purposes.  The first is the introduction of the writer.  The writer will begin by saying who he is, where he lives, and how he  knows the person about whom he is writing.  "My name is Christina Crudden.  I live at 501 Washington Lane, Suite 203, Jenkintown, Pennsylvania (I don't, actually, but I do sometimes feel like I live at my office!), and I know John Smith because he is my neighbor."

Next, the writer will talk about what the applicant has asked him to write the affidavit about.  If it is a cancellation of removal case, for instance, and the person has been asked to write about how the applicant is a person of good moral character, the writer will talk about the good things that the applicant does for his family and for others.  The more specific and concrete the information is, the more helpful it is.  Just saying general things, like "John Smith is a good person" is not as helpful as saying, "John Smith is always a great help to me in the winter, when I get snowed in and he comes with his snowblower and shovels me out.  He is always willing to help out around the neighborhood. He is the first to know when someone needs a hand, and is always willing to help out in any way he can."  If you have been asked to write about a specific event or incident that you witnessed (for instance, if you have been asked to talk about an incident of domestic violence for an I-360 VAWA petition), you should give as much detail as you can remember, to make the reader feel as if he or she is there.  When something you are saying is your personal opinion, be sure to say so; remember, you are swearing that what you are saying is true, so if it is not a fact, but rather an opinion, be sure to let the reader know that.

Finally, you will want to close your affidavit by inviting the reader to contact you if they have other questions about what you have discussed.  You should provide your complete name, address, and a phone number where you can be reached.  Immigration does not usually contact the writers of affidavits, but it does happen, so providing contact information will make it easy for them to find you if they have questions.  For this reason, the writers should be US citizens or Lawful Permanent Residents of the United States--if you wouldn't feel comfortable walking into a USCIS office because of your immigration status, you shouldn't write an affidavit for someone else's case!