The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has provided updated poverty guidelines for the remainder of 2010 until the 2011 poverty guidelines are published, which is expected to occur in late January 2011.

Poverty guidelines are used as an eligibility criterion by many government organizations and programs. These guidelines are calculated each year using the latest published Census Bureau poverty thresholds as a starting point. For U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services purposes, the poverty guidelines are used to determine the minimum income requirements for sponsors when completing an affidavit of support. In most cases, the figure used for immigration purposes is 125% of the designated poverty guideline.

The current poverty guidelines are available here.