Green card holders married to non-US citizens are able to legally bring their spouses and minor children to join them in the USA, but only after an extensive multi-year delay, during which time the family is separated. The foreign spouse of a green card holder must wait for approval of an 'immigrant visa' from the State Department before entering the United States. Due to numerical limitation on the number of these visas, the current wait time for approval is four to five years for all non-retrogressed countries (including Western Europe), and many more for the retrogressed countries. In the interim, the spouse cannot be legally present in the United States (let alone work), unless he/she secures a visa for himself/herself using some other means. However, securing another (i.e. non-immigrant) visa for himself/herself is usually difficult (and nearly-impossible at US embassies in some countries). This is because the spouse has to overcome presumed immigrant intent in order to qualify for a non-immigrant (or tourist) visa, a position at odds with her or his marriage to a US permanent resident. Due to the long wait and the immigration intent issues, many green card holders opt to wait to become US citizens (usually 5 years), and only then sponsor their spouses and children (the process is much faster for US Citizens). This, however, imposes a family separation of several years, unique in the immigration laws of industrialized nations.
This puts US green card holders in a uniquely disadvantaged situation:
- visitors and non-immigrants coming to the USA on temporary visas for work, business, or study (including H1, L1, B, J1, and F1 visas) can sponsor their dependent spouses to live with them (but usually not work) in the US;
- US citizens can sponsor their spouses to come to the USA in non-immigrant status; the spouse can then convert to an immigrant status under the Legal Immigration and Family Equity Act of 2000 (the "LIFE Act"). This process is fast (6–12 months) and, unlike with green card holders, the spouse can be present in the US during the process.
The issue of US green card holders separated from their families for years is not a new problem. A mechanism to unite families of LPRs was created by the LIFE Act by the introduction of a 'V visa,' signed into law by President Clinton. It effectively expired and is no longer available. From time to time, bills are introduced in Congress to reinstate V visas, so far none have been successful.
These proposals for reviving the V visa are based on something that has little controversy—family unity. However, passing such a bill into law is not a small matter, mostly because it is often perceived as a back-door to increasing immigration levels