I have a friend who lives in London. Her husband's sister applied for a green card for him to the US in 1997 and he has just been issued with it and he went to the US to get it. He has now returned back to London to be with his wife, who does not have any right to enter the US.

They would both like to immigrate to the US as quickly as possible. Am I right in thinking that they need to apply for an immigrant visa for her immediately and then wait for one to become available. They do not want to be apart but he does not want to loose his green card, but I believe the process could take a long time. Does he regularly have to go back to the US to "renew" his green card? Or is there some sort of reentry permit he can get and not be hassled for not going to the US for a while because he is waiting for his wife to get approved?

Any help/knowledge would be greatly appreciated.

It's a 5 yr wait for a visa number for spouse of PR. Unless he gets the advance parole (I think good for two years) he can't be out of the country for more than 6 months at a time. Besides, GC is for him to live and work in the US and he needs to establish residency and all the other things needed for the path to citizenship and bringing his wife to the US.

There mistake was in not filing to get the wife's greencard simultaneously - she was eligible.

Anyway, London is a hell of a lot better than the US - better to stay there.

The newly aquired PR needs to establish residence in in the US in order for his wife to become eligible to obtain residency based upon marriage to said PR. As stated without the benefit of Advanced Parole, you cannont be absent from the country for longer than 6 months. I believe the USCIS webiste has some information that a 'new immigrant' may find useful.

Good Luck!
-P

The problem was that when his sister applied back in 1997, he wasn't married yet. He just got married last August, so there is no way he could have filed at the same time. Oh well, thanks for your help!

His sister couldn't filed for his brother's wife anyway. Wife would have to be included in the petitin as dependant and that could have been done at any point.

Were they married when PD became current and he got his immigrant visa? He should check if she can "follow to join" now! There is a time frame within which that can be done (if possible in this case), so they should not waste any time.

I agree with others that he should establish a residency in the USA first. And, the document that would allow him to stay outside the USA for a longer periods of time is re-entry permit, not Advanced Parole (form is the same I-131).