In a land built by immigrants, there is a renewed deliberation on Capital Hill over immigration. yet in all the debate a small economically significant issue still remains below the radar screen of policy makers. It involves the unification of Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs or Green Card Holders) with their spouses. The problem is costing heartache to thousands of immigrants and costs the American economy about 4.2 billion dollars a year.

The issue is simple: Legal Permanent Residents who have opted to get married to foreigners are unable to be united with their spouses and young families. The foreign spouse of a US Green Card holder must wait for approval of an "immigrant visa" from the State Department before entering the US. Due to a backlog in processing, such visas can take a upwards of FIVE YEARS to be approved. In the interim, the spouse cannot enter the US on any other visas, or as a visitor. In a land of "family values" it appears that most Americans do not even know this situation exists.

Meanwhile:

(1) Visitors and non-immigrants coming to the US on temporary visas for work, business or studies (including on H1, L1, B, and F1 visas) can sponsor their dependant spouses to travel along with them.

(2) American citizens can sponsor their spouses to come to the US in non-immigrant status and then convert to an immigrant status under the Legal Immigration and Family Equity Act (the "LIFE Act")

LPRs are in a uniquely disadvantaged situation.

Costly, Invisible and Unfair?

The issue remains invisible and under the radar-screen because of the reportedly "minuscule" number of people impacted. Though there are no official figures on the number of people impacted, grassroots lobbying groups like unitefamilies.org estimate that about 700,000 LPRs are suffering the effect. In the corridors of power, this may be a minuscule number since typical immigration discussions involve millions of people. However, the economic impact of this is by no way negligible. Consider the amount of money that the Green Card holders spend in international phone calling and periodic overseas travel, for example. The remittances to support distant families alone is estimated to be around $500 per month, per family, upwards of $4.2 billion dollars a year. This income earned in the USA would otherwise be spent in the US economy and in living the American Dream – if families were re-united.

The issue of Lawful Permanent Residents torn from their families for years is not a new problem. A mechanism to unite families of LPRs was created by the Legal Immigration Family Equity Act of 2000 (the LIFE Act) by the introduction of a "V" Visa, signed into law by President Bush. Unfortunately expired and is no longer available. In nearby Canada, on the other hand, Lawful Permanent Residents are able to bring their spouses there right away. It is the same in Australia and many other countries.

Almost every year new bills addressing this issue are introduced in the Congress by a few concerned congressmen, but the bills don't get past the Judiciary committee. For instance, HR1823 and HR4448 are currently in the US Congress and remain unnoticed by most lawmakers. The proposal for reviving the visa is based on something that, unfortunately, has little controversy. Family unit among foreigners does not rate highly these days.

Passing a bill into law is not a small matter. But until this happens, families of Green Card holders will have to wait outside our borders and the economy will continue to loose over 4 billion dollars a year.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ekaterina Atanasova lives in Eliot, Maine and works in Portsmouth She is a permanent resident of the US with an "exiled"’ husband living abroad. She is a member of unitefamilies.org.
(c) 2006 SeacoastNH.com.