alternate solutions

Several alternatives have been proposed to achieve family unity.  Bills have been introduced in Congress for most of these solutions.  However, we believe that none of these alternatives are as attractive as immediate relative reclassification:

• Renewing the V visa.  Bills have been introduced in the last two sessions of Congress to renew the V visa (H.R. 3701 in the 108th Congress, H.R. 1823 in the 109th).  These bills attracted a few cosponsors but had no committee action.  The V visa is considered a workaround because the bills had a sunset provision.  It is also considered complex and adds to the workload of the immigration service, thus increasing processing delays.
• Allow spouses and minor children to qualify for student/visitor visas. A bill to this effect has been introduced in the previous and the current sessions of Congress (H.R. 4448 in the 109th Congress, H.R. 1628 in the 110th).  H.R. 4448 attracted a few cosponsors but no committee action.  H.R. 1628 has three cosponsors but no committee action either.  However, this alternative has several issues.  Not all family members will qualify for student visas.  It is not necessary that the school for which the family member qualifies will be in the same geographical area.  Visitor visas only allow limited duration visits.
• Reduce residency requirements for naturalization.  This will allow the LPR to naturalize faster thereby qualifying his/her spouse and children as immediate family of a citizen.  The House version of Comprehensive Immigration Reform (H.R. 1645) contains this provision.  It will help those who are close to meeting their naturalization residency requirement and wish to obtain U.S. citizenship.  It will not help those who recently obtained permanent resident status.  And naturalization can be indefinitely delayed due to FBI name check delays.
• Do not count immigrant visas issued to immediate relatives of U.S. citizens against the quota available to preference categories.  Under current law, immigrant visas issued to spouses, children, and parents of U.S. citizens are subtracted from the 480,000 immigrant visas available to family preference categories each fiscal year.  Since there is considerable demand for immigrant visas for immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, eliminating this reduction would double the number of immigrant visas available to preference categories.  Unfortunately, this will not reduce wait times significantly because processing delays also need to be addressed.  This is further exacerbated by the recently enacted REAL ID Act which eliminates the annual cap on the number of asylees that can adjust to permanent residence.  While the House version of Comprehensive Immigration Reform (H.R. 1645) does contain this provision, it increases demand by introducing new categories of people who can adjust to permanent residency (earned legalization, agricultural workers, and additional employment based immigrants).  It is estimated that if even 1% of those who qualify under these new categories for permanent residency apply for their spouses and children under the 2A category, the increase in visas will be completely consumed.

Unlike immediate relative reclassification, these alternatives are temporary and workaround the fundamental problem.  Some of these solutions increase immigrant benefits beyond family unity — something that may not be attractive to Congress in the prevailing climate.  We recommend immediate relative reclassification as the preferred solution to this problem.  Immediate relative reclassification addresses the problem of family unity — nothing more, nothing less.

other countries

Here's a quick look at what other industrialized nations do:

• Canada requires three years of residency in the four years prior to the application for citizenship.  Time spent in non-immigrant status can be counted towards meeting the residency requirement.
• The United Kingdom has a five year residency requirement.  However, all the time spent in non-immigrant status can be counted at 100%.
• Australia has a two year residency requirement.