I am faced with choosing between one of the following two options:

1. Stay in the US & be mostly away from my wife in India while her immigration process goes on for three-four years more, and be an absentee / part-time parent for the children we are planning to have in the next year or two. 

OR

2. Move to another country (India / Canada / .. ) and start over life staying together with my wife.

I request the US Congress to expeditously pass HR 1796 (Reuniting Families Act.) into law so that I and many other legal permanent residents in the United States don't have to face this difficult choice. 

 

MORE DETAILS ABOUT MY SITUATION

I came to the US in June 2000 on a work visa (H-1B Visa) and have built a solid career and life for myself in the US. I became a Legal Permanent Resident (LPR / Greencard holder) in Aug 2010, after a 9 year long immigration process. I will qualify to apply for US Citizenship in Aug 2015; I very much intend to apply for US Citizenship, and continue to be a strong member of the community here.  

I got married to an Indian national in Oct 2011 (after I became a LPR) and following the requisite procedures to have my wife join me in the US, applied for her immigration process by filing the I-130 Petition for Alien Relative. The entire process for my wife to be able to come to the US takes 4-5 years since I am an LPR and not a Citizen!

So I am looking at the possibility of being mostly away from my wife till 2016!

Given this situation, I am more inclined to move to India/Canada/... and be with my wife, rather than spend the most important years of our lives separated from each other. 

This situation with the spouses of Legal Permanent Residents is really absurd.

- If I had married while on the work visa (H-1B), my wife could have joined me in the US in a matter of weeks as a non-immigrant (on a dependent H-4 visa).

- If I were a US Citizen, the entire process for my wife to be able to come to the US would have been around a year. 

HR 1796 (Reuniting Families Act) reclassifies spouses and minor children of Legal Permanent Residents as immediate relatives, thereby making the immigration process to around a year - similar to that of the spouses and minor children of US Citizens. I am ok with waiting a year for my wife's immigration process to come through. 

 

I am already impressed with the democratic systems in place in the US since I was able to request for and meet with the staffers of Congressman Cory Gardner in Fort Collins, and the staffers of Senator Michael Bennet in Denver to explain my situation & plead my case for passing HR 1796. Hoping that through garnering enough support for this on-line petition, I can start a focused discussion on immigration and influence the US congress to act favorably in this matter.