I am a green card holder as is my wife and youngest son. My oldest son (21) entered the US originally with an I-94 but returned to Canada to finish his education. We did not pursue his application for a green card as he was unsure as to his future. He returned this year at Christmas and would like to remain in the United States. He has a Social Security Number that states he is unavailable for employment. He will be 22 in April. What obstacles we will have to overcome to change his status?

I assume that you originally acquired your green card through employment-based immigration or family-based immigration (other than as an immediate relative). If this is the case, your wife and dependent children under 21 would have acquired derivative green card status at the same time as you. However, since your older son was given an I-94 it sounds like he entered as a nonimmigrant. I therefore assume that your older son was already 21 by the time you acquired your status and was unable to claim derivative status.

If your son wishes to acquire permanent residence, you will have to petition him for permanent residence under the 2b family-based immigration category. However, this particular category is subject to a visa backlog of about 6 years.

The Smith and Simpson bills currently pending in Congress propose to eliminate the 2b category without grandfathering the petitions in the visa backlog. This means that when the bills pass, probably on or about October, 1996, anyone in an eliminated category for whom a visa is not immediately available will lose their eligibility.

It is worth noting that, under the Smith bill, a few unmarried sons and daughters of permanent residents will still be allowed to immigrate if they are between the ages of 21-25, have never been married, are childless and are considered dependents for Federal Income Tax purposes. The Simpson bill does not have a similar provision but it is still possible that the Smith provision will be passed. If the provision is passed, your son may still fall within this narrow exception after October, 1996.

I am writing with regard to the re-entry permit. I know that the re-entry permit for green card holders has a maximum time limit of two years. I recently heard that this re-entry permit is now being issued for 10 years, allowing you to leave the country and re-enter any time in this period. Is this true and if so how do I apply for this type of permit?

You were misinformed. Returning resident permits are still issued for only two years.

I have a friend who is a US citizen, and has a letter of approval of petition for his wife and minor child in the Philippines (priority date Nov. 13, 1995). According to the visa bulletin, INS is only processing Jan 22, 1986? Approximately how long should he wait before he can get his wife over?

You misread the visa bulletin. Your friend is a U.S. citizen petitioning his wife and minor child so this is an immediate relative case, not a family-based preference case. Immediate relatives are not subject to visa backlogs so this category does not appear on the visa bulletin. Once the petition was approved, the INS should have forwarded the matter to a U.S. Consulate for immediate visa processing.