how long /how is it for wife to request family member

We might be moving to the US just after New Years (sucks, I know) and we were talking about maybe having one of my wife's sisters come up and help us out with our daughter as she works and stuff. Any heads up on the process? My wife already has her permanent residency for about 2 years or so, but we have not been living in the states (one of the reasons we are going, staying until her citizenship).

Does my wife have to be a citizen in order to request her sister? Can her sister come as a resident as well? When can I/my wife request her? Anybody else do this? Any info can help. - thanks!

By bufalo on Jul 15, 2007, 20:29 in Friendly Talkzone.

Tinto (Moderator) says on Jul 15, 2007, 21:44:

I believe your wife will have to wait until she's a citizen because permanent residents cannot sponsor siblings.

The link is really long, so type "How Do I Bring a Sibling to Live in the United States?" and the first Google hit will be the USCIS page with the answers.

Tinto (Moderator) says on Jul 15, 2007, 21:53:

This might be a real long shot. Siblings are in the 4th out of 4 categories of "family preference" and these are the cases where you sometimes read about five or ten year waiting periods.

aztec says on Jul 16, 2007, 03:40:

Currently about 10 to 11 year process. We are in our 11th year and currently processing the paperwork! Why not just have them walk across the Mexican border. Much quicker and you don't need to sign a contract with the US government to be responsible for them for 5 years.

derailment says on Jul 16, 2007, 13:48:

If you haven't lived in the US longer than 1yr continuosly your wife might have problems with her "Green card" since she hasn't been a permanent resident. It will be safer if your sister in law tries to get a tourist visa or a student visa. Don't make her walk across the mexican border FRIKING DANGEROUS. Good luck