"Follow to Join" is a term of art. Your spouse and children are eligible for "derivative status" - visas given to spouse and children who accompany the principal beneficiary, or enter the U.S. If the entry is within 4 months of the principal beneficiary's entry or appearance at a consulate abroad, then they are supposed [...]
Permanent residents are required to maintain a permanent residence in the U.S. Any absence abroad that extends beyond six months raises the presumption that the Green Card holder has abandoned his or her permanent residence in the U.S. The Green Card holder then has the burden of overcoming this presumption when they attempt to re [...]
There is an entire process involved and would require you to file an Immigrant Petition (I-130) and process an Immigrant Visa Application with the National Visa Center. The USCIS website has an excellent overview of the process. See: http://www.uscis.gov/family/family-us-citizens/spouse/bringing-spouses-live-united-states-permanent-residents. Alternatively, you could engage a Law Firm to take care of the paperwork. [...]
There is no easy way to expedite an AP filing. You could always obtain an Infopass appointment and visit the nearest USCIS District Office if there is an emergency need to travel. We have found regular filing with a request to expedite is easier than e filing.
Unless the document is returned to the USCIS, they will refuse to provide you with a duplicate. In this situation, you should file a new Application immediately with fees, but request expedited processing explaining the reasons.
The Priority Date is the date by which the Service determines, or allows you to Adjust Status to that of a Permanent Resident. It is important and should be kept handy when checking status information.
The priority date is used by the Service to establish the priority with which the alien will obtain a visa or be allowed to adjust status. Generally, this is the date on which the Department of Labor, or USCIS, as the case may be, accepts your application for processing.
This applies to the final stage of your Green Card process. Advocates of Consular Processing draw attention to the fact that it is faster and supposedly less cumbersome than Adjustment of Status. Nothing can be more simplistic than this notion of quick and easy processing at the Consulates abroad. Here is what you need to [...]
The final stage of the Green Card process involves filing an Application with the Immigration and Naturalization Service to adjust status from that of a nonimmigrant to that of an Immigrant. This stage can either be completed in the United States, or abroad at a Consulate, involving “Consular Processing.”