Leaving the US after marriage and before a green card is issued

[Hemyock100]

What are the INS rules on a just married (to an American) FSU woman leaving the USA to visit home before her green card is issued.  Also how long does it normally take from date of marriage to get a green card issued?
Thanks in advance for your help

[groovlstk]

You can file for Advance Parole, which in our case took about three months.

The average wait for a GC after adjusting her status seems to be about 6 months, although there are contributors to this forum who have been waiting for years due to frogups by the USCIS.

[catzenmouse]

If she does NOT have the Advance Parole (or GC) in hand DO NOT LET HER LEAVE OF THE COUNTRY. If you do it may be a very long time before she is allowed back in.

[Ronnie]

Yes the Advance Parole is the way to go about it.

As to green cards getting issued.  There is no way to predict.  Most go through in a matter of 6-8 months from the time of filing the I-485 application.  But about a third are delayed because the FBI name check gets a hit or two and in some cases files have to be manually pulled and researched.  On that work the FBI is greatly backlogged, especially now with the request from USCIS  having skyrocked as a result of in announce fee increase last summer...many LPRs decided to file for citizenship all at once.

If she is not yet in the US, you should tell her she should not plan on returning during the first year.  Never overpromise!