As many of you know, President Obama is attempting to simply the process of obtaining one’s green card through a family member.  If an immigrant is in the US illegally for more than one year, when that person leaves the US for a consular appointment to get his or her legal permanent resident status, they are subject to a ten year penalty in which they cannot return to the US—unless they can show that their documented spouse and / or parents will suffer extreme hardship because of this separation.