Antonio Martinez wants to follow the legal path to bring his wife to Napa from her home in Michoacan, Mexico.

Martinez, a permanent resident, said he has lived in the U.S. for 35 years and has all the necessary paperwork in place to accomplish his goal.

Now, Martinez and his wife are playing a waiting game along with millions of other immigrants who are seeking to enter the U.S. legally.

According to immigration experts, the process of establishing permanent U.S. residency can take decades. On Sunday, about 150 people gathered at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church Hall to take advantage of free immigration law consultations sponsored by Legal Aid Napa Valley. Immigration law experts including Mark Silverman, Teresa Foster, Richard Coshnear, Claude Piller and Dan Chavez offered free consultations to those who attended.

“I want to see if they can help me get my wife to Napa,” Martinez said. Martinez is a former farmworker who is fighting diabetes and wants his wife, who lives in Mexico, to join him here. His predicament was familiar to many at the workshop.

Maria and Ricardo Delgado waited patiently for their turn with the experts as they sought advice on how to help Ricardo establish permanent residency.

“My residency papers were filled out in 1994 and I am still waiting,” said Delgado, adding that come November his temporary residency will be revoked.

Immigration attorney Claude Piller, who works part-time for Legal Aid of Napa Valley and practices law in Healdsburg, said waiting is one of the biggest challenges for those seeking to enter the United States legally.

“People have to wait for 20 years (to gain residency status),” he said. “Those people are waiting and life goes on. If you had to wait for a year, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing.”

Piller said that while people wait in their home countries for visas allowing them to immigrate legally, they face sluggish economies and the anguish of being apart from family members already living in the U.S.

The forum came as Congress holds heated debates on immigration reform proposals.

One such bill is H.R. 4437 — a bill that would erect a wall along the U.S. Mexican border and penalize agencies that assist illegal immigrants. That measure passed in the House of Representatives, as have other measures that seek to make it easier to deport illegal immigrants.

A Senate bill, S.B. 2611, would beef up border security, make a pathway for long-time illegal immigrants to gain citizenship and would expand the number of guest workers currently living in the United States.

Immigration attorney Mark Silverman told the crowd in Spanish that he thought the clash over the competing measures would result in a stalemate.

“Major immigration reform won’t be presented this year,” he said.

He urged those present to contact lawmakers and oppose the House measures.

Janet Viader, legal advocate for Legal Aid of Napa Valley, said her organization held Sunday’s event to give immigrants advice on how to gain residency, help get their family members into the United States legally and to raise awareness about immigration legislation that could affect them.

In addition to working with immigrants on their legal problems, Legal Aid also assists senior citizens with issues such as debt and consumer problems, physical abuse and neglect, and simple wills and advance health care directives. They also make legal services available to low-income families, assisting them with everything from landlord-tenant disputes and employment matters to disability and civil rights issues.