This is from a TV show in which a family reunites 14 years after. And the son, Zach, along with mom, are waiting at the airport for the father to show up. At that time, the presenter says:
It'll be the first time Zach has met his dad.
I wondered why the second part of the sentence is a perfect tense, because they have not met yet. But then, the present perfect seemed to make sense because the presenter might have assumed he has already arrived around the airport and could be there any minute.
However, I also wondered if we can also use the simple future tense, because they have not met yet and we might want to emphasize the future aspect of the case.
So, I wonder if all the three versions would be the same in meaning or would the number 2 or 3 (which I made up) would be wrong grammatically?
1- It'll be the first time Zach has met his dad.
2- It'll be the first time Zach meets his dad.
3- It'll be the first time Zach will meet his dad.