previous marriage.. same sex

[KnJ 0]

Canada was among the great countries that made same-sex marriage legal, and in 2006, I was one of the first happy joyous unions of this type.

Immigration wanted to know the name of my former spouse, and of course I told them. It's right there in the divorce certificate. We sent it in with the original petition. The named person is clearly a woman.

I really don't think this is going to matter... but what if it does?

Edited September 24, 2009 by KnJ

[JillA 2]

Canada was among the great countries that made same-sex marriage legal, and in 2006, I was one of the first happy joyous unions of this type.

Immigration wanted to know the name of my former spouse, and of course I told them. It's right there in the divorce certificate. We sent it in with the original petition. The named person is clearly a woman.

I really don't think this is going to matter... but what if it does?

I don't see how it should matter... As long as you are legally divorced in Canada (whether from a man or woman) you are divorced, and legally able to marry again, end of story.... There is no reason they can deny you, just because you were in a same sex marriage.... I wouldn't worry at all! The point is, you are now single and free to marry again!!

[ashenflowers 5]

Agreed... I certainly don't think it should matter at all, and if it does, then that's pretty strong grounds for causing a kerfluffle re: discrimination!

[Sprailenes 47]

I don't think it matters at all. Good luck on your journey!

[Udella&Wiz 325]

You have the divorce decree, don't know why it wouldn't be fine. Interesting case though, you'll have to fill us in as it might be helpful to someone else when your interview time comes.

[Rhiannercakes 14]

I'm interested as to how this would go over at the interview as well.

For future reference if it happens to pop up here again.

Keep us updated.

Edited September 24, 2009 by Rhiann

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Actually, the issue may not even come up. USCIS will have the divorce decree with a name on it but no gender. Since the divorce is legal that is all they need to be concerned about. It is unlikely they would ask you, but if they do and it causes a problem, yes, you can certainly make a big stink about discrimination.

[Hugglebuggles 60]

You probably could have married a man named Cindy or something like that... I've seen weird stuff like that before!

But, like the others said, as long as the divorce is legal, it shouldn't be a problem at all. Now, if the divorce wasn't legalized that would be really interesting...

[KnJ 0]

You probably could have married a man named Cindy or something like that... I've seen weird stuff like that before!

yes, i guess ultimately it doesn't matter *who*.. but they do want their current address and everything. duno why that would be.

I update this if anything comes up, but I think everyone is probably right, it doesn't matter, and if it did, that would be a matter to take up, I do wonder if anyone else has done this.. I guess it's a rather new situation.

It definitely was a legal divorce.

[Spoom 8]

From a legal perspective, either:

• You have a valid divorce decree, meaning you are single and free to marry, or
• Your marriage was never valid in the first place due to the Defence of Marriage Act defining marriage in any federal (e.g. immigration) context as exclusively between one man and one woman, and therefore, as far as the United States is concerned, you were and are single and free to marry.

So I don't think you'll have a problem.

Now, don't get me started on the current discrimination that prohibits same sex couples from immigrating in any marriage-based family status to begin with...

Edited September 25, 2009 by Spoom

[Spoom 8]

That said, you should know that an overzealous adjudicator may attempt to deny your visa due to sodomy and/or lewdness being a crime of moral turpitude. But that's highly doubtful.

[Krikit 1,164]

It will be interesting to see how they handle it.... if it becomes an issue at all.

Hmmm. But now that I think about it.... You may be more scrutinized if they think you are marrying a male to bypass the US immigration laws. I'd make sure I had lots of evidence of the validity of the relationship if I were you. And it's probably advisable to have him at the interview as well.

Good luck. Let us know how things turn out.

[Arabella 4]

That said, you should know that an overzealous adjudicator may attempt to deny your visa due to sodomy and/or lewdness being a crime of moral turpitude. But that's highly doubtful.

Not to be crude or anything, but I doubt they would accuse her of sodomy. I looked at your link and I don't see anything that pertains to a female relationship.

[mikey78 6]

That said, you should know that an overzealous adjudicator may attempt to deny your visa due to sodomy and/or lewdness being a crime of moral turpitude. But that's highly doubtful.

That is not sodomy of lewdness that adjudicator is looking for in this case. If it were for that, as other people already suggested, you might make some stink about discrimination. It is rather about bona fide relationship...and happens quite often when people are adjusting their status in the US...as you might know same-sex couples do not have the same immigration benefits so in order to keep one's partner in the country of course some resort to not-so-legal arrangements and "white" marriages. There is no consistent immigration policy on how to view human sexuality so for a more conservative officer bisexuality might raise flags. I understand your concern but if you have suffcient proof of your bona fide relationship it should not be a problem. Good luck!

[JillA 2]

I would take a bet that it doesn't even come up.... The only proof that it was a marriage to a woman is her name, and there are many names that men and women both have (even "female" names like Ashley, etc. are men's names now) and I'm sure the IO's don't examine every document, they just scan over it to make sure it's valid, filled out, etc. I can't imagine the IO analyzing the name and saying, hmmm, that's a women's name, I better ask at the interview if she was in a same sex marriage. I just don't think it will even come up at all.