gay marriage and immigration

[UK_Fan 192]

so i had a thought.. since some states now allow gay couples enter into a marriage, wondering if any had went through the immigration process yet.. or maybe if the whole country doesn't recognize gay marriage, they wouldn't be allowed to?

and wondering if they would have to file for a "fiancee" visa? i bet if they were allowed to do so, USCIS would drill them like no other..

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Topic has been moved to general immigration discussion forum from Immigration News and Discussion forum as it does not involve a posted news story.

[aleful 1,905]

so i had a thought.. since some states now allow gay couples enter into a marriage, wondering if any had went through the immigration process yet.. or maybe if the whole country doesn't recognize gay marriage, they wouldn't be allowed to?

and wondering if they would have to file for a "fiancee" visa? i bet if they were allowed to do so, USCIS would drill them like no other..

no changes in immigration laws. still not accepted.

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

The problem is that Immigration Law is Federal and officially the Federal Government doesn't recognize same sex marriage.

[mr and mrs 187]

there is no federal law that affords equal marriage rights to gays and lesbians at the current time. therefore, they are unable to petition for their partners. change is coming though. discrimination on the basis of homosexuality will soon be a distant, embarrasing memory.

and there have been many couples whove petitioned and qualified for visas/green cards, but have been denied solely on the basis of the gender of the beneficiary. a sort of protest application.

[UK_Fan 192]

ive searched around and found a thread sorta like this one where they mentioned something about suing the gorvernment on basis of discrimitanion... i have personally always thought that the reason they didn't allow gays to marry is so that people wouldnt commit immigration fraud more often then it is.

but look at canada, they allow gays to marry, wonder if gays are allowed to immigrate there on those bases?

[aaron2020 11,651]

ive searched around and found a thread sorta like this one where they mentioned something about suing the gorvernment on basis of discrimitanion... i have personally always thought that the reason they didn't allow gays to marry is so that people wouldnt commit immigration fraud more often then it is.

but look at canada, they allow gays to marry, wonder if gays are allowed to immigrate there on those bases? No.

Under the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the US government does not recognize same-sex marriages. This means US immigration laws do not recognize same-sex marriages.

While a gay couple can legally be married in Canada, the marriage is not recognized under US immigration laws - so no petitioning for a same-sex spouse. This also means no fiancee visa for a same-sex fiancee.

There are plenty of lawsuits over DOMA that involves immigration benefits. You'll want to investigate how much time and money you want to devote to a lawsuit. It's not cheap and it's a long road without guarantees.

Edited January 26, 2012 by aaron2020

[VanessaTony 3,567]

ive searched around and found a thread sorta like this one where they mentioned something about suing the gorvernment on basis of discrimitanion... i have personally always thought that the reason they didn't allow gays to marry is so that people wouldnt commit immigration fraud more often then it is.

but look at canada, they allow gays to marry, wonder if gays are allowed to immigrate there on those bases?

Yes Canada permits same-sex immigration. So does Australia. Australia also permits de-facto couples.

I don't think they'd permit same-sex immigration for some time. The US get a lot of immigration fraud and permitting it would just encourage people to start "dating" their friends to help them come over. There wouldn't be much to it, it's sad there are so many people ruining it for others.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Yes Canada permits same-sex immigration. So does Australia. Australia also permits de-facto couples.

I don't think they'd permit same-sex immigration for some time. The US get a lot of immigration fraud and permitting it would just encourage people to start "dating" their friends to help them come over. There wouldn't be much to it, it's sad there are so many people ruining it for others.

It's not immigration fraud that drives the exclusion of immigration benefits to same-sex couples, it's the fear of "the gays".

The US is socially conservative, and the anti-gay groups are politically very powerful. Politicians kowtowing to these powerful interests have created a broad law, DOMA, that states the US government will not recognize any same-sex marriages. The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) means no federal benefits to same-sex couples; no immigration benefits, no spousal social security benefits, no spousal military benefits, etc.