LGBT Rights and U.S. Immigration Law
Until a few years ago, there wasn't much to say about the rights of the LGBT community -- in particular, gay and lesbian persons -- under U.S. immigration law. However, that radically changed with the 2013 Supreme Court decision known as Windsor, overturning portions of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that defined marriage defined as only the legal union of a man and a woman. Then the 2015 Supreme Court decision in Obergefell mandated that same-sex marriage be permitted and recognized across the country. With these limitations removed from the federal legal landscape, gay and lesbian couples have essentially the same immigration rights as opposite-sex couples, whether they seek spouse-based visas, fiance visas, or derivative status on a spouse or parent's visa. Learn more here.
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U.S. Immigration and Same-Sex Couples: Summary of 2013 Supreme Court Windsor Decision’s Impact
Probably the biggest immigration-related impact of the Supreme Court’s Windsor decision, which overturned core portions of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), was to allow U.S.
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How can my same-sex fiancé attend a K-1 visa interview when his country persecutes LGBT people?
Arranging for third-country processing of a K-1 fiance visa in a case where LGBT people face persecution in the home country.
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If I’m on an H-1B visa, can my same-sex spouse get a U.S. visa too?
Derivative nonimmigrant visas are now available to gay and lesbian married couples.
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If I marry my undocumented same-sex partner, can she get a U.S. green card?
Opportunities and complications when seeking U.S. residence or citizenship for a same-sex spouse who entered the U.S. illegally.
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Why can’t my same-sex partner come to the U.S. as a tourist, so we can marry and get a green card?
Watch out for accusations of visa fraud!
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Won the Diversity Visa Lottery: Can I Marry My Same-Sex Partner and Bring Her to the U.S.?
I’m from Portugal and my name was drawn in this year’s visa lottery. My girlfriend and I have become quite serious and are talking about marriage.
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We've been closeted: How do we prove to USCIS our same-sex marriage is bona fide?
My husband and I live in a small town – in separate apartments within the same complex. I'm a U.S. citizen, he's a visa overstay from Pakistan. We had a small, private, same-sex wedding in Massachusetts, but we don't live there. In fact, in the small, conservative town where we live, coming out would probably cause us to lose our jobs and many of our friends. We're realizing this could complicate our plans for me to petition for him to get a green card. Needless to say, we don't have lots of pictures of a big wedding, we can't get affidavits from employers and haven't made each othe
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Can I get a same-sex marriage green card if I’m divorced from an opposite-sex spouse?
I’m a 35-year-old woman, who was married to a man when I was young, in my home country. We had one child together, soon after which he and I divorced.
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Fiance and Marriage Visas: A Couple's Guide to U.S. Immigration
All the guidance in this comprehensive volume, covering visa eligibility and application procedures, is now equally applicable to same-sex couples!
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