Claudia Canizares is the founding attorney of Canizares Law Group, LLC, an immigration law firm with a team of dedicated, bilingual (English & Spanish) attorneys. Having come to the United States herself as a teenager, Claudia built the firm around what clients are going through. Discuss your case with a Miami immigration attorney at our firm, or read on to learn more.

Same-Sex Marriage-Based Immigration and Green Cards

There was a time when being LGBTQ+ was, by itself, enough to get an immigration application denied. We have come a long way since then. Same-sex marriage is now recognized as legal throughout the United States, which means a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident can sponsor a same-sex spouse for a green card the same way any other married couple can. Even so, same-sex couples still tend to run into a specific set of obstacles that opposite-sex couples usually do not.

Canizares Law Group, LLC helps clients with the full range of immigration matters, including the process for married LGBTQ+ couples. Contact our office today to discuss your case, or read on to learn more.

The marriage must comply with the marriage laws of the place where the couple married.

One of the most common problems we see involves couples who married outside the United States in a country or jurisdiction that did not, at the time, recognize same-sex marriage as legal. If the marriage was not legally valid where it happened, it usually cannot be used to support an immigration petition. In that situation, you may need to marry a second time, here in the United States, before filing Form I-130. That does not need to be an elaborate ceremony; a simple courthouse wedding is sufficient for immigration purposes.

Proving a ‘Bona Fide Relationship’ Can Be Harder for Same-Sex Couples

Every couple has to prove their marriage is genuine and not entered into solely for immigration purposes, but same-sex couples often face extra hurdles here. If your family, or your spouse’s family, has not accepted your relationship, you may be missing photos, letters, or the kind of family contact that USCIS typically looks for as evidence of a real marriage. It may also be genuinely difficult for your spouse to answer questions about estranged relatives during a USCIS interview.

Honesty is the best approach. An answer like ‘we have not been in contact with my spouse’s family because of their religious beliefs’ is usually an acceptable explanation. What you should never do is panic and try to paper over gaps in the relationship, or exaggerate contact that does not exist.

A Lack of Joint Documentation Can Raise Red Flags

USCIS places heavy weight on ‘joint’ documents: joint bank accounts, joint tax returns, joint leases or mortgages, and evidence that one spouse has been added to the other’s health insurance. These are exactly the kinds of records that show a marriage functions like any other, in practical, financial terms.

Unfortunately, some same-sex couples have hesitated to create this kind of joint paper trail, sometimes out of a reasonable fear of discrimination. In many cases, other evidence can help fill the gap. It is worth knowing that employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is now illegal nationwide. Housing discrimination is a more complicated picture: the federal Fair Housing Act does not explicitly list sexual orientation or gender identity as protected categories, and federal guidance that once treated them as covered under the Act’s sex-discrimination provisions has since been withdrawn. Protection currently depends on the state or local law where you live, so this is worth discussing with an attorney if it’s relevant to your situation.

Prior Heterosexual Marriages Can Complicate the Process

USCIS officers are sometimes skeptical of the idea that a gay or bisexual person could have been pressured into an earlier heterosexual marriage, whether by family expectations, cultural pressure, or other circumstances. If either spouse was previously married to someone of a different sex, you should be prepared to explain that history clearly. This becomes especially delicate if you previously sought immigration benefits based on that earlier marriage.

We Can Help Your LGBTQ+ Spouse Immigrate

There are steps you can take before you ever file Form I-130, and ways to prepare for your USCIS interview, that can make a real difference in how smoothly your case goes. Working with an experienced immigration attorney is one of the best ways to reduce the number of obstacles you and your spouse face while trying to build a life together in the United States.

Contact Canizares Law Group today. Se habla español.