On June 26, 2013, the Supreme Court ruled section 3 of the Defense of
Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional. That court decision has had a
number of effects on federal policies for same sex couples, including
policies related to immigration-related benefits. According to the
Department of State, beginning immediately, consular officers are guided
to review visa applications filed by a same-sex spouse in the same
manner as they would an application filed by an opposite-sex spouse,
except in a situation where a specific federal immigration law requires a
different approach.
The federal government’s Visa Office has deleted a key component of
immigration regulations, which formerly limited the word “marriage” for
immigration purposes to mean “only a legal union between one man and one
woman as husband and wife” as well as the word “spouse” to mean only “a
person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife. Same-sex
marriages are valid for immigration purposes as long as they are
recognized in, according to the Department of State, the “place of
celebration.” Same-sex marriages are valid for immigration purposes even
if the same-sex couple intends to live in a state that does not
recognize same-sex marriages or comes form a country in which same-sex
marriages are not legal.
