The Supreme Court recently overturned the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) stating that it is unconstitutional. Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, stated that she has directed the USCIS to review and accept family based applications filed by the US citizens and permanent residents, on behalf of their same sex foreign partners. USCIS will consider the petitions of the gay couples in the same manner as those filed by US citizens and Green Card holders on behalf of their opposite sex spouses.
USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas has stated that the USCIS will accept Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative, filed by US citizens, for their same sex foreign partners. He stated that USCIS has kept records of all the denied I-130 petitions that were filed by gay couples and that the USCIS will review those denied cases, based on the Supreme Court’s decision.
Hence, you can now file an application on behalf of your same sex foreign partner and sponsor your partner for a US Green Card. If you are a US citizen or a Green Card holder in a same sex marriage to a citizen of a foreign country, you can now file Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative and sponsor your spouse for a family-based immigrant visa.
If your spouse is within America, he/she can adjust status and become a permanent resident. Your spouse must go through consular processing if he/she is living abroad. USCIS has started to accept applications filed by US citizens for Green Cards and other immigration benefits, on behalf of their same sex partners. USCIS has already accepted an immigration petition that was filed by a US citizen on behalf of his gay partner.
At the time of filing applications, LGBT couples must establish that their marriages took place in American states that recognize same sex marriages. Likewise, applications filed by LGBT couples who were married in states that recognize same sex marriages will be accepted by the USCIS, even if they are currently living in states that do not recognize gay marriages. Currently, Washington, DC and 13 other American states recognize same sex marriages.
Earlier, DOMA prevented US citizens from petitioning for their same sex foreign partners and same sex marriages were not considered by the government of America. But now, Americans can bring their same sex partners to America and petitions filed on behalf of same sex partners by US citizens will no more be rejected by the USCIS, as a result of the same sex nature of their marriages.