Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Hi! This is Kaushik Ranchod from The Ranchod Law Group, I want to thank you for joining
us for our Q&A on immigration, and specifically today, we're going to talk about same-sex
marriages and the recent Supreme Court ruling that made DOMA unconstitutional. And we're
going to talk about how this applies to you if you live specifically in Northern California,
San Francisco, Sacramento, and the San Jose Bay Area.
INTERVIEWER: Thank you, Kaushik, for that great introduction. My first question is:
Do I need to be married to my same-sex partner, or a relationship of long duration or cohabitation
sufficient? KAUSHIK: Excellent question. Yes, you must
be married. Just like any other type of marriage-based application for heterosexuals, the basis of
the application is marriage. And, so what that means for you is that even if you were
living together, even if you were living together for let's say two or three years, that would
not qualify, you would need to get married. And then you're eligible to apply, of course,
if you have a real relationship. INTERVIEWER: What if I live in a state that
does not allow same-sex marriage? Do I have to move?
KAUSHIK: No, you don't need to move. If you live in California, you know, many of our
clients now are eligible by getting married in California, and luckily California is one
of the states that allows for same-sex marriages. And you can go ahead and apply, regardless
of whether you live in this state or not. INTERVIEWER: And where can I get married?
KAUSHIK: States that do allow for same-sex marriages are: California, Connecticut, Delaware,
Hawaii (as of December 2nd, 2013), Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire,
New Jersey (as of October 21st, 2013), New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and
Washington, D.C. INTERVIEWER: Okay, and after getting married,
what is the first step to petitioning for my same-sex spouse?
KAUSHIK: So, in San Francisco and Sacramento, in the marriage-based green card application
process, the first step is preparing all of the necessary forms. For instance, for the
marriage-based green card, some of those forms include the I-130, I-485, G-325, I-765, I-131
travel document, along with all of the supporting documents that go along with that application.
And then at the time of the interview at the local district office -- and there's three
local district offices in Northern California (that's San Francisco, Sacramento and San
Jose) -- you would have the interview there, and at that time, the officer will want you
to collect all of the joint documents you have and bring those to the interview. Some
of the joint documents you may have are: a joint lease; joint bills; joint bank account
statements -- any of those documents that you have, you'd bring to the interview.
INTERVIEWER: Okay. So if I'm a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident in a same-sex
marriage to a foreign national, can I now sponsor my spouse for a family-based immigrant
visa? KAUSHIK: You absolutely can! So, just similar
to filing a marriage-based green card application where your spouse lives in the United States.
Alternatively, if they are living outside the United States and you're married, this
process is known as an immigrant visa, where you'd file an I-130 petition. And when filing
the I-130 petition, for those of you who live in California, you file that with the local
California service center. Normally, that process right now (at the time of this video)
is taking anywhere from four to seven months to get approved. Then it goes on to the national
visa center. They'll ask for a host of other documents, including demonstration that you
can actually support your spouse via form I-864, last three years of tax returns, W-2s,
your spouse is going to need to provide their original birth certificate, and a host of
other documents. That's all screened out by the national visa center, and then it goes
to the U.S. embassy, where your spouse would have an interview there, and then they can
enter the United States after demonstrating that they meet all the requirements.
INTERVIEWER: So if I'm a U.S. citizen who is engaged to be married to a foreign national
of the same sex, can I file a fiancé/e petition for him/her?
KAUSHIK: Yes, you can also file a fiancé/e visa petition as well, and for those California
residents, you can apply at the California service center for the petition and it again
goes to the specific U.S. embassy. INTERVIEWER: If my spouse and I were married
in a U.S. state or a foreign country that recognizes same-sex marriage, but we live
in a U.S. state that does not, can I file an immigrant visa petition for my spouse?
KAUSHIK: You still can file for the immigrant visa petition. So, for instance, if you were
living outside of California, such as a state like Georgia, you could still apply if you
were married in California. INTERVIEWER: Do I have to wait until USCIS
issues new regulations, guidance or forms to apply for benefits based upon the recent
Supreme Court decision on DOMA? KAUSHIK: The fantastic news is: No, you don't
need to wait, you can apply right now, and in fact, we are preparing applications right
now. INTERVIEWER: I know that the immigration laws
are discretionary waivers of certain inadmissibility grounds under certain circumstances. For some
of those waivers, the person has to be the spouse or other family member of a U.S. citizen,
or of a lawful permanent resident. In cases where the required family relationship depends
on whether the individual or the individual's parents meet the definition of "spouse", will
same-sex marriage count for that purpose? KAUSHIK: It will. So, in this specific situation
-- and this is an excellent question -- where this occurs is let's say your spouse entered
the United States illegally (and they entered only ONE time illegally), then they're eligible
for an I-601a waiver or an I-601 waiver, and as long as you have a bona fide marriage (and
you're married!) you can also apply for the I-601 waiver. I want to thank you so much
for joining us on our immigration Q&A session. This was a lot of fun discussing these issues
with you, and I look forward to discussing the latest immigration news with you in the
future.