We recently analysed the Supreme Courts decision to strike down the Defense Against The Marriage Act (DOMA) and looked at the impact this could have on immigration and the impact it could have on international marriages, divorces and prenuptial agreement and what would be the position if the couple moved after marriage to a country that still did not recognize same sex marriages.
We would now like to consider the decision from the angle of visas and in particular Thai marriage visas and Thai fiance visas for same sex couples.
Thailand of course does still not recognise same sex marriages, despite it’s openess towards gay couples and homosexuality.
Previously, because DOMA meant that even if same sex couples lived in a state where gay marriage was recognised, they were still not permitted to enjoy the same federal benefits as heterosexual couples. For same sex couples living in Thailand, this meant they could not apply for a marriage or fiance visa, because even if the US petitioner was from a state that recognised same sex marriage, they would not be able to petition for immigration rights for their same sex partner.
Now that DOMA has been overturned we expect to see many new applications in Thailand in particular for US fiancee visas given that if the petitioner comes from a The K1 Fiancée/ Fiancé visa allows the Thai fiancée/fiancé of an American citizen to enter the United States for a period of 90 days with the intention of getting married during this period.
Practically speaking however we still don’t know if there will be any other roadblocks and realistically we won’t until an application is made, but regardless the DOMA decision is certainly opening doorways.
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