Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Stirred Up Emotions- Marriage Equality and USCIS

On Friday, June 24, 2011, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law a bill permitting same-sex couples to be married in New York State as from July 24, 2011. This action by New York increases the population of the country with marriage equality, joining Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Iowa and DC.


The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) continues to deny I-130 petitions filed by bi-national same-sex couples, legally married in the States with competent jurisdiction. The question of whether New York’s action points to the future course of where the national conversation on marriage equality is heading, leaves much to be desired. Before the bill was signed into law, our Law Offices had consultations with several legally married, same-sex couples who were denied their I-130 petitions are who sought to file appeals on these denials.


What does the future hold we ask. Will USCIS jump on the bandwagon and start recognising these marriages for what they are, legal. Is the conversation as simplistic as that or are we to dig deeper into the trenches of the constitution to accurately and adequately determine the future course on these issues?

Smith & Stephenson LLP resolves immigration concerns for individuals and businesses. We are a full-service Immigration Law Firm and represent clients in all areas of immigration law, including family based immigration and employment-based immigration. If you have immigration questions, we have answers. You can call our Law Offices 24/7 at (212) 400-7147. Our Immigration Law Firm is located in New York, New York. Our firm serves primarily clients from the Tri-state area, however, we offer telephone consultations and we can help clients all over the United States and throughout the world.

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