Same-Sex Marriage and the Green Card Lottery

Recently, a Supreme Court decision made it unconstitutional for government authorities to discriminate against legal marriages.

This impacts many different aspects of government and public life, but many people wonder: “Does it affect immigration policy at all? Will it impact the Green Card Lottery?”

The short answer is that it will affect immigration policy for the Green Card Lottery and most certainly positively.

Same-Sex Marriages

An important part of this new decision is that the USCIS will now routinely accept same-sex marriages in immigration proceedings. However, that marriage must meet certain requirements.

The marriage must have been legal and sanctioned in the jurisdiction in which it took place.

This means that the country, or state, in which the marriage took place, fully recognizes same-sex marriage.

A marriage conducted clandestinely within an area that does not recognize same-sex marriages will not be considered to be genuine in immigration proceedings.

It should also be noted that in certain areas where the government does not recognize a same-sex marriage, certain churches do. Though a church may recognize the marriage, that does not necessarily make the married couple to receive immigration benefits based on their marriage.

The Green Card Lottery

Nothing really changes about the process in the Green Card Lottery for same-sex couples, only that now they can include their spouse on the application as well.

It is important to include one’s spouse on the Registration application as well as the actual visa application.

Photographs of both of you (individually) must also be included in the registration information.

Also, any children in the marriage must be listed on the forms and their photographs be included as well.