Hi, everyone. In this video, I want to celebrate pride month with you and I also
want to discuss the evolution of immigration as it relates to the LGBTQ+ community
First and foremost to celebrate pride month, we are all so excited here at our firm to be able to
to celebrate pride month. Pride month is so great because it is a recognition
of all of the progress that has been made. It's also an important reminder of the progress
and the steps that still need to be taken for equality for the LGBTQ+ community.
I think pride month is even more than that. The great thing about pride month
is it really is a reminder that there is no substitute for being a hundred percent
unapologetically you. I think that the world is a better place when we all do that and when we are
all accepting of each other's differences because that's what makes life fun, right?
Here at our firm, we represented hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands
of couples in navigating the immigration process. We love our job because we love
getting to work with so many different and unique individuals and learning that
or knowing rather that every couple is so unique. It makes our job so much fun to learn about our
couples. How they met, often it seems as if they were in a movie. Just the unique ways that our
couples have met all across the world and then also the evolution of their relationship.
Again, we are really excited to be able to make this video to celebrate pride month with you.
I also wanted to discuss the evolution of immigration, the changes in immigration
as it relates to the LGBTQ+ community and also discuss some of the common questions that we
receive. A very brief history, pre-2013 same-sex couples were not afforded the same
protections or the same rights in the world of immigration as it relates to marriage-based cases.
What happened in 2013, the Supreme Court struck down DOMA, the Defense
Against Marriage Act that said marriage had to be between a man and a woman. That happened in 2013
and then fast forward to 2015, the Supreme Court made another wonderful decision that said same-sex
couples should be allowed to marry in every state. That really changed the landscape
of immigration and marriage-based cases. In large part, same-sex couples
should have the same process as any other couple going through the immigration process.
Something that we are asked a lot by couples is whether or not immigration officers at the
immigration interview and whether immigration officers who are reviewing applications
if they treat same-sex couples differently. A lot of couples are worried that they might be
disrespected at the interview or that they might have additional hurdles to overcome.
We represent couples all over the United States, all over the world. We've had attended
interviews with couples in many different states in the United States and we're happy to be able
to report that the immigration officers that have conducted our interviews for our clients
have been respectful and that we have not had any issues with any type of disrespect or
unfair standards in the immigration interviews or in the decision-making of the applications.
However, if you are nervous about your immigration interview, you're nervous about what happens if I'm
treated with disrespect in my interview, I want you to have some tips and understand your
options and your rights so you can feel more comfortable on that important day.
If you are disrespected at your interview, if you feel that the officer is treating you differently
you can ask to speak with a supervisor. I know that could be a little
uncomfortable, you're already on the hot seat being asked about your relationship.
You might not feel comfortable asking to speak with the supervisor, you could ask
to stop the interview and then try to speak with a supervisory officer.
Alternatively, you could think of bringing an immigration attorney with you to the interview
to prevent any nerves that you might have on that front and also to be able to help
navigate that for you if that were to happen. Hopefully, it doesn't but the main point that
I want to make is that you do have the ability to ask for a supervisory officer, which is basically
the main boss at the immigration offices where you will have your interview. Ask to speak with them
and discuss your concerns. Immigration also has an investigation department or a
department where you can make complaints. I will put the link below so you
can have that as a reference. USCIS has on their website information about if you have
been treated unfairly or if you have a concern about the service. You can make a formal
complaint. Again, I will post that in the notes below so you can have that link
to the USCIS website to know what your rights are and the steps that you can take. But again,
I hope that your experience is equal to the experience we've had where we've had immigration
officers-of course, they aren't there to be your friend, they have an important job
to do to make sure you have a real relationship but we have found that the immigration officers
have been respectful in doing their job. We hope that that's your experience as well.
I'd like to discuss progress that I think still
needs to be made in immigration. Some of the things that same-sex couples may experience,
one of the things is that if you are filing an application
as a same-sex couple, if you've previously had an application or if you've previously been
through an immigration process and you were in a relationship with the opposite sex,
immigration tends to look into that more. They scrutinize that more and by that I
mean, immigration is looking at that as a red flag. I don't agree that that is fair but just
to share with you the reality of that situation is that immigration might have additional questions
about whether or not that prior relationship that you were married to the opposite sex
and filed an immigration application, they would actually look into that and see if that was a
a real or a bona fide relationship. I tell you that not to scare you but just to make you aware.
I know that that is very common and what we do for our clients if we know that is we just make
sure in advance that we have evidence to show that was a real relationship previously. We don't
submit that with the application but we anticipate that and knowing that that is how we prepare.
That's just one of the aspects of progress that could still be made in
the immigration context. Some of the immigration forms are a little antiquated in the language
they use. By that I mean, some of the forms still use general terms like gender instead of sex
and for the most part, immigration has made a concerted effort to change that on the
forms. But that is one of the things that's a little more antiquated. Also, the forms don't really
provide for the ability of individuals to designate that they are transitioning.
In that context, we just have to work with the forms as they are and usually we'll
put a notation or something in the addendum of the form to explain that. We just have to work
with the way the forms are but those are a few areas of progress
that can still be made. Thank you all so much for joining me and for celebrating pride month.
I think that pride month is something that should continue beyond the month of June. But thank you
for watching this video. If you have enjoyed it and you'd like to give it a thumbs up, we'd
really appreciate it so others on YouTube can benefit from the information. Thanks for watching