U.S. Government Now Accepting Gay Marriage Green Card Applications
San Francisco, Ca (PRWEB) July 30, 2013 -- Today a new Same-sex marriage green card service is available to help LGBT applicants file error-free applications.
Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), legally married bi-national LGBT couples can finally receive immigration benefits previously denied.
For nearly 20 years, DOMA’s Section 3 has banned LGBT couples from receiving federal benefits. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has consequently denied thousands of family-based green card petitions filed by LGBT U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
A family-based green card petition is an application that allows U.S. citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their foreign spouses for permanent residence in the U.S. This benefit is part of current immigration law to keep families united. However, because of the discriminatory rule, bi-national LGBT couples eligible for the Green Card process have had to either live apart or live in fear of separation.
In June, the Court decided that Section 3 of DOMA violated the Fifth Amendment:
“No person shall … be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
On July 1, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano issued a statement declaring that with Section 3 ruled unconstitutional USCIS will no longer deny LGBT Green Card petitions.
“Effective immediately, I have directed USCIS to review immigration visa petitions filed on behalf of a same-sex spouse in the same manner as those filed on behalf of an opposite-sex spouse,” Napolitano said.
ImmigrationDirect’s new Same-sex Marriage Green Card service helps applicants go through the otherwise complicated application process. With form navigator technology, applicants can complete the application step-by-step, answering simple, straightforward questions in plain language.
The service provides personalized filing information to ensure error-free applications, saving applicants thousands on costly legal fees.
ImmigrationDirect.com is a do-it-yourself online service designed to simplify U.S. immigration applications in English and Spanish. The company works to ensure its customers present error-free applications to the USCIS. For more information, visit http://www.immigationdirect.com
Laura Rochetto, ImmigrationDirect, http://www.immigrationdirect.com, 415-375-3145, [email protected]
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