In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act, the State Department, under former presidential candidate John Kerry, is making a change in the way it handles visa requests for same-sex couples. Visa applications will now be treated the same as heterosexual couples. This means that the U.S. will extend the same visa privileges to gay married couples as they do for traditional marriages between men and women. The only requirement beyond the normal criteria is that their marriage has to be recognized in the country where they were wed, not necessarily in the country from which they are applying for a visa.
“I’m very pleased to be able to announce that effective immediately, when same-sex spouses apply for a visa, the Department of State will consider that application in the same manner that it will consider the application of opposite-sex spouses,” Kerry told embassy staff. He said the department was “tearing down an unjust and an unfair barrier that for too long stood in the way of same-sex families being able to travel as a family to the United States.”
The U.S. government is now treating “green card” residency applications for same-sex couples the same as heterosexual couples too.
“Likewise also, as it was in the days of Lot…” Luke 17:28