The Trump administration has begun denying visas to same-sex partners of foreign diplomats and UN employees unless they’re married and demands they marry by the end of the year or leave the country.
Foreign Policy reports: “The U.S. Mission to the U.N. portrayed the decision…as an effort to bring its international visa practices in line with current U.S. policy. In light of the landmark 2015 Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage, the U.S. extends diplomatic visas only to married spouses of U.S. diplomats….But critics says the new policy will impose undue hardships on foreign couples from countries that criminalize same-sex marriages…The new policy —which enter[ed] into force Monday—requires that foreign domestic partners of diplomats and U.N. officials posted in the United States must show the State Department proof of marriage by Dec. 31, or leave the country within 30 days. As of today, domestic partners of diplomats and U.N. officials based abroad will need to show they are married in order to enter the country on a diplomatic visa. The latest policy change, the United States explained in the note, was aimed at ensuring all couples were treated equally.”
TIME adds: ‘Only 25 countries recognize some form of same-sex marriage, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), while in more than 70 others, same-sex relationships are punishable by law.‘
