Confirmation of applications being accepted

Hello everyone,

Some good news today, as US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano confirmed that with immediate effect the US immigration services were accepting same sex bi-national applications.
Although we knew this had already started, it's good to have official confirmation from the government!
It's also been confirmed (it had been suspected that this would be the case), that couples residing in States that do not recognise same sex marriages will still be able to file, providing they married in a place where the union was legal.

Attached below are two images confirming this news, courtesy of The DOMA Project.

Dan.

18, and one more makes 19!

Hello everyone,

I was pondering how many of you out there might be in a similar situation as Jon and I, with being a bi-national same sex couple.
It made me wonder how many lives across the globe were affected by hurtful immigration policies.

To my knowledge (and I could be wrong), but before the historic decision in the US this week, only 18 countries allowed sponsorship for same sex couples. Now, with the death of DOMA in the newly liberated USA, there are 19 countries that allow it.
That really isn't a lot.

As far as I know the countries that allow sponsorship are:

Australia
Belgium
Brazil
Canada
Denmark
Czech Republic
Finland
France
Germany
Iceland
Israel
The Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
The United Kingdom
and now the United States

If I've missed a country off of the list, please let me know.

Of course, if you've read my first entry on this blog, you'll know the UK just made it a lot more difficult, not just for same sex couples, but all bi-national couples as a whole.

If at least one of you isn't in one of those countries listed above, how do you cope?

Despite the new financial rules, at least Jon and I had some hope because I am from the UK.

Dan.