Secretary of State John Kerry announced Friday that the United States will immediately begin to grant the same consideration to visa applications from same-sex spouses as opposite-sex spouses.
“If you’re the spouse of a U.S. citizen, your visa application will be treated equally. If you’re the spouse of a non-citizen, your visa application will be treated equally,” Kerry said at the U.S. Embassy in London, as quoted by the Washington Post.
“As long as a marriage has been performed in a jurisdiction that recognizes it, so that it is legal, then that marriage is valid under U.S. immigration laws, and every married couple will be treated exactly the same,” he added.
The policy change allows a foreign citizen legally married to a U.S. citizen of the same sex to more easily obtain an entry visa, and allows visa applications from foreign same-sex spouses to be considered jointly, according to the Post.
