US draws ire of gay rights groups

DEADLINE: MUST BE MARRIED TO GET VISAS

Same sex domestic partners of diplomats affected by state department ruling.

The US will no longer grant diplomatic visas to the same-sex domestic partners of foreign diplomats, requiring that they be legally married to obtain them, in a reversal of Obama-era guidelines, senior US officials said on Tuesday.

The new policy was circulated in a United Nations memo last month and took effect on Monday.

The UN memo, which was published online, states that the US state department will not issue G-4 visas, which are for employees of international organisations and their immediate family members, to same-sex domestic partners. Instead, same-sex partners of diplomats based in the US will have to present proof of marriage to be eligible for such visas.

The new rules reverse a 2009 policy instituted by former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, which defined “family” of foreign diplomats as including same-sex domestic partners, thus making them eligible for diplomatic visas.

Diplomats currently in the US will be able to fulfill the new requirement by getting legally married in the US, a senior Trump administration official said on Tuesday. According to the UN memo, they must submit proof of marriage by December 31, or leave the country within 30 days.

The senior official said the US will have a process to recognise same-sex domestic partners of foreign diplomats from countries where same-sex marriage is not legal, but which recognise American domestic partners.

About 105 families in the US will be affected by the policy change and 55 of them are with international organisations. A second senior US official said “very few” of the affected families are from countries where samesex marriage is illegal.

“We are aware of the policy change in the US, which was conveyed to us in July, and are trying to abide by it,” UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said. Haq said the UN believed the policy affected 10 staff members who would need to provide marriage certificates before the end of this year.

US officials said the change was meant to align US policy toward foreign diplomats with state department policy toward American diplomats posted abroad.

The Supreme Court in 2015 ruled that the constitution provides same-sex couples the right to marry and internal state department guidelines have changed to reflect that, officials said.

The new policy has drawn criticism from gay rights advocates, who say it is not accommodating toward diplomats who come from countries that are hostile to same-sex unions. Twenty-six countries allow gay marriage, according to a 2017 tally by the Pew Research Centre.