Associated Press
July 1, 2013
FORT
LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Bulgarian graduate student and his American
husband are the first gay couple in the nation to have their application
for immigration benefits approved after the Supreme Court ruling on
same-sex marriages, their lawyer said.
The
approval means Traian Popov, here on a student visa, will be able to
apply for a green card, and eventually U.S. citizenship. But he won’t be
able to work or visit his family back home for at least another three
to six months while his application benefits are being be processed. And
his marriage to Julian Marsh, performed in New York, still won’t be
recognized in Florida where they live.
“It’s
unbelievable how that impacts you,” Marsh told The Associated Press on
Sunday. “They make you feel more and more like a second-class citizen
and they don’t want you. And that’s how I feel about Florida.”
Two
days after the Supreme Court struck down a provision of a federal law
denying federal benefits to married gay couples, Marsh and Popov were
notified Friday afternoon that their green card petition was approved by
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The
U.S. Department of Homeland Security could not immediately confirm
Monday whether this case was the first. Secretary Janet Napolitano said
Monday the government would start reviewing applications for green cards
and other immigration benefits for same-sex couples in the wake of the
Supreme Court’s decision.
Popov
and Marsh’s lawyer, Lavi Soloway of The DOMA Project, said his
organization filed about 100 green card petitions for same-sex couples
since 2010 and expects more to be approved in the next few days.
Lawyers say the ruling would help same-sex couples who are running out of options or are facing deportations.
“Now
all of those cases can go forward in the way they should with the
government respecting the fact that there is a legally recognizable
marriage there,” said Laura Lichter, past president of the American
Immigration Lawyers Association.
There
are roughly 36,000 couples in the country in which one person is a U.S.
citizen and one is not, according to Immigration Equality, a nonprofit
organization that handles immigration issues for lesbian, bisexual, gay
and transgender couples.
In
the first three days after DOMA was struck down, the group received
1,276 inquiries to its legal hotline — roughly the same number they
received in all of 2012.
“We
are still getting more volume and expect by the end of July to be
around 3,000,” said Rachel T. Biven, the group’s executive director.
The
Supreme Court ruling is clear for same-sex couples who live in the 13
states that allow same-sex marriages, but for couples like Marsh and
Popov who traveled to another state to get married, the latest victory
for marriage equality is bittersweet.
“We
would like our marriage to be recognized even in a state where it
wasn’t performed in,” Popov said. “We want civil recognition.”
Florida
voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2008 banning same-sex
marriages, and it will take approval from 60 percent of voters to
overturn it if the issue is put on the ballot again.
The couple said they met in 2011 at a friend’s party and began dating shortly after.
“We
just really liked each other and I knew this was the man I wanted to be
with,” Marsh said. Six months later, he asked Popov to move in and by
2012 they were married in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Popov,
who is studying for a master’s degree in social sciences, was able to
remain in the U.S. as long as he was enrolled in school. When he
graduated, though, he would have had to leave the country if DOMA was
not struck down.
“I
wanted to stay with him forever in the country that we chose to be in,”
Marsh said. And the pair began planning their next move — both have a
European background and Marsh is also a Canadian citizen.
But
the couple wanted to stay in Fort Lauderdale, where they live with
their two Yorkshire terriers. So they reached out to The DOMA Project,
which works to stop deportations and separations of gay couples caused
by the Defense of Marriage Act.
“I
started crying,” said attorney and DOMA Project co-founder Lavi Soloway
of when he found out that not only DOMA was overturned, but that Marsh
and Popov would be able to stay together in the U.S. He said he was
working to help dozens of other couples facing similar separations.
Popov said the couple feels they’ve been vindicated.
“It’s still overwhelming, and we would like to make a difference in Florida,” Marsh said.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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