Those who do not currently reside in the United States, unfortunately, do not even have this opportunity. If their country does not allow them to get married, they will not have the right to apply for a diplomatic visa for their partners. Theoretically, only diplomats from 25 countries can legally apply for such a visa.
Trump at any price other than Obama
For the sake of order, it should be mentioned that the new law allows an exception. The US will continue to issue partner visas to employees of countries who will do the same for US diplomats and employees who visit them. Of course, this only shows the irony of the whole undertaking, because countries that agree, are not the ones persecuted by homosexual people.
The Obama administration acted in accordance with the belief that the matter is very delicate. Even if the practice after 2009 was to apply to individual countries for visas for partners of US diplomats in same-sex relationships, it was often decided not to do so, fearing possible persecution.
It is also difficult to say what was the real reason for changing the regulations and what the government wants to achieve here. Trump’s administration is famous for ill-conceived ideas, which he must retreat later. This was the case with the so-called the ban on admission for Muslims, which Trump had to cancel, translate and modify, was the case when separating the families of immigrants detained on the border with Mexico, which shook America. It ended with allegations against Trump that she keeps the children in cages. In a word, this is not the first time a government is asking for trouble.
Another observable tendency is the need to reverse any regulation that was introduced in Obama’s time. Sometimes it is difficult to find any sense in these changes ( ostentatious withdrawal from voluntary and non-binding Parisian provisions, dismantling NAFTA and the nuclear contract with Iran) – probably only that Trump tries to show its voters that it is the opposite of Obama. And it does not matter what the sentence is about.
Everything by Clinton?
The fact that Hilary Clinton stands behind the 2009 regulations is probably a sufficient reason to abolish them. Remember that Trump still behaves as if Clinton was his main political opponent. His big rallies, which still take place regularly in many places in the country, usually start with a multi-minute chanting: “Lock her up”, as, for example, took place a month ago in West Virginia. Yes, it’s about Hilary Clinton, who lost the presidential election two years ago and is virtually absent from America’s public life.
Another thing: The State Department, which introduced new regulations, has been in trouble from the very beginning of Trump’s rule. First, it was headed by Rex Tillerson, who did everything to limit the role of the institution he was managing. After he called Trump the “moron” (in the context of racist riots in Charlottesville), he was replaced by Mike Pompeo (who started his career with Trump as head of the CIA). In short, the independent Department of State exists only on paper and is a hostage to Trump’s administration.
The regulations came into force on October 1 this year, although a memorandum informs that partners in same-sex relationships will no longer qualify as “family members”, have been following the UN since July.
A wedding should be taken by the end of the year or leave the country within thirty days.
The new regulations will certainly complicate the lives of many people in Washington and New York – those cosmopolitan, elite and liberal “swamps” that President Trump has promised to dry.
Picture Credit: geralt