One of the most common reasons that people seek green cards is because they’ve gotten married. They want to be able to stay in Texas because they married a citizen, even though they are not a citizen, and they need a green card so that they can permanently live within the state.
For a long time, this was not an option for immigrants who are in same-sex relationships. But when did this change? You may have heard that you are certainly allowed to use your same-sex marriage as the basis for a green card today, but have you ever wondered how we got here?
The marriage law changed in 2015
Texas is one of the states where same-sex marriage is still a relatively new option because the state held that it was illegal until 2015. This was true for citizens or immigrants. At that point, however, the Supreme Court ruled that the states were not allowed to block same-sex marriage, and so it was legalized everywhere. It no longer mattered what Texas law said, as the federal law mandated that same-sex marriage rights had to be protected.
Again, this applies to everyone within the state. It is not just for citizens. Immigrants can also use this to get married and potentially as a path to get a green card. They take the same steps that an opposite-sex couple would take in these cases.
This is just one way in which changes to the law can have a dramatic impact on other areas of the law. It’s very important to know when these changes happen and how they may impact your rights or your immigration status.