Question: What is the Uniting American Families Act?
In the United States, U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents may sponsor their spouses (and other immediate family members) for immigration purposes. Same-sex partners, even those married in states where same-sex marriage is legal, are not able to sponsor their partners for immigration. Because of this, many gay and lesbian bi-national couples are torn apart.
Answer: The Uniting American Families Act was introduced to Congress in February 2009 (H.R. 1024 and S. 424). The purpose of the bill is to change US immigration law to allow U.S. citizens and permanent residents to sponsor their same-sex partners for immigration.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, the following countries already allow same-sex sponsorship of partners for immigration: Andorra, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
