Trump Administration To Deny Visa For Unmarried Partners Of LGBT Diplomats

The new visa policy of the Trump administration has a stricter stance for partners of LGBT diplomats, one that can get them in trouble when they go back to their home country.

Starting Oct. 1, the U.S. State Department will no longer provide visas for the same-sex domestic partners of foreign diplomats and staffers of international organizations such as the United Nations unless they are married.

A State Department spokesperson interviewed by ABC News said that the objective of the decision is to ensure and promote equal treatment.

Applications from same-sex partners of diplomats and international officials will be treated in the same manner as those from heterosexual partners. Same-sex partners are now required to apply for a spousal visa, also known as G-4 visa.

The shift, which was detailed in a memo that was circulated at the UN headquarters in New York last month, gives same-sex partners of foreign diplomats and UN workers until the end of the year to either get married or leave the country.

“Currently accredited same-sex domestic partners of United Nations officials who wish to maintain their G-4 visa must be ready to submit proof of marriage by 31 December 2018,” the memo from the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management reads.

“After 31 December 2018, they will be expected to leave the United States within 30 days unless they submit the required proof of marriage or have obtained separate authorization to remain in the country through a change of non-immigrant status.”

According to Foreign Policy, at least 10 current UN employees would need to get married if they want to get visas renewed. It was not, however, clear how many UN employees and foreign diplomats who currently work in the United States will be affected by the policy change.

Critics said that the new visa regulations appear to coerce same-sex couples to enter into a marriage that could get them jailed once they go back home.

Figures from the Human Rights Watch show that there are only 25 countries that recognize some form of same-sex marriage. In more than 70 others, these relationships are punishable by law.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, who described the new policy as needlessly cruel and bigoted, said that only 12 percent of UN member states have legalized same-sex marriage.

Power said that requiring marriage as a proof of bonafide partnership replicates the discrimination that many LGBT people face in their own country.

Reportedly, the Trump White House believes that the new visa policy is consistent with the 2015 Supreme Court ruling to legalize same-sex marriage in the country.