Chris and Anderson

03/07/08 23:51 Filed in: Living In Exile
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As of October 2006, I’ve gone solo again, but not really. I moved from Washington to Rio De Janeiro to be with my partner after two years very long distance. His unconditional love and support has changed my life, and so I am happy to change more of it to be with him. Since he is Brazilian, we have not been able to obtain a visa to bring him to the U.S., and my country does not allow gay citizens to sponsor foreign same-sex partners for citizenship here. His country does. So for the time being, we’ll (finally) be together in Brazil, a place I have loved from the first time I stepped foot there. At the same time, living in Brazil on a tourist visa means I can't stay longer than 90 days per visit or 180 days per year, so I return often to the U.S., and we even moved to Buenos Aires for the last months of 2007 after I maxed on Brazil time for read more Citizen Crain (photo: Junior Magazine, Citizen Crain)

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Americans take it for granted that if they fall in love with a foreigner, they will be able to sponsor their partner for residency in the United States. But there is no such option for same-sex couples. It simply does not matter how long a couple has been together, how devoted they are to each other or even if they are legally married in Massachusetts, California (before Prop 8) or a country that allows it; if the partners are the same sex, their relationship is irrelevant in the American immigration system. A matter of fact, if our marriages become known to an immigration official, it would be evidence enough (to them) of a reason to want to stay permanently in the U.S. and would be an automatic ground to deny our spouses entry, or even a visa in the future.



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