“Everything Would be Solved if Only We Could Marry:” Queer Marriages and U.S. Immigration Policy
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U.S. Immigration policies are based on the premise of family unification with the majority of visas distributed to immigrants who are married to American citizens. Unfortunately, since same-sex partnerships are not recognised by U.S. immigration law, gay and lesbian immigrants cannot be sponsored for immigration by their same-sex partners who are American citizens. Immigration officials have estimated that approximately 30% of all marriage visa applications they receive are fraudulent. In these instances immigrants are believed to have entered marriages of convenience, also known as MOCs, with American citizens in order to gain U.S. citizenship. In this chapter, I analyse the experiences of gay and lesbian immigrants who enter heterosexual marriages of convenience in order to immigrate to the U.S. I argue that these marriages of convenience often serve a dual purpose: in addition to helping immigrants enter the U.S., MOCs also allow closeted gay and lesbian immigrants to gain acceptance and approval from their families.