Phoenix LGBTQ Lawyers

How Do Immigration Laws Affect the Phoenix LGBTQ Community?

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Approximately 1.3 million LGBTQ adult immigrants live in the U.S. With that in mind, immigrants who identify as lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, or questioning often face many hidden barriers to successfully emigrating to the U.S.

Some of those barriers are based on current immigration laws and procedural issues. Simultaneously, others occur due to homophobia and other phobias that lead to discriminatory practices against members of the LGBTQ immigrant community.

At Best Immigration Lawyer, we understand the unique issues that members of the LGBTQ immigrant community face. Our Phoenix immigration lawyers are here to help.

What’s Unique About LGBTQ Immigration in Phoenix?

The immigrant LGBTQ community must deal with typical immigration issues just like everyone else. However, gay, lesbian, and transgender immigrants must also deal with discrimination, persecution, misidentification, and underrepresentation more than most other groups.

LGBTQ Immigration Facts to Know

• Nearly 290,000 LGBTQ undocumented immigrants live in the U.S.
• 169,000 foreign-born people are a part of same-sex couples
• 3 percent of all immigrants identify themselves as LGBTQ
• Homosexuality is criminal in 70+ countries
• In some countries, LGBTQ individuals face the death penalty for “breaking the law.”

With this information in mind, the attorneys at Best Immigration Lawyer in Phoenix stand with the global LGBTQ community in their fight for rights, respect, and recognition in all areas of law, including immigration law. No one should ever experience discrimination simply because of their sexual orientation or identity.

We provide the following LGBTQ immigration services in Phoenix, and more.

• LGBTQ Asylum & Withholding of Removal
• Immigration waivers
• Defense from deportation removal
• Immigration appeals
• Family-based visas for LGBTQ couples
• Fiancé Visas

Contact us today to learn more about legal rights available to the LGBTQ community.

LGBTQ Asylum and Removal of Withholding in Phoenix

While most immigrants come to Phoenix to build a new life and chase the American dream, hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ immigrants come to the U.S. to do more than that; they are escaping past or imminent harm perpetrated or allowed by their own governments.

Many LGBTQ immigrants come to the U.S. to escape persecution due to their sexual orientation in their home countries. Those with a well-founded fear of facing harm or death due to their sexual orientation or gender identity may qualify for asylum.

LGBTQ asylum seekers must apply for asylum within one year of being in the U.S. If not, they must prove that their conditions unexpectedly changed in the course of their “coming out” while in the U.S.

Additionally, LGBTQ asylum seekers must provide credible evidence of past harm or threat of future harm caused by their government due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. If the harm is not caused directly by their government, LGBTQ asylum seekers must prove that their government was aware of the group(s) committing the crimes, and allowed it or couldn’t take action.

You can apply for asylum at any time. In doing so, you may be granted a Withholding of Removal if you are already facing deportation. If you are in the U.S. longer than one year and face removal, there may still be options available to obtain a Withholding of Removal.

Can I Sponsor My Same-Sex Spouse on a Family-Based Visa?

After the Supreme Court invalidated the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), USCIS reversed its policies and began approving same-sex immigration benefits like visas, green cards, etc.

With that in mind, yes. You can sponsor your same-sex spouse on a family-based visa so long as you meet all of the requirements. Family-based visas can be complicated and time-consuming. Working with an immigration lawyer can drastically improve the chances of a successful petition.