If you are a staff member on a G-4 visa in the United States and in a domestic partnership, and your partner is on a derivative G-4 visa, please know that the State Department is now requiring that you be legally married in order to continue to be able to secure a derivative G-4 visa for your partner.

With this change, the State Department is enforcing parity in the way they recognize opposite-sex partnerships and same-sex partnerships.

Since 2009, if you were in an opposite-sex partnership, the State Department required that you be legally married in order to obtain a derivative G-4 visa for your partner.

This was not the case for same-sex partnerships. Same-sex partners in a domestic partnership were still able to secure a derivative G-4 visa for the same-sex partner. This will NO LONGER be the case.

And it is an unfortunate change in rules, since same-sex couples, unlike opposite-sex couples, have limited choices when it comes to marriage.

Therefore, if you are a in a domestic partnership with a same-sex partner, and this same-sex partner is on a derivative G-4 visa, please consider getting married in order for your partner to be able to continue getting a derivative G-4 visa.

If you are already in New York City, consider getting married in City Hall, but make sure you fulfill all requirements.

Although UN-GLOBE is not in a position to discuss tax implications for you should you get married, nor can we provide advice on the requirements that have to be met in order to get married in countries where same-sex marriages are legal, please do reach out to us to see in which ways we can help. Or if you encounter any difficulties.

In the future, we’ll seek to organize an information session for same-sex couples in the US. If you know of someone— a tax lawyer, an immigration lawyer— who can give such a briefing, please get in touch with us at ohrm_globe@un.org