US to deny G-4 visas to same-sex partners of foreign diplomats and UN workers

A memo sent to the UN read: "As of 1 October 2018, same-sex domestic partners accompanying or seeking to join newly arrived United Nations officials must provide proof of marriage to be eligible for a G-4 visa or to seek a change into such status."

The G-4 visa is given to workers and employees of foreign organisations and their immediate families.

The Trump administration has said that the partners, presently living in the US, have time till Dec 31 to either leave, change their visa or get married.

Gay marriage is legal in 25 countries, while same-sex relationship is deemed a crime in 71 countries.

The state department said that 'only a relationship legally considered to be a marriage in the jurisdiction where it took place establishes eligibility as a spouse for immigration purposes'.

Slamming the move, UN Globe, a group which supports rights of LGBTQ workers in the UN, said, "Couples already inside of the United States could go to city hall and get married. But they could potentially be exposed to prosecution if they return to a country that criminalises homosexuality or same-sex marriages."

However, the US has said that it will grant visa to those partners from countries which do not support same sex relationship, provided, gay US ambassadors to those countries enjoy the same benefit there.

Deputy UN Director of Human Rights Watch, Akshaya Kumar has termed the move as 'bad and cruel'.

"The US government should recognise, as it had for almost nine years until today, that requiring a marriage as proof of bona fide partnership is a bad and cruel policy, one that replicates the terrible discrimination many LGBT people face in their own countries, and should be immediately reversed," Kumar said.