Ryan and Partner

Posted on January 25, 2010. Filed under: Stories - from other sites |

Ryan (U.S.) & Partner (Thailand)

http://www.out4immigration.org/immigration/page.html?=&cid=1129

I met my partner in 2000 and we immediately fell in love. Since he was unable to come to America, I moved to Thailand and began working shortly after moving there. I left my promising academic career, my dear friends, and my family because I had no choice. We tried building a life there, but I had few work options and my income was so limited.

We tried to start anew in America with him getting a student visa. He studied hard to pass the TOEFL and got all the proper sponsorship paperwork, but in the end, the U.S. embassy in Bangkok denied him.
A simple refusal on their part, a life-changing event for us.
So, after spending months apart (I in the USA, he in Thailand), I flew back to be with him. I resigned myself to staying in Thailand and working around my visa status, which was not easy to manage. After teaching English for two more years, I got completely burned out. I never really wanted to teach, but it was the only way for me to earn a livable wage and stay with my partner.

Also, being so far from everyone else in my family was a big burden and so I finally left Thailand.

My partner and I split ways and are no longer a couple, but we never really got a full chance like straight couples have.

The biggest hypocrisy was that the U.S. claims NOT to recognize same-sex couples.

However, when a same-sex partner presents him/herself as such to the Embassy, they are specifically denied for that very reason!
So, they deny us on the grounds that we are a couple,
yet they can’t recognize us officially as such! What a scam!

This story is located at:
http://www.out4immigration.org/immigration/page.html?=&cid=1129