What is a spouse?

A “spouse” is a lawful husband or wife. In order to successfully petition for an immigrant visa for your spouse, your relationship with your spouse must be established, and your spouse must be admissible to the United States under the immigration law.

For the purposes of immigration, a marriage’s validity is a question of U.S. federal law, not of state law. In 1996, Congress clarified the federal law concerning recognition of marriage by enacting the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which contains a statutory definition of "marriage" and of "spouse." Pursuant to the DOMA, in order for a relationship to qualify as a marriage for purposes of federal law, one partner must be a man and the other must be a woman. This definition applies to the construction of any Act of Congress and to any federal regulation. USCIS must, therefore, administer the Immigration and Nationality Act in light of the DOMA and cannot recognize the validity of any same sex marriage.