The dog Kanmi and the cat Mr. Kitty’s mums need’s your help – so the whole family can stay together
They are a family of four living abroad due to U.S immigration laws and costs. One of them is a U.S citizen Mary and her fiancée Lorraine is an Irish citizen.
They met in America while Lorraine was on a temporary work visa and they fell in love. They got to spend a wonderful year and a half together before she had to leave.
They didn’t want to be apart so they went to South Korea to teach English and that’s where they rescued our beautiful Jindo mix named Kanmi and our uptight, condescending cat named Mr. Kitty.
Kanmi was only meant to be a foster but it’s hard to find permanent homes in South Korea as there are so many animals in need. They fell head over heels for those puppy-dog eyes and kept her. Mr. Kitty was 6 weeks old and locked in a cage where he was described as “aggressive” where in actuality, he was just terrified.
Once their visas were up in South Korea, they moved to Vietnam to teach until the time comes for them to go home to America. Teaching doesn’t pay as well in Da Nang as they thought it would. They are working as hard as they can to take care of our family but they can’t stay like this forever. They want to go home to America and Mary want to bring her family with her.
If they were opposite sex, they would be able to marry in Vietnam and make the process simple. But the nearest country that allows same-sex marriage is not even in the same continent. While Asia has given them so much, it can’t give them what they need.
At the moment, they are preparing to get Lorraine a K1 visa which allows her to enter the U.S for the purpose of marriage. It will be a costly process considering they have to pay $2000 total to get her visa and adjust her status in the United States. Lorraine also has to fly to Dublin from Vietnam for her visa interview. Another chunk goes to their flights back to the U.S with their beloved animals in tow. They can’t leave them behind!
Their wedding will be a small civil ceremony. They are hoping the supreme court rules on their side in June so that they can marry in Texas or Louisiana. Otherwise, they will have to fly to a state where same-sex marriage is legal.
They never would’ve left America if the visa laws weren’t as strict as they were/are. When Mary met Lorraine, she couldn’t even sponsor her for marriage due to their genders. Even though DOMA was repealed just before they left, by then Lorraine’s work visa was converted to a tourist visa and getting married on a tourist visa in America is fraud. They could’ve been married sooner if DOMA hadn’t been on the books. their timing just wasn’t right. As of today, they still can’t be married in Ireland.
Their love is strong enough to endure bureaucracy, continental moves, prejudice, and endless amounts of frustration over U.S immigration. They love each other more than that.
Do you want to help out this LGBT family or read more about Mary and Lorraine and their family please visit gofundme.com