March 22, 2009 3:32:09 PM CET
knuffel (Mar 22 2009, 06:12 AM) said: > original post
My partner is an Austrian citizen, so if I married him in Massachusetts, and then moved to the Netherlands with him, would NL recognize the marriage and let me stay?
You would need to check that the Netherlands will recognize a same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. It may be safer to marry your Austrian partner a bit further north, in Canada, where there are also minimal residence requirements and established precedents for spouses moving to the NL.
Once married to a citizen of an EU country, you would have automatic right of residence with no hassles if you accompanied your spouse to any other EU country. Ironically, it might not be so easy if you wanted to settle with him in Austria!
There was a lot of discussion about this question two or three years ago. And in particular a poster called Pauliebb, one half of a British-American lesbian couple who settled in Holland, provided much useful information.
Here is an old thread which isn't relevant to your case, as it involves China: but what Pauliebb says there is pertinent to your case, and from there you can search for her other postings.
http://community.expatica.com/Moving-China-Net...nds-t87966.htmlGood luck. If there are precedents from Massachusetts you will be fine. If not, the Canada route may be less stressful. And Maryland to Toronto is not that much further than Maryland to Boston, even if the dreaded Amtrac doesn't reach that far... You could even have your honeymoon at Niagara!
