UK to Recognize Foreign Same Sex Marriages.

In a new announcement revealed last week, overseas gay unions are going to be recognized in law in the United Kingdom as civil partnerships, which will afford  foreign partnerships the same equal legal rules and protections as British same sex civil partner  couples.

The UK government placed an order to make an  update to section 20 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004, to extend the list of overseas same-sex relationships from 25 countries to 75.  Therefore,  from the end of January next year gay couples from various countries including, Brazil,  Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden will be able to have their legal status protected while residing in the UK.

The Women and Equalities Under-Secretary Minister Jo Swinson saw this as a positive move,  “it was ‘great to see that so many countries across the world have legalised same-sex unions.  The Civil Partnership Act 2004 was a significant milestone in UK history, so it’s completely right that we now ensure our law reflects these changes and set an example for other countries to follow.” she said.

Jo Swinson

The change to the law will make it quicker and easier for gay couples overseas to work out if their overseas relationship will be treated the same as a civil partnership in the UK.