The future of same-sex marriage in the United States is now in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Just a day after same-sex couples started lining up in Washington for marriage licenses, the high court decided it will hear arguments on two same-sex issues.

The first is Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage. The other is the Defense of Marriage Act, also known as DOMA.

DOMA prevents federal agencies from recognizing same-sex couples and giving them the same benefits that opposite-sex couples get.

The fate of DOMA is especially important to Otts Bolisay and Ken Thompson. The couple has been together for 12 years, but Bolisay is a native of the Bahamas who is in this country on a work visa that expires in two years. 

“I'm not able to stay in the country,” Bolisay said. “Ken is not able to sponsor me to stay in the country.”

Usually when a foreign national marries an American citizen, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services expedites permanent resident status to keep the couple together.

Matt Adams is an attorney with the Northwest Immigration Rights Project.

 “As a U.S. citizen, if I’m married to someone of the opposite sex, I can file a visa petition for them. That means they can remain here as a lawful permanent resident of this country if they want, they're on an expedited timeline to file for citizenship,” Adams said.

Adams notes that U.S. immigration law is not gender-specific, describing married couples only as “spouses."

But even marrying Thompson wouldn’t guarantee Bolisay permanent residence in the U.S. because DOMA keeps immigration officials from treating same-sex couples like straight couples.

“Makes everything seem very tentative,” Thompson said. “We might have to pick up and leave.”

Thompson and Bolisay haven’t decided whether to get married; they are still weighing the immigration implications, and watching the Supreme Court.

“If the Supreme Court agrees that DOMA is unconstitutional, that will make a big difference in terms of what's ahead for us on the legal front,” Thompson said.

The Supreme Court ruling is expected in June.