Petitioning to come to the United States as a foreign national is complicated. There’s visa paperwork, quotas in many cases, and lengthy wait times. One misstep could mean a lengthy separation from your loved ones.

And that's just for straight people. 

As pro-reform interest groups prepare to fight for their specific priorities in pending immigration reform legislation, LGBT activists aren’t standing on the sidelines.

“There is a shared struggle among the immigrant and the LGBT communities,” said Steve Ralls of Immigration Equality, an organization that offers legal aid to LGBT immigrants. “There is a growing recognition that if we can get fair immigration reform through Congress we can work on a lot of issues together moving forward.”

Gay rights activists say there are several fronts in the immigration fight -- from specific provisions for gay Americans and permanent residents seeking to bring a non-citizen partner to the country, to protections for undocumented LGBT individuals, to a broader call for equal rights.

“We’re investing in immigration reform because it is a social justice issue and we have a responsibility to advocate for the kind of world we want to live in,” said Maya Rupert, policy director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights. “But beyond that, there are LGBT people who are going to be directly impacted by every provision in the ultimate legislation, so we have to make sure that it’s being done in a way that is inclusive and conscious of their needs.”

That means both legal and undocumented immigrants, Rupert said.

The number of LGBT immigrants is difficult to count, but researcher Dr. Gary Gates of UCLA’s Williams Institute used existing Census, Gallup and Pew Research Center data to calculate it. Gates estimates that about 900,000 LGBT immigrants live in the United States. About two-thirds of those are documented -- meaning that they are naturalized citizens, legal permanent residents or holders of a temporary visa. One-third -- about 267,000 -- are undocumented according to the estimate.

For documented LGBT immigrants, a key provision that activists have focused on is the inclusion of legislation called the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) in a final comprehensive reform bill.

Currently, a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident can petition for a visa for a foreign-born spouse -- but only if the spouse is of the opposite sex. That applies even if the same-sex couple is legally married in another country or in a U.S. state that recognizes gay marriage.

UAFA would make same-sex spouses or permanent partners of U.S. citizens eligible to petition for a family-based visa.

(If the Supreme Court finds the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional this summer, same-sex binational married couples will likely be able to apply for visas based on their relationship, regardless of where they reside.)

Activists point to an ally in Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, an original Senate sponsor of the UAFA legislation and the head of the panel that will first review a draft immigration bill. The White House also specifically included the provision for same-sex immigrant permanent partners in a January fact sheet outlining the president’s priorities for reform.

A path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants is also getting heavy support from LGBT groups, who note that a significant portion of undocumented LGBT people in the United States may be here because they faced discrimination in their country of origin.

“You can imagine the fear that an undocumented person faces with the uncertainty in current law if their deportation would mean the return to a home country where they cannot be out, where they cannot have a relationship or they would be subject to intense persecution,” says Ralls. “So a path to citizenship is critical for all undocumented people, and  for undocumented LGBT people it is in many cases a critical safety issue for them.”

Public opinion shifting
Since 1994, the U.S. has classified persecution on the basis of sexual orientation as grounds to seek asylum. But the process can be arduous and confusing, and asylum-seekers have to offer rigorous documentation of hardship. Those whose claims are denied risk deportation.

Although many Latino groups heavily involved in the immigration reform movement -- including the League of United Latin American Citizens, the National Council de la Raza and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus -- have offered support for the inclusion of LGBT protections in any final legislation, there’s opposition within the Latino community as well as from outside groups.

Susan Walsh / AP

In this March 12, 2013 file photo, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington.

In February, Sen. Marco Rubio -- a key player in the Senate Gang of Eight -- said that the inclusion of LGBT protections could hamper passage of the legislation. (Arizona’s Sen. John McCain has echoed that concern as well.)

"I think if that issue becomes a central issue in the debate it's going to become harder to get it done because there will be strong feelings on both sides,” Rubio said at an event sponsored by Buzzfeed. 

As recently as a decade ago, the Hispanic and LGBT communities could have been considered quite the opposite of allies.

In 2006, a Pew Research Center study found that just 31 percent of Hispanics favored allowing gay marriage, compared to 56 percent who opposed it.

But in 2012, those numbers were almost a mirror image, with 52 percent of Hispanics backing gay marriage and about a third saying they are not in favor of legal marriage for gays and lesbians.

Amid the legal complications and the data, and regardless of how any final legislation reads, those involved in the issue say that the debate is raising awareness about a long-ignored population.

“Having a number that indicates that this is a sizable group -- more than 250,000 LGBT undocumented, nearly a million LGBT immigrants -- it’s not so much the overall number that’s important, it’s the fact that there is an estimate,” says Dr. Gates of the Williams Institute. “Unless you’re counted, you tend not to count.”

Related: 

Religious groups, pro-reform organizations brace for family-based visa fight

This story was originally published on Sun Apr 7, 2013 4:24 AM EDT

Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman's endorsement of same-sex marriage rights on Friday is the latest high-profile example of a sea change within the conservative movement toward gay rights.

A trickle of GOP leaders have begun to back the rights of gay and lesbian couples to marry, and activists at the conservative movement's signature gathering this week express tolerance for Republicans who support same-sex marriage, even if they personally disagree.

Portman, an influential senator whom Mitt Romney almost selected last year as his running mate, announced that he had changed his position toward same-sex marriage because one of his sons is gay. 

"I have come to believe that if two people are prepared to make a lifetime commitment to love and care for each other in good times and in bad, the government shouldn't deny them the opportunity to get married," the Ohio senator wrote in an op-ed for the Columbus Dispatch. 

He's not the only high-profile Republican to back marriage rights for same-sex couples, either. 

Jon Huntsman, a GOP presidential candidate in 2012 who had endorsed civil unions, said this year that he supports marriage rights. Furthermore, he framed it in conservative terms. 

Related: Portman announces his support for same-sex marriage

"There is nothing conservative about denying other Americans the ability to forge that same relationship with the person they love," he wrote. 

And Theodore Olson, a former solicitor general for President George W. Bush, has been one of the lead attorneys challenging California's Proposition 8, a ballot initiative barring same-sex marriage in that state. (Portman fretted in his op-ed that a court decision might hamper the political movement toward legalizing gay and lesbian weddings.) 

Brendan Hoffman / Getty Images, file

Sen. Rob Portman attends the 2012 Fiscal Summit on May 15, 2012 in Washington.

And Fred Malek, a Republican power-broker, told NBC News this week that conservatives shouldn't feel threatened by gays and lesbian couples who wish to marry.

"I've always felt that marriage is between a man and a woman, but other people don't agree with that," he said. "People should be able to live their lives the way they choose. And it's not going to threaten our overall value system or our country to allow gays to marry, if that's what they want to do."

In response to the Portman endorsement, a spokesman for Republican House Speaker John Boehner said, "Senator Portman is a great friend and ally, and the Speaker respects his position, but the speaker continues to believe that marriage is between a man and a woman."

It was a sentiment echoed by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who said, "As a matter of personal religious conviction, I've always believed in marriage, I believe in the traditional marriage between a man and a woman.  But again, I think Senator Portman is entitled to his positions, and you know we are a party of diversity and, I think, of respect."

Gay rights is an issue that has changed rapidly in just a few years. President George W. Bush endorsed a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, and President Barack Obama had said he did not support same-sex marriage when he was first running for office in 2008. 

But Obama completed his "evolution" on gay rights (hastened by Vice President Joe Biden's inadvertent pronouncement of support for same-sex marriage) and announced his support for marriage rights last year. Romney had re-iterated his opposition to gay marriage at the time, but declined to use it as a cudgel versus Obama, calling same-sex marriage a "tender" issue. 

There's still resistance, though, to the issue. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, R, received a loud cheer on Thursday at this week's Conservative Political Action Conference when he said: "Just because I believe that states should have the right to define marriage in a traditional way does not make me a bigot."

Nonetheless, the broader change reflects broader public opinion. A plurality of Americans — 47 percent — said they support same-sex marriage, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released earlier this month. Forty-three percent of Americans oppose same-sex marriage. Looking inside of those numbers, independents back marriage rights by a 12-point margin, and nearly a quarter of Republicans — 23 percent — said they support same-sex marriage. 

But while the GOP has been slower to embrace same-sex marriage, the party's internal struggle toward same-sex marriage was on display this week at CPAC.

While a gay Republican group, GOProud, was formally barred from sponsoring CPAC this year, an informal discussion organized by conservatives who support same-sex marriage was one of the most popular on the confab's first day. 

The split is undeniably generational, too; young conservatives here at CPAC are much more inclined to support same-sex marriage, even if they don't personally support it.

"I would say that the majority of my friends — it's not so much that we agree with it, it's just that we don't care," said Gabe Snyder, a 20-year-old college student from North Carolina in attendance at CPAC. He said he personally opposes same-sex marriage, but believed that a generational change was afoot.

"I think this generation coming up is going to be different from our parents," said Snyder.

And Renee Knight Leberry, from South Carolina, who also personally opposes same-sex marriage, said that she didn't think Portman's conservative credentials were diminished at all by his pronouncement on Friday.

"I respect him; it's his choice, and as a Christian conservative, I respect anybody's choice. That's his son, and he loves his son. I don't think it would be right to judge him for supporting his son."

This story was originally published on Fri Mar 15, 2013 10:48 AM EDT

Jay Laprete / AP file

Sen. Rob Portman at left, rides with his son, Will, in Ohio on Aug. 11, 2012.

Republican Senator Rob Portman has announced his support for same-sex marriage, saying he reversed his position on the divisive social issue after his son came out as gay.

“I have come to believe that if two people are prepared to make a lifetime commitment to love and care for each other in good times and in bad, the government shouldn't deny them the opportunity to get married,” Portman wrote in an op-ed published Friday in the Columbus Dispatch.

“That isn’t how I’ve always felt. As a congressman, and more recently as a senator, I opposed marriage for same-sex couples. Then something happened that led me to think through my position in a much deeper way," Portman wrote in the op-ed.

The decision came after long consideration, the Ohio lawmaker told newspapers from his home state on Thursday. Portman’s 21-year-old son Will, who is a junior at Yale University, discussed his sexual orientation with Portman and his wife in 2011, the senator said.

His son said that his sexuality was “not a choice, it was who he is and that he had been that way since he could remember,” Portman told Cleveland.com during an interview in his Washington, D.C. office.

“It allowed me to think of this from a new perspective, and that’s of a dad who loves his son a lot and wants him to have the same opportunities that his brother and sister would have – to have a relationship like Jane and I have had for over 26 years,” Portman told reporters during that interview.

Portman’s changed stance comes amid spreading support for same-sex marriage. Forty-eight percent of Americans supported same-sex marriage in 2012, up from 35 percent a decade ago, according to a Pew Research Center analysis from Dec. 2012.

Jeff Swinger / The Cincinnati Enquirer via AP, file

U.S. Sen. Rob Portman is greeted by his daughter Sally, left, and son Will after finishing the Paddlefest, an annual Cincinnati event, on Saturday, June 23, 2012.

Arguments challenging a section of the Defense of Marriage Act, which Portman voted for in 1996, and the California constitutional provision that limits marriage to one man-one woman unions, are due to be heard before the Supreme Court later this month.

Portman called Speaker of the House John Boehner to tell Boehner of his decision to support same-sex marriage.

“Senator Portman is a great friend and ally, and the Speaker respects his position, but the Speaker continues to believe that marriage is between a man and a woman,” said Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner.

In his commentary for the Columbus Dispatch, Portman said, “The process of citizens persuading fellow citizens is how consensus is built and enduring change is forged. That’s why I believe change should come about through the democratic process in the states. Judicial intervention from Washington would circumvent that process as it’s moving in the direction of recognizing marriage for same-sex couples. An expansive court ruling would run the risk of deepening divisions rather than resolving them.”

Ohio voters adopted an amendment to the state constitution in 2004 that said only a marriage between one man and one woman would be legally recognized in the state. The measure passed with 62 percent of the vote. According to Cleveland.com, Portman said that if Ohio voters were to reconsider that constitutional provision, “he might support it, depending on its wording ... .”

Portman was considered a potential vice presidential candidate to run with Mitt Romney in the last presidential election, and acted as a surrogate for the Romney campaign in the important swing state of Ohio.

Portman told Romney that his son was gay, the senator said in an interview with CNN  that aired Friday.

“I told Mitt Romney everything,” Portman said of the vetting he underwent last year. “That process is, intrusive would be one way to put it. But, no, yeah, I told him everything.”

Mitt Romney adviser Beth Myers, who led the vice presidential vetting process, confirmed to NBC News Friday morning that that the campaign was aware Sen. Rob Portman's son was gay as they vetted him for the number 2 job – but that the situation played "no role whatsoever" in Romney's decision about who to pick as his running mate.

"It did not play a role," she said. Myers said that Portman told the campaign about the fact that his son was gay.

Myers said Portman called her on Thursday evening to tell her about his decision to switch his position and come out in support of gay marriage.

In the interview with Cleveland.com, Portman said that he believes the issue of same-sex marriage is “more generational than it is partisan.” He said that former Vice President Dick Cheney, whose daughter is a lesbian, told him to “do the right thing, follow your heart.”

Portman said he also considered his Christian faith, which led him to decide that “in a way, this strengthens the institution of marriage.”

“The overriding message of love and compassion that I take from the Bible, and certainly from the Golden Rule, and that fact that I believe we are all created by our maker, that has all influenced me in terms of my change on this issue,” Portman said, according to Cleveland.com.

“Especially proud of my dad today,” Will Portman tweeted on Friday with a link to the Columbus Dispatch op-ed.

The announcement came the same day as fellow Republican Senator Marco Rubio reiterated his opposition to same-sex marriage at a conservative gathering.

“Just because I believe that states should have the right to define marriage in a traditional way does not make me a bigot,” Rubio told the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday.

NBC News' Kasie Hunt and Frank Thorp contributed to this report.

This story was originally published on Fri Mar 15, 2013 7:03 AM EDT

A Meet the Press roundtable discusses the recent discourse over same-sex marriage and its role in the 2012 election.

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus discusses the GOP's views on same-sex marriage and the regulation of Wall Street.