How will the recent California Supreme Court ruling affect my resident status?

Yeah, it won't count. Sorry.

A little more from Equality California's http://www.eqca.org/site/pp.asp?c=kuLRJ9MRKrH&b=4134583#marriednow.

The current situation in California is unlikely to last for long. In 2000 the voters of California passed a ballot measure banning gay marriage with 61.4% voting for the ban. The California SCOTUS decision overturns that law, on grounds that it violates certain provisions of the California State constitution. The decision made no reference to the US Constitution, and the California State constitution can be changed by a ballot measure. And it probably will be. The "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limit_on_Marriage_Amendment" will almost certainly be on the California ballot in November. The likelihood is that it will pass just as easily as the 2000 law did, and California SCOTUS can't overturn it except on grounds that it violates the US Constitution. So far no court in the nation has done anything like that despite numerous appeals by supporters of gay marriage. So the most likely scenario at this point is that gay marriage in California will be legally recognized until November, and then cease to be. As mentioned, none of this affects the Federal government in any way, including in regards to immigration law. As to "additional benefits", then for the moment in California a gay marriage would be the same as any other marriage (e.g. regarding things like health insurance benefits). But if that amendment passes, then it once again would not be. Anyway, none of this has any effect whatever on your Visa status.

http://www.nclrights.org/site/DocServer/Supreme_Court_Press_Release_051508.pdf?docID=3021 Relevant quote: "Important Note: Binational couples in which one member does not have permanent legal resident status in this country and anyone serving in the U.S. military should consult with an attorney with expertise in these areas of law before getting married."

[few comments removed - please do not turn this into a debate about future california politicking, thanks]

As of now, nothing. I do remember that Obama made a statement that he would mirror any state-granted rights (like filing joint on a tax return, green cards, etc) on a Federal level for same-sex marriage a while ago at the Logo debate (found it on his http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/lgbt.pdf as well), so there is a distinct possibility that policy will be more gay-friendly in the near future. Of course, who knows whether that'll get through or not. Asides from that, the House has the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniting_American_Families_Act which has been in committee hell forever. Should that pass, it sounds like even if California passes a Constitutional Amendment against same-sex marriage, the domestic partnership laws would be enough for a green card. This is all, of course, theoretical.

IANAL, but a foreign friend of mine was advised by her immigration attorney that it would be unwise for her to marry or enter into a civil union with her girlfriend, even though they lived in a state where it was legal for them to do so, while she was seeking legal residency in the US. Her attorney told her that individual immigration officials have a quite a bit of discretion, and that some might see her marriage or civil union as an attempt to circumvent federal immigration law and not look kindly on her (otherwise perfectly valid) application for a visa or green card because of it. Additionally, some immigration officials may have a personal prejudice against gay people, so you may not want to make it obvious that you're gay unless you have to. She was advised to wait until she had a green card of her own before entering into a legal relationship with her girlfriend. I have no way of verifying this information, but that's what my friend told me that her lawyer told her. Sorry.

As a few other people have said, the state's recognition of same-sex marriage won't matter to the Federal Government as it officially does not recognize same-sex marriages -- or even civil unions, afaik. Unfortunately, there's nothing like that to speed up the visa process. If you do get married, it'll be nice for California and Massachusetts and a couple state which recognize out of state gay marriage, but nothing more than a piece of paper to the Fed and 26 other states who've banned same-sex marriages outright. Sorry :-(

(Note: The acronym SCOTUS only works for the Supreme Court of the United States. This decision was rendered by the California Supreme Court.) You are right; I botched that up.