Galán arrived in the United States as a 17-year-old student and studied psychology at the University of Texas. He now works in data management in a North Miami office. His employer sponsored him for the business visa that allows him to live and work in the United States.

He met Nardi two years ago online and they began dating. Eight months into the relationship they began living together in a Miami Beach apartment.

It was at that point Galán and Nardi began discussing their future because of Galán's immigration status. Though he is legal and has a visa, that visa will expire at some point and he has no direct path to permanent residency unless his company sponsors him for a green card.

``They are nonprofit and they cannot afford it,'' Galán said.

Talk of incorporating the permanent partner provision into immigration law ``gives me hope'' that eventually Nardi could sponsor him for residency, Galán said.

But hope is not enough. Galán and Nardi decided they could not wait to shape their future together and began the process of moving to Canada.

``I'm applying on my own merits, and I'm taking my partner with me,'' said Galán, who plans to marry Nardi soon after settling in Canada.

They plan to move early next year.

If immigration reform, including the same-sex couples provision becomes law before Nardi and Galán leave, they might stay in the United States.

``We'll cross that bridge when we get there,'' Galán said.

A majority of binational gay couples in the United States live in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area, New York, San Francisco and the major urban centers in Texas, according to Steve Ralls, communications director for Immigration Equality, a 10,000-member group founded by two attorneys in 1994.

An estimated 2,902 LGBT binational couples currently live in Florida, according to the Williams Institute at the University of California in Los Angeles, a think tank that concentrates on sexual orientation law and public policy.

Same-sex binational couples in the U.S. are about evenly split between male and female, Ralls said.

Immigration Equality's increasing caseload indicates that the binational gay couples issue has become a more common trend, Ralls said.

``This is, unfortunately, their only option for a permanent solution,'' he said. ``Canada certainly is option No. 1, because of the proximity to the United States. It allows the American partner to maintain their extended family connections in the U.S.''

Ralls said a second option is Britain, then other countries in the European Union.