US Law Regulating International Romance. Act now!

All American men are labeled abusers until proven otherwise! Such could be the interpretation of the IMBRA – a law that turns out to be quite a trial on the way of some American men toward their Russian brides, Russian mail order brides, or any other foreign bride.

Note: The latest news go on top

Update 3/26/07. On March 23, U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper reversed himself, finding that the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005—which requires male users to reveal their arrests or convictions for violent crimes—does not restrict the Web site’s commercial free speech rights.

Full text from Daily Report.

You can also download the full text of the court order

Surprised? Shocked? Send me your comments and thoughts.

Update3/27/06. As of today a Georgia judge has issued a Temporary Restricting Order against this law. The future of IMBRA is not yet clear, but it looks like it is not going to stay. That is great news for us, guys. We will post updates here as they come in.

February 9, 2006:

On January 5, 2006 President Bush signed into law an "International Marriage Broker Regulations Act of 2005 (IMBRA)". Here is the exact text of the law.

I had hard time believing myself that such a law, severely limiting American men's ability to date and marry foreign brides, could pass Congress. For some time I thought it was a hoax, but turned out to be true. Main provisions of the new law come into effect on March 5, 2006. This will drastically change the international romance scene.

The main provisions of IMBRA place limits on number of "K" visa petitions a man may file for his potential bride in a certain time period, and also (most importantly) require that a man discloses all his past criminal history, visa petition history, past marital and divorce history, ages of children under age 18 to the lady BEFORE he can get her contact information or otherwise communicate with her. The agency must collect this information, then check the National Sex Offender public registry and state public registry for each man, provide all this information to the lady, and secure a signed and written consent from the lady to release her contact information to that particular man.

There are many things wrong with this law, but the most unconstitutional is to require men to disclose such personal information to somebody they have not met or even communicated with. When you see her on our website all you know about her is her first name, some bio information, and a pretty picture. Now government says that for the privilege just to say "Hi" you must disclose all this very personal information to her.

Significant additional requirements and costs passed on to the agencies (men's background checks and securing a written consent from the lady) will drive many agencies either abroad or out of business.

We need to act now all together in order to oppose this unjust law. Feminists, who wrote and pushed this law, disguising their intentions by a pretty cause of protecting women, in fact are eliminating competition by effectively precluding those same women from coming to the US.

I want to make it very clear, nobody is against protecting women. Yes, those women coming to the US on "fiancée" visas should be protected from abusers, and informed in the best way possible. That's why it's not at all a bad idea to do background checks on both men and women when they apply for her "fiancée" visa. That means they are getting serious about their relationship. That's a good time to make sure he is not repeated abuser, and if he is, inform the woman about it and let her decide. But requiring men to disclose his background information before they even say "Hi" will turn off a lot of guys and drive a lot of international introduction agencies out of business. This will effectively make the process of finding love overseas so much harder.

To stand up for your rights, please sign the following 2 petitions to oppose this law. We have gathered over 1,000 signatures already.

Sign Petition #1 | Sign Petition #2

I also urge you to call your Congressman and complain about this law. The system works, we just have to be active. Please do not think "let others do it, I am too busy, what difference one call would make". If each and every one of us who feels that this law is outrageous calls his Congressmen, they WILL do something about it.

And please sign the petitions above. Send this to your friends, and ask them to sign. We are 10,000 strong on this mailing list, if everyone gets his 2 buddies to sign, we'll have 30,000 signatures.

The agency owners and the most active citizens are now forming an association, called Citizens Against Dating Discrimination (CADD). If you are interested in joining, please email me directly We will be fighting this law on different levels, creating public awareness, attracting attention of media, there are even talks of challenging the law in court.

Read below the explanation of the law by Gary Bala, the Immigration Attorney with 24 years experience, who has been helping this cause from the very beginning. We appreciate very much all the time he has donated and the great help that he has provided.

1st International Marriage Network

WHAT EXACTLY ARE SOME OF THE PROVISIONS?

Highlights of the new law:

1. NEW PETITION FORMS: New I-129F Fiancée and Spousal Visa petitions will require that the petitioner provide information on his criminal convictions for specified crimes, including violent offenses, domestic abuse and sexual assault.
2. LIMIT ON NUMBER OF PETITIONS: Some petitioners will need to wait before they can successfully file for a fiancée visa. For example, if you filed two (2) or more fiancée visa petitions in the past, and at least one of them was approved, you must wait two (2) years from the filing date of the last approved petition before you can be successfully approved for another fiancée visa petition. (Exception: Under some circumstances, a petitioner may be able to obtain a "waiver".)
3. MULTIPLE VISA PETITION DATABASE: Any person approved for a second visa petition or filing a third visa petition will be notified by Immigration that their case has been put into a special visa petition database which will track multiple petition filers and help identify those who might be abusing the system.
4. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PAMPHLET BROCHURE: Homeland Security will develop and make available on USCIS, State Department and Embassy websites a domestic violence pamphlet brochure in 14 languages and revised every 2 years which discusses the visa process, adjustment of status, conditional residency, marriage and visa fraud, domestic violence abuse rights, where and how to get help and other warnings and notifications.
5. CONSULAR INTERVIEW: The Consular Officer at interview will provide the visa applicant with a copy of the fiancée or spousal petition, and information and documents in her native language on any past marital and divorce history, past criminal history and past domestic violence history of the petitioner. The Consular Officer will also answer any questions about the domestic violence pamphlet brochure. The Consular Officer will also ask the visa applicant if the relationship was facilitated by an International Marriage Broker and , if so, confirm that the broker provided the applicant with information or documents about the petitioner's background.
6. REGULATION OF INTERNATIONAL MARRIAGE BROKERS (IMBs): IMBs are required to check the National Sex Offender public registry and state public registry for each specific U.S. client, and to gather mandatory background information and documents on that particular U.S. client's past criminal history, including prostitution offenses, past domestic violence history, past marital and divorce history, past visa petition history, ages of any children under age 18, and all states and countries where the U.S. client lived since age 18. IMBs must then provide that information to the foreign client lady in her native language and secure a signed, written consent from her before releasing her personal contact information to that specific U.S. client. The law imposes stiff civil and criminal penalties of up to $25,000 and up to 5 years in federal prison for each broker violation.

WHEN DOES THE LAW GO INTO EFFECT? WHAT SHOULD I DO?

Most of the new law's provisions go into effect in sixty (60) days after date of enactment, which is March 06, 2006. The bottom line for gentlemen and foreign ladies with an international romance and courtship is, if possible, to finalize their engagement and file their visa petitions as soon as possible.

WHAT IF I DISAGREE WITH THIS LAW? HOW DO I COMPLAIN ABOUT IT?

Many gentlemen value their rights of privacy. Many gentlemen feel that this new law might unduly impinge on their rights of free speech and free association as U.S. citizens. Perhaps, the law may also intrude on equal protection rights of U.S. citizens who are required to provide extensive background data for foreign romances but not for domestic dating. If you wish to register and voice your concerns and complaints about this law, please contact your federal Senator's or local Congressman's office.

SEE THIS LINK FOR HELP: Contacting the Congress

WHAT NEXT?

Needless to say, this new law mandates a significant change in the way the fiancée and spousal visa process will take place. It poses new challenges to brokers, U.S. clients and foreign clients alike in the international romance field. In the coming days and weeks, we will together monitor and follow the roll-out of this new law. Your comments, suggestions and ideas are welcome.

Good luck to all,
Gary Bala
USA Immigration Attorney
Pennsylvania USA
Web: www.garybala.com
E-Mail: gb@garybala.com
Tel: 610-446-VISA (8472)

Still dreaming about your Ukrainian angel? Good. Keep on dreaming - every good thing starts with a dream.

Need more information? How does this law apply in your situation? Here are Gary Bala's answers to some actual questions, and his IMBRA Blog.