In January 2006, the United States passed a new law to regulate the matchmaking and dating industry called the International Marriage Brokers Regulation Act 2005. This new law went into effect on March 06, 2006.
Under federal legislation, Colombian Introductions is mandated to collect background information ,via a questionnaire, from each U.S gentleman who wishes to use our service. The U.S. Client questionnaire can be found on the sign up page. We will also be required to conduct an electronic search on the National Sex Offender public registry and state public registry (www.nsopr.gov).
This information and search results will then be translated into Spanish and made available to all ladies interested in communicating and meeting American men. We can assure and guarantee you that the information you provide us will of course be confidential and not shared with anyone other than the women you wish to engage or meet on the Vacation Tour. There are severe provisions in this law for the misuse of this information including fines and or imprisonment.
We understand this is personal information, but keep in mind that sharing the criminal and marital history information may make the women more comfortable and confident which may increase your response rate. Remember, love has no boundaries and together we can work around this obstacle so that you can fulfill your pursuit for happieness. We ask for your patience in this matter and that you fill out the form truthfully and completely, as it may be part of the foundation that you lay with your future wife.
Special Note: Please beware of companies that are introducing you to foreign women and not requesting you to fill-out the U.S. Client questionnaire. That means that they may very well be operating outside of the law which can ultimately impact whether or not the women you are interested in is granted a fiancée visa. This law requires the adjudicating officer to ask the fiancée how she met her fiancé and if they used the services of an agency or online dating service and if so did the agency or internet service comply with the IMBRA act of 2005. It is our understanding that if you do use an agency or internet service that does not comply with the IMBRA act of 2005 that the your fiancée may be denied the visa.
Some highlights of the new law:
1. NEW PETITION FORMS: New I-129F Fiancee 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 assualt.
2. LIMIT ON NUMBER OF PETITIONS: Some petitioners will need to wait before they can successfully file for a fiancee visa. For example, if you filed two (2) or more fiancee 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 fiancee 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 fiancee 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.
In summary, the new law will now require Colombian Introductions to fulfill the following obligations:
*Colombian Introductions will be required to obtain criminal and other background information from all U.S. citizens, nationals or legal aliens that are members of the service.
* The background and personal disclosures must be translated into the native languages of all the foreign clients and made available for the non-U.S. clients to review.
* The foreign client must acknowledge they have received this information and give consent to allow the United States client and foreign client to contact each other.
*Distribute to the foreign national a pamphlet currently being developed by the U.S. government to educate foreign fiancée about U.S. domestic abuse laws and resources for immigrant victims in the U.S.
Q: Where can I obtain more information about this new law?
A: We recommend you visit the website of Gary Bala , a United States immigration attorney whose website is an excellent resource with current information about the International Marriage Brokers Regulation Act 2005.
We also highly recommend you visit Online Dating Rights, an organization founded to voice your opinion about the IMBRA law and expose it for what it really is.