WHAT IS THIS NEW LAW? WHAT DROVE IT?

Based on a very few unfortunate cases around the country of a foreign lady spouse who became a victim of domestic abuse, Congress passed a law to, understandably, offer some protection for these immigrant women. The law was passed as part of the passage of the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization of 2005.

The new law is called the "International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005". It requires all U.S. gentlemen who petition for a fiancée or spousal visa to provide more personal background information to Immigration Service and the State Department than ever before. It creates more restrictions in the process such as the number of fiancée or spousal petitions one can file, and how quickly a gentleman can file some visa petitions.

The law also requires a U.S. gentleman who wishes to meet his future fiancée or spouse through an "International Marriage Broker" to first submit extensive personal background information to the broker agency. The broker must then share that information with a future lady fiancée or spouse who must consent before the couple can start a communication and relationship.

WHY IS THIS LAW IMPORTANT? WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR ME?

For the foreign ladies, the law is important because it tries to protect immigrant women by allowing them to review a potential gentleman suitor's background before starting a relationship. For the gentlemen, it means that they must be prepared to forego some privacy and offer some extensive background data. Perhaps, the best way to view this law is simply to acknowledge the obvious: in the long run, full disclosure is the best "relationship" policy.

WHAT EXACTLY ARE SOME OF THE PROVISIONS?

Some highlights of the new law:

1. NEW PETITION FORMS: New I-129F Fiancée and K-3 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. (Interestingly, it would appear that the Petition I-130 Petition for the CR-1 legal resident visa for spouse seems to be unaffected.)

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.