Posted on 05/28/2006 5:04:23 PM PDT by blesmut07
The State Department recently recalled over 1100 Fiance Visa because of an oversight by the State Department failing to begin collecting criminal and personal information which are now required as of March 6, 2006. As of March 6 the provisions of the Newly enacted International Marriage Regulation Act require ALL fiancee petitioners to supply criminal and personal information as a result of the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act enacted March 6, 2006.
Originally the law was designed to regulate International Marriage agencies and their clients by requiring criminal and personal information to be released to the marriage broker before the male client could write love letters to foreign women. Once the client became engaged additional criminal and personal information would be submitted on the Petition forms.
Many Veterans who DID NOT MEET THEIR FIANCEES THROUGH AN INTERNATIONAL MARRIAGE AGENCY are increasingly realizing that ALL International marriages now require extensive criminal and personal information and other complicated procedures. This has resulted in a dramatic slow down of Fiance Visa processing for Veterans, Mail order Bride clients,etc. Many are concerned that these extensive delays will cause many marriages to dissolve because of the very long time time lapse required for Visa approval (in many cases more than a year).
The State Department continues to issue vague and confusing information regarding how it will resolve the issue. They recently stated, "The Department currently has no information about the extent of delay for the cases".
Apparently the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act designed to regulate marriages involving marriage agencies is now applicable to ALL international marriages. Veterans, Marriage brokers clients, practically anyone regardless of how they met are Universally being treated the same; Yet no one can seem to understand a law that was supposed to regulate only International Marriage brokers is regulating all International marriages.
ping
I met my girlfriend via True.com over a year ago. We've met and I plan to marry her.
I called the USCIS and they said the K-1 backlog was about 3 months (they were just getting to the requests from 3 months before).
I don't know what to expect with marrying her. I won't do it on her travel visa because she would be considered illegal here after marriage, as I understand it. I don't want her official status to expire here while she's here. We want to do everything by the book (she's a conservative, too!).
But I must admit to being frustrated at the potential for many problems from two totally innocent parties without any criminal background.
Uh-oh...
Well I definately think that in the near term IMBRA law is creating lots of confusion for anyone who meets or marries a foreign woman regardless of how they met. My brother was a former Marine Security Guard and he met and married a woman from Uruguay going through the Fiance K Visa process. Of course that was ten years ago.
How times have changed.
This new law is very confusing. Supposedly the intent originally was to only regulate International Marriage Agency clients by requiring them to submit background information to the marriage agency. If that be the case then you would expect that the new criminal and personal information required on the petition forms would apply only to Marriage agency clients. Apparently thats not the case; All Visa petitioners including Veterans (who normally meet their foreign spouses NOT through a marriage agency)or anyone regardless of how they meet must disclose the extensive personal and criminal information of the petition forms.
That sounds like a great way to to create a problem with identity theft. Why do the agencies (of doubtful ethical reputation) need to collect personal information on anyone who buys contact information regardless of whether they contact anyone. The fiance has to undergo a criminal background check before being given a fiance visa; why shouldn't the US citizen also undergo a background check at the time the application for a fiance visa is put in regardles of how the couple met?
I agree 100% with your assessment. No need to have personal information getting inthe hands of a third party (International Marriage Broker). Some of these International marriage brokers may have ties with the mafia and other unscrupulous organizations. Besides it doesn't make much sense to require background information "up front"
during the introduction stage of a relationship.
Its kind of like meeting a woman in a bar and striking up a converation, but with IMBRA you are not allowed to begin the conversation unless you submit your backgound info.
Its very inappropriate for the government to interfere with a relationship in the earliest stages of meeting someone.
Sorry, I didn't understand your reply
IMBRA is a law that sounds great in theory but in reality it is a senseless law that does noting to prevent Violence against women, and will cause lengthy delays in fiance Visa processing.
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