12/19/2006

President George W. Bush signed a bill into law this year that is aimed at protecting foreign nationals who enter into marriages with U.S. citizens through international marriage brokers. These individuals are typically women, commonly referred to as mail-order brides, although it is now the Internet and certain Internet-based businesses that facilitate many of these arrangements. 

The law, known as the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005 (IMBRA), was passed as part of the reauthorization of the Violence against Women Act or VAWA under HR 3402. The purpose of such a law is to protect spouses in any abusive relationship, not only women. Even though VAWA refers to women in its title, and women traditionally are more often abused or victimized, the law has always been gender neutral and protects both women and men who are victims of domestic abuse.

A key provision of the new law is that the prospective foreign spouse, typically a wife, will be provided with information pertaining to any criminal background of the prospective U.S. spouse, typically a husband. The foreign spouse will also receive information regarding legal rights with regard to domestic violence. Marriage brokers are required to conduct background searches on their clients. 

This is very important, as there are certain types of abusive men who are attracted to the power, control, and opportunities inherent when a woman without resources is transplanted to an unfamiliar country. Some of the international marriage brokers cater to men with desires to dominate and control helpless and subservient women. Such men often look for very young women, often minor children, who will come with forged birth certificates in order to have better opportunities in the United States or to provide for their families back home.

The law also prohibits the filing of multiple, simultaneous fiancée petitions. Each petitioner is limited to a lifetime cap of three fiancée petitions.

 

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