Marriage Broker Question

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

sunshine55 I spoke with a lawyer and he said the same thing. He told me they know people can have thousands of pages of Skype chats and the consulate won't bother to read any of it. I have all the calls recorded but he told me they won't watch those either...the thing about the video calls it shows where I met her dad and brother and wheres shes met my whole family through Skype. He told me to mention you have these videos and if they want to see them have them ready. It was more the flight stubs, flat or hotel receipts, pictures, and calls. Which I have everything plus some ready to go. I'm hoping 2 times visit with an itinerary showing another trip on March 13th is enough. I go to Ukraine 2 months So I hope I have enough evidence to support our relationship. I've read stories with people having way less and still got a visa. So keeping my fingers crossed.

They do these interviews in 30 seconds to 5 minutes, maximum. I had dozens and dozens of photos...the guy said "meh...give me four". They did not look at the stack of phone logs, emails, email logs, AT ALL. None. Weren't even interested. The I-134? They flipped through it, literally flipped through it, detached ALL the supporting evidence and gave it back...never looked at it, just kept the form itself. The I-134 for Pasha? He said "Is this the same?" YES. He gave the whole thing back! They basically took the official documents (birth certificate, police certificate, etc.) and four photos then called us up 40 minutes later and said "You're approved"

That said, bring whatever you have but do not expect this to be some sort of third degree session. Most likely they will take a few of the documents you offer, ask 2-3 questions and approve you. You have to pass the documents under a slot in a window so do not imagine you will bring some huge bound volume of material and give it to them. Put everything in one of those expandable accordion folders and hand them what they ask for

Alla's response to the whole thing was "I worried about THAT?????????????"

For HER interview she was so scared I think she would have fell over if I did not hold her up. When Sergey had his, SHE went with him and boldly walked in like an old hand at this.

For Sergey, K-2 to follow, we gave all the documents (NO photos). He was called to the window in about 20 minutes. The guy was putting together his original documents, asked him if his college in Moscow had any good sports teams and said "Here you go, take this to the Fedex window to get your visa delivered" Alla started babbling something and the guy said "You are approved...good day" and walked away That took about 1 minute.

The AOS interview was similar, but they did ask a few questions off the I-485 to verify it was her, I think. "Where was your mother born?" That kind of thing. I sat there with a BOX full of evidence they never looked at. After a few questions like that, he said her green card was approved. No interview for ROC at all, just sent the new green cards in the mail. For citizenship they actually did give her a fairly long interview and did not allow me in the room. It took about 30 minutes, including the test, but she came out all smiles.

It is natural to be worried, of course, but it really is not all that dramatic if you prepare well.

[dave97232 12]

Several people here have asserted that Anastatiadate is not an IMBRA marriage broker. I am pretty sure it is a marriage broker. Basically, any entity that charges fees for providing dating, matrimonial matchmaking services, or social referrals between US citizens and or other permanent US residents and foreign nationals. There are some exceptions, such as for religious organizations and organizations for which their principal business is not international dating (i.e. match.com exempted).

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer; I do not know what I am talking about.

Didn't AnastasiaDate charge you a fee for that chat session where you became initially acquainted? It sounds to me like a "social referral". I would put them down on #19 to be safe.

Here is the IMBRA law:

IMBRA Law starts at Section 831

Go to page 3075, Section 833, buried in the depths of all this legal doodoo:

(4) INTERNATIONAL MARRIAGE BROKER.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘international marriage

broker’’ means a corporation, partnership, business, indi-

vidual, or other legal entity, whether or not organized

under any law of the United States, that charges fees

for providing dating, matrimonial, matchmaking services,

or social referrals between United States citizens or

nationals or aliens lawfully admitted to the United States

as permanent residents and foreign national clients by

providing personal contact information or otherwise facili-

tating communication between individuals.

(B) EXCEPTIONS.—Such term does not include—

(i) a traditional matchmaking organization of a

cultural or religious nature that operates on a nonprofit

basis and otherwise operates in compliance with the

laws of the countries in which it operates, including

the laws of the United States; or

(ii) an entity that provides dating services if its

principal business is not to provide international dating

services between United States citizens or United

States residents and foreign nationals and it charges

comparable rates and offers comparable services to

all individuals it serves regardless of the individual’s

gender or country of citizenship.

[AJG & ESD 6]

Vanessa&Tony - Ok AnastasiaDate arranges tours to other countries but only to meet women who could become a potential wife. I opted not to go this route as they look "weird in every way". But you pay to chat or email, etc. I chatted with her for a full 20 minutes before agreeing to meet for dinner and got all the Skype, phone numbers etc after that.

As for her being a scammer. Hardly...this one anyways. The original girl I went to go meet was definitely one. Always complained of no money, always going out and buying things with "no money"...all that. When I went to go spend 5 days with her..different flats, I paid for everything. She had many places she wanted to see and go out to eat at. None expensive. But after 2 days all she kept talking about was how I wasn't like a Ukraine man and told me this was not going to work out...fair enough...still had a great time. I met my current girl the last day I was there. She never ask for money. I've met her whole family, shes met mine. Says she will sign a prenup, I always stay in the same flat with her. Shes quit the agency. Told me all the ins and out of how the agency worked. I've met a lot of Ukraine women now and 95% are in it for money. My girl seems to not care at all other than being in love and wanting a family. I want the same. We keep in constant contact all day everyday. She knows my schedule I know hers. We have over 2000 pages of Skype conversations and I have no clue on how many calls...too many to count. When I was in Ukraine she didn't go anywhere or do anything but take care of me, cook, clean, and more cleaning and cooking. Age difference isn't great...only 9 years I'm 36 shes 27. I don't see any red flags. The sweetest girl you can ever meet. The first girl I could tell within a month something wasn't right. I suspicion was correct. Trust me...I've done all the testing I possibly can with my current girl and I have tried to find red flags and theres none. Shes truly the perfect woman in my eyes.

Congrats on finding a good one. I had to learn the hard way myself, but I too did learn EVERYTHING!!! I finally found a site that you only pay a one time fee, and everything else is free, chats, emails, and the women give you information if and when they wish with no further cost. It's where I met my Elena. She's a real gem too, the same, never asked for anything, and made sure we were taken care of when I did go to visit. I was a little hesitant about going for a 2nd time, so I actually flew into Odessa where I have friends (some Ukrainian and some American thanks to a really good person), and then took the train out to Kharkov, and she decided to take the train back with me just to see me off at the airport. I'm old enough (40 in June) to know when a woman is a keeper. As long as she's perfect for you, don't worry about anything else. Wish you the best of luck!