Do I tell the truth or not?

[Bobbie 1]

Ya if I was supposed to check the IMBRA box, I will check but the petition is already gone, first NOA in hand, now what? Plus, frankly I am still unsure if I am supposed to, I cant tell if i was a paid member at the time we met. B ut I woudlnt mind on erroring on the side of caution and saying yes, but...do i call them and ask?

Edited April 10, 2007 by Bobbie

[Turboguy 6]

I would just leave it go now. I think if you call and ask you will only make problems for yourself. They won't check if you were a paid member or not.

[Caladan 19]

turboguy, IMBRA doesn't presume you're an abuser any more than the requirement of a medical exam presumes my fiancé has AIDS. *Everyone* has to demonstrate IMBRA compliance by checking a box on a form, and the marriage broker has to demonstrate compliance by following whatever their rules are. It's not really an imposition on your liberty to make the marriage broker follow some rules.

Ya if I was supposed to check the IMBRA box, I will check but the petition is already gone, first NOA in hand, now what? Plus, frankly I am still unsure if I am supposed to, I cant tell if i was a paid member at the time we met. B ut I woudlnt mind on erroring on the side of caution and saying yes, but...do i call them and ask?

Calling and asking isn't likely to help, as whoever answers the phone probably won't have any more clue than you do.

So, read up on the law. There's a wealth of information here. But keep in mind that not every dating site with a fee is marriage broker. Turbo's post is a good start, but there are posts here with the text of the law and good discussions of it.

[Bobbie 1]

turboguy, IMBRA doesn't presume you're an abuser any more than the requirement of a medical exam presumes my fiancé has AIDS. *Everyone* has to demonstrate IMBRA compliance by checking a box on a form, and the marriage broker has to demonstrate compliance by following whatever their rules are. It's not really an imposition on your liberty to make the marriage broker follow some rules.

Ya if I was supposed to check the IMBRA box, I will check but the petition is already gone, first NOA in hand, now what? Plus, frankly I am still unsure if I am supposed to, I cant tell if i was a paid member at the time we met. B ut I woudlnt mind on erroring on the side of caution and saying yes, but...do i call them and ask?

Calling and asking isn't likely to help, as whoever answers the phone probably won't have any more clue than you do.

So, read up on the law. There's a wealth of information here. But keep in mind that not every dating site with a fee is marriage broker. Turbo's post is a good start, but there are posts here with the text of the law and good discussions of it.

Thank you I will do exactly as you have suggested!

Bobbie

[Jasman0717 9]

trust me, its best to be honest. Many people met on similar dating sites, and had no problems.

Don't lie!

[babybunny 2]

we met the old fashioned way: on yahoo..lol

[akdiver 3]

Should things continue in this mode I wonder how the new law concerning IMBA could effect me.

Lie or tell the truth on government forms....hmm....geee......

[billsafari 0]

A few months ago I filled out a free profile at a international dating site. A number of people contacted me but I saw something very special in just one. We decided to meet not long ago and it went even better than I hoped.

Should things continue in this mode I wonder how the new law concerning IMBA could effect me. Other than getting her free email forwarded to me in the beginning we had all contact and meetings on our own.

Now I worry if I claim We met through this typical dating site (which deals with a large volume of international folks) without filling out some form we might have problems.

Maybe it is better to just say I was on vacation and we met on the street or via skpe or something?

Danno

* there is always a fly in the ointment.

I met my fiance on Russianeuro.com I payed the monthly subscription, she did not. I felt I fell under their definition of IMBA. However I did not like their wording of the question so I wrote a supplement to the question and stated we met randomly and it was similiar to a yahoo personals, etc. I don't know if the supplement will help but it cant hurt. At the very least it will help lead the officers mind in the right direction.

[doc_cute 0]

Can someone pls give more info on IMBRA ?

thanks ,

[Turboguy 6]

Can someone pls give more info on IMBRA ?

thanks ,

There are a couple of sticky posts at the top with a lot of info on IMBRA and i think the text of the law.

[David-and-Mae 15]

Ya if I was supposed to check the IMBRA box, I will check but the petition is already gone, first NOA in hand, now what? Plus, frankly I am still unsure if I am supposed to, I cant tell if i was a paid member at the time we met. B ut I woudlnt mind on erroring on the side of caution and saying yes, but...do i call them and ask?

We wrote a letter addressed to the website owner and asked if their dating site falls under IMBRA since my fiancee paid a membership fee. Their representative wrote back and denied that they're IMB and they also advised us to check "NO" for the IMBRA question. Since we thought meeting thru internet that involves a certain fee is an IMB, we didn't listen to their advice and check "YES" and then we added a supplement page explaining that that website only provided us the means of introductory meeting. I think it worked since we got approved with no RFE...

[babybunny 2]

Mylene and I met at a asianeuro.com a site exactly as you have described and my NOA-2 was issued on Mar. 29 with no imbra information filed

how you know you wont have problems??? you dont have visa in hand nor did you interview!

[Caladan 19]

It's probably worthwhile to point out that the place can insist left, right, up and down that they're not a marriage broker and it won't matter a damn as far as IMBRA goes. It's IMBRA's definition that matters, not what the site wants to think it is.

[Daxiong 0]

By all means be honest!! and do gather information from the website such as date of sign up. Some will have a statement if the are exempt or not i am sure. We checked no and had to explain in detail why we checked no. From my understanding if a site is free to sign up for but offers gifts or flowers .....anything they profit from. Whatever website just get them to give you as much proof as possible they are exempt....... been their done that !!!

[likes2ride 0]

Hello All!

I cannot say enough about being completely honest when filing your petition. The definition of a service or site that falls under the auspices of IMBRA is pretty clear (at least to me). I mean ####### everyone is meeting people on the web; our cases are not that unique, only in the regard that we have met people from other countries. It is really no big deal to put in writing a truthful description about how you met your mate.

In my case, what I did find to be obtrusive about IMBRA is the element of disclosure and the potential for long delay in petition approval. As I have previously posted, my police record is a mess. Although none of the offenses are those specified in IMBRA, they are, nonetheless, criminal convictions.

I put much effort to be totally honest with my fiancee, myself, and the US Govt. In our petition we basically laid-it-all-out for them in black and white. The theme of the extra documentation we submitted was "Full Disclosure." First of all we both wrote brief descriptions about how we met (on a website). Then I wrote a letter to my fiancee telling her all about my younger days and the trouble I had been in. She responded with a letter acknowledging this and she submitted a supplemental Letter of Intent to Marry. I also gathered 5 letters of reference from friends and colleagues. And wrote in my own words to the Govt about my lawless behavior and how I cleaned-up my act in the last 20 years. Her letters were translated from English to Russian and notarized, the required documentation was translated from Russian to English.

In addition to the supplemental documentation regarding my criminal activity, we also submitted much more than was required (i.e. her daughters custody papers, birth certificate, citizenship papers). There was nothing more that they could have possibly wanted, except for dispositions of my criminal cases. It must have worked because our petition was approved by VSC in 28 days. I truly believe we defused the whole situation by being totally honest and submitting overwhelming documentation.

The point I am trying to make is that they will find out anyway. It is better to put the cards on the table. Yeah, we were worried, but what is the worse that could have happened. I met my fiancee in person. My fiancee is totally free of any criminal record. We are both free to marry. She has sole custody of her child. I will meet the income guidelines. She has a passport for travel to the US. What is there to worry about? Why not be honest? Most of you probably have all of the above WITHOUT the criminal history, so just be honest. If you have nothing to hide you should not be intimidated by IMBRA.

I hope this helps someone. Best of luck!!