IMBRA Marriage Broker

[Bharat 0]

Hello,

I have a question for the RFE, when it talks about the marriage broker. I met my fiance through an indian matchmaking service online (where i paid). This matchmaking service is similar to Match.com. I was wondering what i would put for the marriage broker question.

[joeyjoey 1]

If you paid money for a name and an address, you answer YES and give the name and address of the agency that you paid money to.

[Ladylethal 12]

No doubt your answer is YES to the IMBRA question.

[Dean iWait 0]

This is a repost of mine from the thread on flipinaheart.com in this same section of the forums. You might want to check that thread out to.

I talked to an immigration attorney today. Unfortunately I was told (was pretty sure already though) that the site my fiancee Sheryl and I met through is condsidered an IMB under IMBRA. But he said since we met last year prior to the law going into affect that this would not negatively affect her visa process.

So if you met on a site that charges fees for matchmaking, online dating, social referrals etc. between a USC or legal US resident and foreign national clients by providing personal contact information or otherwise facilitating communication between individuals. Then you met through an IMB....

One huge exception to the law is if this type of business is NOT the principal business of the company you met through. For instance Match.com is not considered an IMB because matchmaking and online dating etc. is not it's main source of income. Here are a few of the companies the parent company of Match.com owns.

The parent is: IAC/InterActiveCorp

They also own:

ask.com

Home Shopping Network

ServiceMagic

Ticketmaster

to name a few.

Yahoo for pretty obvious reasons also meets this exemption to the law. So do a little research on the ownership of your site and see what you can come up with. Unless it was a totally free service.

[Dean iWait 0]

This is a repost of mine from the thread on flipinaheart.com in this same section of the forums. You might want to check that thread out to.

I talked to an immigration attorney today. Unfortunately I was told (was pretty sure already though) that the site my fiancee Sheryl and I met through is condsidered an IMB under IMBRA. But he said since we met last year prior to the law going into affect that this would not negatively affect her visa process.

So if you met on a site that charges fees for matchmaking, online dating, social referrals etc. between a USC or legal US resident and foreign national clients by providing personal contact information or otherwise facilitating communication between individuals. Then you met through an IMB....

One huge exception to the law is if this type of business is NOT the principal business of the company you met through. For instance Match.com is not considered an IMB because matchmaking and online dating etc. is not it's main source of income. Here are a few of the companies the parent company of Match.com owns.

The parent is: IAC/InterActiveCorp

They also own:

ask.com

Home Shopping Network

ServiceMagic

Ticketmaster

to name a few.

Yahoo for pretty obvious reasons also meets this exemption to the law. So do a little research on the ownership of your site and see what you can come up with. Unless it was a totally free service.

One addition to that exception is that the service charges comparable fees for comparable services to both genders. So if the service you were on charged you fees as the US client but did not charge the foreign national it is probably an IMB.

The only other exception is if it's cultural or religious based and it operates as a non-profit.

[Imbra2005 0]

This is a repost of mine from the thread on flipinaheart.com in this same section of the forums. You might want to check that thread out to.

I talked to an immigration attorney today. Unfortunately I was told (was pretty sure already though) that the site my fiancee Sheryl and I met through is condsidered an IMB under IMBRA. But he said since we met last year prior to the law going into affect that this would not negatively affect her visa process.

So if you met on a site that charges fees for matchmaking, online dating, social referrals etc. between a USC or legal US resident and foreign national clients by providing personal contact information or otherwise facilitating communication between individuals. Then you met through an IMB....

One huge exception to the law is if this type of business is NOT the principal business of the company you met through. For instance Match.com is not considered an IMB because matchmaking and online dating etc. is not it's main source of income. Here are a few of the companies the parent company of Match.com owns.

The parent is: IAC/InterActiveCorp

They also own:

ask.com

Home Shopping Network

ServiceMagic

Ticketmaster

to name a few.

Yahoo for pretty obvious reasons also meets this exemption to the law. So do a little research on the ownership of your site and see what you can come up with. Unless it was a totally free service.

I don't think what the "parent company" does (if the website has one) makes one bit of difference. Even if "Bob's Mail Order Brides, Inc." is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, Bob's Mail Order Brides principal business is not making cars.

[hafiz 1]

Imbra2005 cool name

[Dean iWait 0]

This is a repost of mine from the thread on flipinaheart.com in this same section of the forums. You might want to check that thread out to.

I talked to an immigration attorney today. Unfortunately I was told (was pretty sure already though) that the site my fiancee Sheryl and I met through is condsidered an IMB under IMBRA. But he said since we met last year prior to the law going into affect that this would not negatively affect her visa process.

So if you met on a site that charges fees for matchmaking, online dating, social referrals etc. between a USC or legal US resident and foreign national clients by providing personal contact information or otherwise facilitating communication between individuals. Then you met through an IMB....

One huge exception to the law is if this type of business is NOT the principal business of the company you met through. For instance Match.com is not considered an IMB because matchmaking and online dating etc. is not it's main source of income. Here are a few of the companies the parent company of Match.com owns.

The parent is: IAC/InterActiveCorp

They also own:

ask.com

Home Shopping Network

ServiceMagic

Ticketmaster

to name a few.

Yahoo for pretty obvious reasons also meets this exemption to the law. So do a little research on the ownership of your site and see what you can come up with. Unless it was a totally free service.

I don't think what the "parent company" does (if the website has one) makes one bit of difference. Even if "Bob's Mail Order Brides, Inc." is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ford Motor Company, Bob's Mail Order Brides principal business is not making cars.

Sure it makes a difference, the parent company owns match.com and a host of other companies. This means that matchmaking,online datinng etc. is NOT the principal business of this company. The immigration attorney I spoke to referenced Match.com specifically as being exempt for just this reason. So if FORD Motor Company bought Bob's Mail Order Brides it would become exempt as long as it also charged similar fees for comparable services to its memebers male or female. How do you think giant corporations get these exemtions written in to laws? Lots of $$$ and a huge lobby in D.C.! How do you think the mom and pop operations lose out? No $$$ ands no lobby in D.C.! Sad, but it's just the way it is.

[Imbra2005 0]

I disagree, but so what.

If that's what your lawyer told you for your situtation, then by all means, you should follow his advice.

More generally, I think if Match.com is exempt it's because Match.com doesn't meet the definition in the statute, not because IAC/Interactive does or doesn't.

[shimmy 0]

(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.

Sure it makes a difference, the parent company owns match.com and a host of other companies. This means that matchmaking,online datinng etc. is NOT the principal business of this company.

I interpreted the above exception as one that distinguishes between sites of a domestic and international nature not of what other business the parent company manages. If a dating service primarily provides domestic services to the USC and also has a subsection that provides international services I would conclude it is not an IMB from the above exception even if the owner had no other businesses.

[Lewis 0]

We will never truly know until the first guinea pigs are subjected to the USCIS interpretation of IMBRA. Hopefully, the interpretation will not be ultra restrictive and all of the agencies involved will apply the law in a fair and sensible manner.

[shimmy 0]

We will never truly know until the first guinea pigs are subjected to the USCIS interpretation of IMBRA. Hopefully, the interpretation will not be ultra restrictive and all of the agencies involved will apply the law in a fair and sensible manner.

Yup! It will be interesting to see how everything plays out.

[Lewis 0]

I have a feeling it won't be too restrictive. The law could definitely use some more restrictive language, but at the same time the law as it is written now can also lead to a loose interpretation with possibly a negative effect towards people that met online. The interesting part will be in the details regarding when the law actually went into effect and whether or not you met before the "cutoff date" matters. I have heard many conflicting opinions on this. The problem is, the people that will be making decisions on our cases do not know how to interpret this new law so it is likely there will be many initial errors on their behalf which will negativley impact the guinea pigs.

[Dean iWait 0]

(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.

Sure it makes a difference, the parent company owns match.com and a host of other companies. This means that matchmaking,online datinng etc. is NOT the principal business of this company.

I interpreted the above exception as one that distinguishes between sites of a domestic and international nature not of what other business the parent company manages. If a dating service primarily provides domestic services to the USC and also has a subsection that provides international services I would conclude it is not an IMB from the above exception even if the owner had no other businesses.

No offense, but I think I'll trust an immigration attorney over you for a legal interpretation of this law. So for anybody who is really not sure I would spend a few bucks for a phone consultation with an immigration attorney just to make sure. It was well worth it for me.

[shimmy 0]

No offense, but I think I'll trust an immigration attorney over you for a legal interpretation of this law. So for anybody who is really not sure I would spend a few bucks for a phone consultation with an immigration attorney just to make sure. It was well worth it for me.

None taken though I was only giving my personal interpretation not legal advice. If thats what your lawyer said by all means follow it. As we all know immigration lawyers always present with valid information. I remember when I started this process I contacted three different lawyers and was given three different answers .