Legal Specs

The International Marriage Broker Regulation Act (IMBRA) and US Immigration from Thailand

31 Dec 1969

US Citizens seeking to bring a Thai fiancee or spouse to the US occasionally run into the IMBRA.IMBRA is short for the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act and it can have a profound impact on a person's ability to bring a Thai to the US on a K Visa.

IMBRA: what is it, and why was it created?

There are many aspects to IMBRA. In actuality, the legislation's main goal is monitoring international marriage brokers, but this article's focus is upon IMBRA's effect on immigration to the United States. IMBRA requires all U.S. Citizens petitioning for a K1 Fiancée or K3 Spouse visa to submit more information regarding personal history to USCIS and the US State Department than was previously required. Also the IMBRA legislation establishes limitations on the number of petitions for K visas one may file on behalf of a Thai loved one. Also, the Act lays out restrictions on how many K Visa petitions one may file for within a certain period of time.

Apparently lawmakers felt that too many people were abusing the K Visa system; namely, the right of a US Citizen to petition for an unlimited number of K1 Visas.

How many K1 Fiancée Visas can a US Citizen obtain for a Thai Fiancée?

As of July 2006, the US government has placed limitations on filing K Visa petitions, including the petition form for the K-1 Fiancée Visa: the I-129(f). The legislation has two restrictions: a restriction on the quantity of petitions filed and a restriction upon how many can be filed within a specified duration. USCIS currently construes Section 832(a) (2) of the IMBRA to mean that some US Citizens are not entitled to file a K Visa petition as a matter of right. Thus, if a US Citizen has ever filed for 2 or more K Visas that were granted approval, then a waiver from The Department of Homeland Security (USCIS) must be obtained before approval will be granted on a subsequent K Visa request. At the same time, if in the past twenty four months a US Citizen filed a K Visa petition which gained approval, then that US Citizen must hold off from filing another K Visa petition until another twenty four month period has transpired. Otherwise, the US Citizen must obtain a waiver from the Department of Homeland Security (USCIS) before the US Citizen can effectively file for another K visa.

Therefore, if a US Citizen has filed for two or more K1 Fiancée Visas in his or her lifetime, then they must obtain a waiver to file for another K-1 Visa for a Thai Fiancée. This is also true if the US citizen has filed for a K1 Visa within 24 month prior to the latest filing.

Does the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act's restrictions affect Immigrant Visas, specifically IR-1 and CR-1 visas, to the United States?

The IMBRA only covers the non-immigrant visas specifically the K Visas. Therefore a person could theoretically file for as many Immigrant visas as he or she likes. However, with the wait time for an Immigrant Visa being approximately 1 year at the time of this writing, the goal of the legislation; namely, prevention of frivolous K Visa petitions seems to have been met. For more about the IMBRA and how it could effect your Thai Fiancee's K Visa Petition, check out:

http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/IMBRA072106.pdf

Thanks for Reading,

Benjamin W. Hart This information is made available to provide general information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide legal advice about specific situations or problems. The reader of this material understands that no attorney-client relationship exists between reader and author nor an express or implied contract between the reader and the author. The information contained herein should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your jurisdiction.


------

Benjamin W. Hart is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. He is the Managing Director of Integrity Legal, an Immigration Law Office, located in the US and Thailand. Visit Integrity Legal on the Web at http://www.integrity-legal.com