No doubt many single, and dare I say, unhappily married American men, have at one time wondered about being with a woman from overseas... maybe a tropical beauty from some exotic island location or the lure of a fair maiden from Siberia's cold, vast Tundra. Perhaps it is just a romantic curiosity—who can say. In the not-too-distant past this possibility was limited to the realm of fantasy, or at best, to society's well-heeled upper classes marrying across borders to form powerful long-lasting dynasties.
Fast forward to the age of the web and the convenience of online dating. Be warned though. A federal law, the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act, now makes it a felony for a man in the United States to communicate with a foreign woman via a fee-based dating web site, without the man first submitting unilaterally to criminal background and sex-offender checks and certifying all previous convictions or arrests, marriages, or divorces, children, and states of residence since the age of 18. The foreign woman, in this scenario, is not held to the same investigation. In fact, there is no investigation, whatsoever. So by default this assumes that American women are fine not to have their counter parts reveal their backgrounds? How bizarre.
An online dating company not compliant with this legislation can be sued for $5k-25k and its executives could do up to 5 years in prison. Should a match of two decide to formalize their union the woman will not be afforded a fiancee/spousal visa to enter the United States. This applies to absolutely any woman from anywhere outside the United States. Yes, even Canada!
"The whole idea that it is now a crime for American men to send emails to women in other countries is so preposterous, it is beyond belief," said Tristan Laurent, president of OnlineDatingRights.com. "The judge's ruling that there is no constitutional violation in forcing Americans to divulge all sorts of highly personal information to a complete stranger or scammer abroad, before the American can even say hello or know to whom he is writing, is only exceeded in foolishness by Congress in making the law."
The rationale behind creation of IMBRA was clearly stated. It is said to be in place to protect foreign women and was championed by many women's groups here in the United States, primarily by the Tahirih Justice Center, who claimed foreign women, in these online relationships, suffered from a higher rate of abuse by American men. However, the 'claim' of abuse in the only official study done by the INS was in 1999, which found the reverse to be true. In fact, the rate of abuse within an international marriage was one seventh that of domestic marrigaes.
Now I don't think anyone is saying that there is not any abuse, but now it just seems that the government is saying that American men are universally abusers of women. If that is the case why are there so many foreign women trying to find an American husband? Could it be that it is because they suffer unmentionable prejudice in their own culture?
Just as with the Patriot Act, it seems that our rights are systematically being eroded piece-by-piece. All I am saying is that what is good for the goose is and should be good for the gander, and either both parties should have the same background check, or preferably none at all. Equal rights apply to both men and women irrespective of where they are from. Once again it smacks of a fundamental fear, for the loss of control from the freedom of mobility that the web has provided.
I find it an interesting paradox, that the 1907 The Expatriation Act literally prevented an American woman from marrying a foreign man without sacrificing her U.S. citizenship. This was a way for the government to ensure a national 'purity' and virtually stamped out any possibility for any foreign men from marrying American women. As it stands now as we come to the end of the 'naughties' in the 21st century, we have something almost as ridiculous, only in reverse. American men have been unilaterally found guilty of committing a potential crime. So gentlemen, next time you muse of a distant land and click on Russianbrides.com, be forewarned!