II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1618 

To regulate international marriage broker activity in the United States, to 

provide for certain protections for individuals who utilize the services 

of international marriage brokers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 7, 2005 

Ms. CANTWELL (for herself and Mr. BROWNBACK) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To regulate international marriage broker activity in the 

United States, to provide for certain protections for individuals who utilize the services of international marriage 

brokers, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘International Marriage 

5 Broker Regulation Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) There is a substantial international mar2 riage broker business worldwide. A 1999 report by 

3 the Immigration and Naturalization Service esti4 mated that there were at least 200 such companies 

5 operating in the United States, and that as many as 

6 4,000 to 6,000 individuals in the United States, al7 most all male, found foreign spouses through for8 profit international marriage brokers each year. The 

9 international marriage broker business has grown 

10 significantly in recent years, greatly facilitated by 

11 the Internet. Studies suggest that in 2005 approxi12 mately 500 such companies operate in the United 

13 States. In addition, the total number of foreign indi14 viduals entering the United States to marry United 

15 States residents each year more than doubled be16 tween 1998 and 2002. It is estimated, then, that in 

17 2005 at least 8,000 to 12,000 individuals in the 

18 United States find foreign spouses through for-profit 

19 international marriage brokers each year. 

20 (2) That report noted that the ‘‘pervasiveness 

21 of domestic violence in our society has already been 

22 documented, and with the burgeoning number of un23 regulated international matchmaking organizations 

24 and clients using their services, the potential for 

25 abuse in mail-order marriages is considerable.’’ The 
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1 report noted further that men in the United States 

2 who use the services of an international marriage 

3 broker tend to seek relationships with women whom 

4 they feel they can control. 

5 (3) The dangers posed to foreign women who 

6 meet their United States husbands through inter7 national marriage brokers are underscored by the 

8 growing number of cases across the United States of 

9 foreign women who have been abused or killed by 

10 those husbands. Two highly publicized examples are 

11 the murders in Washington State of Susanna 

12 Remunerata Blackwell of the Philippines and 

13 Anastasia Solovieva King of Kyrgyzstan. 

14 (4) A 2003 survey of programs providing legal 

15 services to battered immigrant women across the 

16 country found that more than 50 percent of these 

17 programs had served female immigrant clients bat18 tered by men in the United States they met through 

19 international marriage brokers. 

20 (5) 30.4 percent of all women in the United 

21 States are physically abused by their husbands or 

22 male cohabitants at some point in their lives. 49.3 

23 percent of immigrants reported physical abuse by an 

24 intimate partner during their lifetimes, with 42.1 

25 percent reporting severe physical or sexual abuse. 
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1 Among immigrants who were married or formerly 

2 married the lifetime abuse rate raises as high as 

3 59.5 percent. 

4 (6) Of abusive United States citizen or legal 

5 resident spouses, 72.3 percent never file the immi6 gration papers necessary for their foreign spouses to 

7 obtain legal immigrant status, and the 27.7 percent 

8 who eventually do file wait an average of 4 years to 

9 do so. In 1994, Congress included immigration pro10 tections in the Violence Against Women Act 

11 (‘‘VAWA’’) (Public Law 103–322; 108 Stat. 1902), 

12 to remove the ability of abusive United States citi13 zens and legal permanent residents to fully control 

14 their foreign spouses’ ability to gain legal immigra15 tion status. By removing the threat of automatic de16 portation, VAWA aims to enable battered immi17 grants to take actions to protect themselves and 

18 their children, such as calling the police, obtaining 

19 a civil protection order, or filing criminal charges. 

20 (7) Aliens seeking to enter the United States to 

21 marry citizens or legal residents of the United 

22 States currently lack the ability to access and fully 

23 verify personal history information about their pro24 spective spouses in the United States. 
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1 (8) Many individuals entering the United States 

2 on K nonimmigrant visas to marry citizens of the 

3 United States are unaware of United States laws re4 garding— 

5 (A) domestic violence, including protections 

6 for immigrant victims of domestic violence, sex7 ual assault, and stalking; 

8 (B) prohibitions on involuntary servitude; 

9 (C) protections from automatic deporta10 tion; and 

11 (D) the role of police and the courts in 

12 providing assistance to victims of domestic vio13 lence and other crimes. 

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

16 (1) CRIME OF VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘crime of 

17 violence’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

18 16 of title 18, United States Code. 

19 (2) DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.—The term ‘‘domestic 

20 violence’’ means any crime of violence, or other act 

21 forming the basis for a past or outstanding protec22 tive order, restraining order, no-contact order, con23 viction, arrest, or police report, committed against a 

24 person by— 
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1 (A) a current or former spouse of the per2 son; 

3 (B) an individual with whom the person 

4 shares a child in common; 

5 (C) an individual with whom the person is 

6 cohabiting or has cohabited; 

7 (D) an individual similarly situated to a 

8 spouse of the person under the domestic or 

9 family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which 

10 the offense occurs; or 

11 (E) any other individual if the person is 

12 protected from that individual’s acts pursuant 

13 to a court order issued under the domestic or 

14 family violence laws of the United States or any 

15 State, Indian tribal government, or unit of local 

16 government. 

17 (3) FOREIGN NATIONAL CLIENT.—The term 

18 ‘‘foreign national client’’ means an individual who is 

19 not a United States citizen, a national of the United 

20 States, or an alien lawfully admitted to the United 

21 States for permanent residence and who utilizes the 

22 services of an international marriage broker, and in23 cludes an alien residing in the United States who is 

24 in the United States as a result of utilizing the serv25 ices of an international marriage broker. 
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1 (4) INTERNATIONAL MARRIAGE BROKER.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘inter3 national marriage broker’’ means a corporation, 

4 partnership, business, individual, or other legal 

5 entity, whether or not organized under any law 

6 of the United States, that charges fees for pro7 viding dating, matrimonial, matchmaking serv8 ices, or social referrals between United States 

9 clients and foreign national clients by providing 

10 personal contact information or otherwise facili11 tating communication between individuals from 

12 these respective groups. 

13 (B) EXCEPTIONS.—Such term does not in14 clude— 

15 (i) a traditional matchmaking organi16 zation of a cultural or religious nature that 

17 operates on a nonprofit basis and in com18 pliance with the laws of the countries in 

19 which it operates, including the laws of the 

20 United States; or 

21 (ii) an entity that provides dating 

22 services between United States citizens or 

23 residents and other individuals who may be 

24 aliens, but does not do so as its principal 

25 business, and charges comparable rates to 
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1 all individuals it serves regardless of the 

2 gender, country of citizenship, or residence 

3 of the individual. 

4 (5) K NONIMMIGRANT VISA.—The term ‘‘K 

5 nonimmigrant visa’’ means a nonimmigrant visa 

6 issued pursuant to clause (i) or (ii) of section 

7 101(a)(15)(K) of the Immigration and Nationality 

8 Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(K)). 

9 (6) PERSONAL CONTACT INFORMATION.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘personal 

11 contact information’’ means information or a 

12 forum that would permit individuals to contact 

13 each other and includes— 

14 (i) the name, telephone number, post15 al address, electronic mail address, and 

16 voice message mailbox of an individual; 

17 and 

18 (ii) the provision of an opportunity for 

19 an in-person meeting. 

20 (B) EXCEPTION.—Such term does not in21 clude a photograph or general information 

22 about the background or interests of a person. 

23 (7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ includes the 

24 District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is25 lands, Guam, and American Samoa. 
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1 (8) UNITED STATES CLIENT.—The term 

2 ‘‘United States client’’ means a United States cit3 izen or other individual who resides in the United 

4 States and who makes a payment or incurs a debt 

5 in order to utilize the services of an international 

6 marriage broker. 

7 SEC. 4. REGULATION OF INTERNATIONAL MARRIAGE BRO8 KERS. 

9 (a) PROHIBITION ON MARKETING CHILDREN.—An 

10 international marriage broker shall not provide any United 

11 States client or other person with the personal contact in12 formation, photograph, or general information about the 

13 background or interests of any individual under the age 

14 of 18. 

15 (b) LIMITATIONS ON SHARING INFORMATION RE16 GARDING FOREIGN NATIONAL CLIENTS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—An international marriage 

18 broker shall not provide any United States client or 

19 other person with the personal contact information 

20 of any foreign national client or other individual 18 

21 years of age or older unless and until the inter22 national marriage broker has— 

23 (A) collected certain background informa24 tion from the United States client or other per25 son to whom the personal contact information 
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1 would be provided, as specified in subsection 

2 (c); 

3 (B) provided a copy of that background in4 formation to the foreign national client or other 

5 individual in the primary language of that client 

6 or individual; 

7 (C) provided to the foreign national client 

8 or other individual in such primary language 

9 the information about legal rights and resources 

10 available to immigrant victims of domestic vio11 lence and other crimes in the United States de12 veloped under section 5; 

13 (D) received from the foreign national cli14 ent or other individual in such primary lan15 guage a written consent that is signed (includ16 ing using an electronic signature) to release 

17 such personal contact information to the spe18 cific United States client or other person to 

19 whom the personal contact information would 

20 be provided; and 

21 (E) informed the United States client or 

22 other person from whom background informa23 tion has been collected that, after filing a peti24 tion for a K nonimmigrant visa, the United 
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1 States client or other person will be subject to 

2 a criminal background check. 

3 (2) CONFIDENTIALITY AFTER ORDER OF PRO4 TECTION OR CRIME.— 

5 (A) NONDISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION RE6 GARDING INDIVIDUALS WITH PROTECTION OR7 DERS AND VICTIMS OF CRIMES.—In fulfilling its 

8 obligations under this subsection, an inter9 national marriage broker shall not disclose the 

10 name or location of an individual who obtained 

11 a restraining or protection order as described in 

12 subsection (c)(2)(A), or of any other victim of 

13 a crime as described in subparagraphs (B) 

14 through (D) of subsection (c)(2). 

15 (B) DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION RE16 GARDING UNITED STATES CLIENTS.—An inter17 national marriage broker shall disclose the rela18 tionship of the United States client or other 

19 person to an individual or victim described in 

20 paragraph (A). 

21 (c) OBLIGATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL MARRIAGE

22 BROKER WITH RESPECT TO MANDATORY COLLECTION

23 OF INFORMATION.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each international marriage 

25 broker shall collect the background information list-
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1 ed in paragraph (2) from each United States client 

2 or other person to whom the personal contact infor3 mation of a foreign national client or any other indi4 vidual would be provided. The background informa5 tion must be in writing and signed (including using 

6 an electronic signature) by the United States client 

7 or other person to whom the personal contact infor8 mation of a foreign national client or any other indi9 vidual would be provided. 

10 (2) REQUIRED BACKGROUND INFORMATION.— 

11 An international marriage broker shall collect from 

12 a United States client or other person under para13 graph (1) background information about each of the 

14 following: 

15 (A) Any court order restricting the client’s 

16 or person’s physical contact or communication 

17 with or behavior towards another person, in18 cluding any temporary or permanent civil re19 straining order or protection order. 

20 (B) Any arrest or conviction of the client 

21 or person for homicide, murder, manslaughter, 

22 assault, battery, domestic violence, rape, sexual 

23 assault, abusive sexual contact, sexual exploi24 tation, incest, child abuse or neglect, torture, 

25 trafficking, peonage, holding hostage, involun-
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1 tary servitude, slave trade, kidnapping, abduc2 tion, unlawful criminal restraint, false imprison3 ment, stalking, or any similar activity in viola4 tion of Federal, State or local criminal law. 

5 (C) Any arrest or conviction of the client 

6 or person for— 

7 (i) solely or principally engaging in, or 

8 facilitating, prostitution; 

9 (ii) any direct or indirect attempts to 

10 procure prostitutes or persons for the pur11 pose of prostitution; or 

12 (iii) any receipt, in whole or in part, 

13 of the proceeds of prostitution. 

14 (D) Any arrest or conviction of the client 

15 or person for offenses related to controlled sub16 stances or alcohol. 

17 (E) Marital history of the client or person, 

18 including— 

19 (i) whether the client or individual is 

20 currently married; 

21 (ii) whether the client or person has 

22 previously been married and how many 

23 times; 
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1 (iii) how previous marriages of the cli2 ent or person were terminated and the 

3 date of termination; and 

4 (iv) whether the client or person has 

5 previously sponsored the immigration of an 

6 alien to whom the client or person was en7 gaged or married. 

8 (F) The ages of any children of the client 

9 or person under the age of 18. 

10 (G) All States in which the client or person 

11 has resided since the age of 18. 

12 (d) PENALTIES.— 

13 (1) FEDERAL CIVIL PENALTY.— 

14 (A) VIOLATION.—An international mar15 riage broker that violates subsection (a), (b), or 

16 (c) is subject to a civil penalty of not less than 

17 $20,000 for each such violation. 

18 (B) PROCEDURES FOR IMPOSITION OF

19 PENALTY.—The Secretary of Homeland Secu20 rity may impose a penalty under paragraph (A) 

21 only after notice and an opportunity for an 

22 agency hearing on the record in accordance 

23 with subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 5, 

24 United States Code. 
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1 (2) FEDERAL CRIMINAL PENALTY.—An inter2 national marriage broker that violates subsection 

3 (a), (b), or (c) within the special maritime and terri4 torial jurisdiction of the United States shall be fined 

5 in accordance with subchapter B of chapter 229 of 

6 title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned for not 

7 less than 1 year and not more than 5 years, or both. 

8 (3) STATE ENFORCEMENT.—In any case in 

9 which the Attorney General of a State has reason to 

10 believe that an interest of the residents of that State 

11 has been, or is threatened to be, adversely affected 

12 by a violation of subsection (a), (b), or (c) by an 

13 international marriage broker, the State, as parens 

14 patriae, may bring a civil action on behalf of the 

15 residents of the State in a district court of the 

16 United States with appropriate jurisdiction to— 

17 (A) enjoin that practice; 

18 (B) enforce compliance with this section; 

19 or 

20 (C) obtain damages. 

21 (4) ADDITIONAL REMEDIES.—The penalties and 

22 remedies under this subsection are in addition to 

23 any other penalties or remedies available under law. 

24 (e) NONPREEMPTION.—Nothing in this section shall 

25 preempt— 
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1 (1) any State law that provides additional pro2 tections for aliens who are utilizing the services of 

3 an international marriage broker or other inter4 national matchmaking organization; or 

5 (2) any other or further right or remedy avail6 able under law to any party utilizing the services of 

7 an international marriage broker or other inter8 national matchmaking organization. 

9 (f) REPEAL OF MAIL-ORDER BRIDE PROVISION.— 

10 Section 652 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immi11 grant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1375) is here12 by repealed. 

13 SEC. 5. INFORMATION ABOUT LEGAL RIGHTS AND RE14 SOURCES FOR IMMIGRANT VICTIMS OF DO15 MESTIC VIOLENCE. 

16 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF INFORMATION PAMPHLET.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Homeland 

18 Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, 

19 shall develop an information pamphlet to ensure the 

20 consistency and accuracy of information dissemi21 nated to— 

22 (A) foreign national clients or other indi23 viduals by international marriage brokers pur24 suant to section 4(b)(1)(C); and 
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1 (B) beneficiaries of petitions filed by 

2 United States citizens for K nonimmigrant 

3 visas. 

4 (2) CONSULTATION WITH EXPERT ORGANIZA5 TIONS.—The Secretary of Homeland Security, in 

6 consultation with the Secretary of State, shall de7 velop such information pamphlet by working in con8 sultation with non-profit, non-governmental immi9 grant victim advocacy organizations. 

10 (b) CONTENTS OF INFORMATION PAMPHLET.—The 

11 information pamphlet required under subsection (a) shall 

12 include information on the following: 

13 (1) The K nonimmigrant visa application proc14 ess and the marriage-based immigration process, in15 cluding conditional residence and adjustment of sta16 tus. 

17 (2) The requirement that international mar18 riage brokers provide foreign national clients with 

19 background information collected from United 

20 States clients regarding their marital history and do21 mestic violence or other violent criminal history, but 

22 that such information may not be complete or accu23 rate. 

24 (3) The illegality of domestic violence, sexual 

25 assault, and child abuse in the United States. 
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1 (4) Information on the dynamics of domestic vi2 olence. 

3 (5) Domestic violence and sexual assault serv4 ices in the United States, including the National Do5 mestic Violence Hotline, a project of the Texas 

6 Council on Family Violence, a nonprofit organization 

7 dedicated to fighting domestic violence, and the Na8 tional Sexual Assault Hotline, operated by the Rape, 

9 Abuse and Incest National Network, and inde10 pendent anti-sexual assault organization. 

11 (6) A description of immigration relief available 

12 to an immigrant victim of domestic violence, sexual 

13 assault, trafficking, and other crimes under the Vio14 lence Against Women Act, including the amend15 ments made by that Act, section 101(a)(15)(U) of 

16 the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

17 1101(a)(15)(U)), and section 101(a)(15)(T) of the 

18 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

19 1101(a)(15)(T)). 

20 (7) The legal rights of immigrant victims of 

21 abuse and other crimes in immigration, criminal jus22 tice, family law, and other matters. 

23 (8) The obligations of parents to provide child 

24 support for children. 
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1 (9) The illegality of and penalties for knowingly 

2 entering into marriage for the purpose of evading 

3 the immigration laws of the United States. 

4 (c) TRANSLATION.— 

5 (1) LANGUAGES.—In order to best serve the 

6 language groups most recruited by international 

7 marriage brokers and having the greatest concentra8 tion of K nonimmigrant visa applicants, the Sec9 retary of Homeland Security, in consultation with 

10 the Secretary of State, shall translate the informa11 tion pamphlet developed under this section, subject 

12 to paragraph (2), into the following languages: 

13 (A) Arabic. 

14 (B) Chinese. 

15 (C) French. 

16 (D) Hindi. 

17 (E) Japanese. 

18 (F) Korean. 

19 (G) Polish. 

20 (H) Portuguese. 

21 (I) Russian. 

22 (J) Spanish. 

23 (K) Tagalog. 

24 (L) Thai. 

25 (M) Ukrainian. 
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1 (N) Vietnamese. 

2 (2) MODIFICATION OF LANGUAGE.—The Sec3 retary of Homeland Security may modify the trans4 lation requirements of paragraph (1) if the report 

5 submitted under section 7(b) includes recommenda6 tions for such modification. 

7 (d) AVAILABILITY AND DISTRIBUTION.—The infor8 mation pamphlet under this subsection shall be made 

9 available and distributed as follows: 

10 (1) INTERNATIONAL MARRIAGE BROKERS AND

11 VICTIM ADVOCACY ORGANIZATIONS.—The informa12 tion pamphlet shall be made available to each inter13 national marriage broker and to each governmental 

14 or non-governmental victim advocacy organization. 

15 (2) K NONIMMIGRANT VISA APPLICANTS.— 

16 (A) MAILING WITH IMMIGRATION

17 FORMS.—The information pamphlet shall be 

18 mailed by the National Visa Center, of the Sec19 retary of State, to each applicant for a K non20 immigrant visa at the same time that Form 

21 DS–3032 is mailed to such applicant. The pam22 phlet so mailed shall be in the primary lan23 guage of the applicant, or in English if no 

24 translation into the applicant’s primary lan25 guage is available. 
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1 (B) POSTING ON NVC WEB SITE.—The 

2 Secretary of State shall post the content of the 

3 pamphlet on the web site of the National Visa 

4 Center, as well as on the web sites of all con5 sular posts processing K nonimmigrant visa ap6 plications. 

7 (C) CONSULAR INTERVIEWS.—The Sec8 retary of State shall require that the pamphlet 

9 be distributed directly to such applicants at all 

10 consular interviews for K nonimmigrant visas. 

11 If no written translation into the applicant’s 

12 primary language is available, the consular offi13 cer conducting the visa interview shall review 

14 the pamphlet with the applicant orally in the 

15 applicant’s primary language, in addition to dis16 tributing the pamphlet to the applicant in 

17 English. 

18 SEC. 6. CHANGES IN PROCESSING K NONIMMIGRANT VISAS; 

19 CONSULAR CONFIDENTIALITY. 

20 (a) K NONIMMIGRANT VISA PROCESSING.—Section 

21 214(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

22 1184(d)) is amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘Attorney General’’ and insert24 ing ‘‘Secretary of Homeland Security’’ each place it 

25 appears; 
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1 (2) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘A visa’’; and 

2 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(2) A United States citizen may not file a petition 

4 under paragraph (1) if such a petition filed by that peti5 tioner for another alien fiance ́e or fiance ́ is pending or has 

6 been approved and is still valid. 

7 ‘‘(3) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall pro8 vide to the Secretary of State the criminal background in9 formation on a petitioner for a visa under clause (i) or 

10 (ii) of section 101(a)(15)(K) to which it has access under 

11 existing authority in the course of adjudicating the peti12 tion. 

13 ‘‘(4) Each petitioner for a visa under clause (i) or 

14 (ii) of section 101(a)(15)(K) shall provide, as part of the 

15 petition, in writing and signed under penalty of perjury, 

16 information described in section 4(c)(2) of the Inter17 national Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005. 

18 ‘‘(5) The Secretary of State shall ensure that an ap19 plicant for a visa under clause (i) or (ii) of section 

20 101(a)(15)(K)— 

21 ‘‘(A) shall be provided, by mail or electroni22 cally— 

23 ‘‘(i) a copy of the petition for such visa 

24 submitted by the United States citizen peti25 tioner; and 
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1 ‘‘(ii) any information that is contained in 

2 the background check described in paragraph 

3 (3) relating to any court orders, arrests, or con4 victions described in subparagraphs (A) through 

5 (D) of section 4(c)(2) of the International Mar6 riage Broker Regulation Act of 2005; 

7 ‘‘(B) shall be informed that petitioner informa8 tion described in subparagraph (A) is based on avail9 able records and may not be complete; and 

10 ‘‘(C) shall be asked in the primary language of 

11 the visa applicant whether an international marriage 

12 broker has facilitated the relationship between the 

13 visa applicant and the United States petitioner and 

14 whether that international marriage broker complied 

15 with the requirements of section 4 of such Act. 

16 ‘‘(6) The Secretary shall provide for the disclosure 

17 of information described in paragraph (5) to the visa ap18 plicant at the consular interview in the primary language 

19 of the visa applicant. 

20 ‘‘(7) The fact that an alien described in clause (i) 

21 or (ii) of section 101(a)(15)(K) is aware of any informa22 tion disclosed under paragraph (5) shall not be used 

23 against the alien in any determination of eligibility for re24 lief under this Act or the Violence Against Women Act 
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1 (Public Law 103–322; 108 Stat. 1902), and the amend2 ments made by that Act. 

3 ‘‘(8) In fulfilling the requirements of paragraph 

4 (5)(A)(ii), a consular officer shall not disclose the name 

5 or location of any person who obtained a restraining or 

6 protective order against the petitioner, but shall disclose 

7 the relationship of the person to the petitioner.’’. 

8 (b) SHARING OF CERTAIN INFORMATION.—Section 

9 222(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

10 1202(f)) shall not be construed to prevent the sharing of 

11 information under section 214(d) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 

12 1184(d)). 

13 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

14 subsection (a) shall apply to petitions filed after the date 

15 of enactment of this Act. 

16 SEC. 7. STUDY AND REPORT. 

17 (a) STUDY.—The Secretary of Homeland Security, 

18 through the Director of the Bureau of Citizenship and Im19 migration Services, shall conduct a study of the inter20 national marriage broker industry in the United States 

21 that— 

22 (1) estimates, for the years 1995 through 

23 2005,the number of international marriage brokers 

24 doing business in the United States, the number of 

25 marriages resulting from the services provided by 
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1 such brokers, and the extent of compliance with the 

2 applicable requirements of this Act; 

3 (2) assess the information gathered under this 

4 Act from clients by international marriage brokers 

5 and from petitioners by the Bureau of Citizenship 

6 and Immigration Services; 

7 (3) examine, based on the information gathered, 

8 the extent to which persons with a history of vio9 lence are using the services of international marriage 

10 brokers and the extent to which such persons are 

11 providing accurate information to international mar12 riage brokers in accordance with section 4; 

13 (4) assess the accuracy of the criminal back14 ground check at identifying past instances of domes15 tic violence; and 

16 (5) assess the extent to which the languages of 

17 translation required under section 5(c)(1) continue 

18 to accurately reflect the highest markets for recruit19 ment by international marriage brokers and the 

20 greatest concentrations of K nonimmigrant visa ap21 plicants. 

22 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

23 of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Secu24 rity shall submit a report to the Committee on the Judici25 ary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of 
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1 the House of Representatives setting forth the results of 

2 the study conducted under subsection (a). 

3 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

5 (b), section 5, and the amendments made by section 6, 

6 this Act shall take effect on the date which is 60 days 

7 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

8 (b) ADDITIONAL TIME ALLOWED FOR INFORMATION

9 PAMPHLET.—Section 5(b) shall take effect on the date 

10 which is 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ