I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3657 
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 6, 2005 
Mr. LARSEN of Washington (for himself and Mr. WOLF) introduced the 
following bill; which was 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 indi-
viduals who utilize the services of international marriage 
brokers, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005’’. 
(b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) There is a substantial international mar-
riage broker business worldwide. A 1999 report by
the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) 
estimated that there were at least 200 such compa-
nies operating in the United States, and that as 
many as 4,000 to 6,000 individuals in the United 
States, almost all male, found foreign spouses 
through for-profit international marriage brokers 
each year. The international marriage broker busi-
ness has grown significantly in recent years, greatly 
facilitated by the Internet. Studies now suggest that 
500 such companies operate in the United States. In 
addition, the total number of foreign fiance´(e)s en-
tering the United States each year more than dou-
bled between 1998 and 2002. It is currently esti-
mated, then, that at least 8,000 to 12,000 individ-
uals in the United States find foreign spouses 
through for-profit international marriage brokers 
each year. 
(2) The 1999 INS report notes that ‘‘The per-
vasiveness of domestic violence in our society has al-
ready been documented, and with the burgeoning 
number of unregulated international matchmaking 
organizations and clients using their services, the po-
tential for abuse in mail-order marriages is consider-
able.’’ The author of the study commissioned for the 
1999 INS report noted further that American men
who use the services of an international marriage 
broker tend to seek relationships with women whom 
they feel they can control. 
(3) The dangers posed to foreign women who 
meet their American husbands through international 
marriage brokers are underscored by the growing 
number of cases across the United States of foreign 
women who have been abused or killed by those 
men. Two highly publicized examples are the mur-
ders in Washington State of Susanna Remunerata 
Blackwell of the Philippines and Anastasia Solovieva 
King of Kyrgyzstan. In addition, a 2003 survey of 
programs providing legal services to battered immi-
grant women across the country found that over 50 
percent of these programs had served immigrant 
women clients battered by American men they met 
through international marriage brokers. 
(4) 30.4 percent of all women in the United 
States are physically abused by their husbands or 
male-cohabitants at some point in their lives. 49.3 
percent of immigrants reported physical abuse by an 
intimate partner during their lifetimes with 42.1 
percent reporting severe physical or sexual abuse. 
Among immigrants who were married or formerly 
married the lifetime abuse rate raises as high as
59.5 percent. 72.3 percent of abusive United States 
citizen or lawful resident spouses never file immigra-
tion papers for their abused spouses and the 27.7 
percent who eventually do file wait approximately 
four years to do so. In 1994 Congress included im-
migration protections in the Violence Against 
Women Act (‘‘VAWA’’) to remove the ability of abu-
sive United States citizens and lawful permanent 
residents to fully control their alien spouse’s ability 
to gain legal immigration status. By removing the 
threat of automatic deportation, VAWA aims to en-
able battered immigrants to take actions to protect 
themselves and their children, such as filing for a 
civil protection order, filing criminal charges, or call-
ing the police. 
(5) Aliens seeking to enter the United States to 
marry citizens of the United States currently lack 
the ability to access and fully verify personal history 
information 
about 
their 
prospective 
American 
spouses. 
(6) Many individuals entering the United States 
on K nonimmigrant visas to marry citizens of the 
United States are unaware of United States laws re-
garding—
(A) domestic violence, including protections 
for immigrant victims of domestic violence, sex-
ual assault, and stalking; 
(B) prohibitions on involuntary servitude; 
(C) protections from automatic deporta-
tion; and 
(D) the role of police and the courts in 
providing assistance to victims of domestic vio-
lence and other crimes. 
(c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; findings; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Regulation of international marriage brokers. 
Sec. 3. Information about legal rights and resources for immigrant victims of 
domestic violence. 
Sec. 4. Changes in processing K nonimmigrant visas; consular confidentiality. 
Sec. 5. Study and report. 
Sec. 6. Effective date. 
SEC. 2. REGULATION OF INTERNATIONAL MARRIAGE BRO-
KERS. 
(a) PROHIBITION ON MARKETING CHILDREN.—An 
international marriage broker shall not provide any United 
States client or other person with the personal contact in-
formation, photograph, or general information about the 
background or interests of any individual under the age 
of 18. 
(b) OBLIGATION
OF
INTERNATIONAL
MARRIAGE 
BROKER WITH RESPECT TO INFORMED CONSENT.—