Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Legitimate marriage agency

This online dating service with the Russian women is legitimate. With the main office located in Australia, the agency operates in full compliance with the International Marriage Brokers Regulation Act. This means men get real matchmaker and online dating services that you need in order to meet genuine Russian ladies while being fully protected from the online Russian marriage scam. To ensure you get what you pay for, gentlemen clients are required to apply due diligence and follow some very simple safety rules the agency asks you to adhere to while using the website.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Obligation of Support For Mail Order Brides and Their Children

Everyone knows how easy it is for people to meet and marry others who live in foreign countries these days. With the widespread use of the Internet and the enormous amount of dating services available online, the "mail order bride" industry has grown exponentially. As a result, there are more Americans than ever, who are bringing new spouses into our country and who are choosing to act as "sponsors" for the new spouses and their spouses' children.

A series of recent decisions suggest that being a sponsor for a new spouse and the spouse's children is a risky proposition. Consequently, the obligations that are incurred by a sponsor should be fully understood and carefully considered before you or someone you know decides to bring a new spouse to this country.

THE AFFIDAVIT OF SUPPORT

When a U.S. citizen brings a spouse from another country into our country, he or she becomes a "sponsor," and has to agree to sign an affidavit of support for the spouse and his or her children. This obligation of support was created to ensure that the spouse and his or her children do not become public wards if the marriage terminates or the parties separate.

As with most forms created by the federal government, the affidavit of support is a convoluted document that is difficult to understand. The fine print of this form requires that the sponsor pledge his or her support and that the support pledged can only be terminated for one of the following five reasons: 1) the sponsor's death; 2) the sponsored immigrant's death; 3) the sponsored immigrant becoming a U.S. citizen; 4) the sponsored immigrant permanently departing the U.S.; or 5) the immigrant being credited with a total of 40 qualifying quarters of work (i.e., ten years).

In the event that the marriage does not work out and/or the parties separate after a short period of time, the pledged obligation of support can be quite burdensome.

Recent appellate court decisions throughout the country have held that the sponsor's obligation to support a spouse and his or her children can be enforced in both federal and state courts. In addition, the state court must order a sponsor to continue to pay support after the marriage has been dissolved, and where support would or could not be ordered under the state's law.

Considering California's laws pertaining to spousal and child support, this expanded duty of support is frightening.

DURATION OF SPOUSAL SUPPORT EXPANDED

Imagine bringing your new spouse to this country hoping for a long lasting marriage, making all the arrangements for your new home and after only six months, your spouse suddenly moves out. If this happened to you, it would be wise to put aside your feelings of hurt and rejection, because you will have more serious problems - your expanded duty of support!

In California, where there is a marriage of "short duration" (i.e., less than ten years), the rule of thumb used by the courts is to order spousal support for one-half of the duration of the marriage. Thus, in the case of a marriage lasting only six months, the court will usually terminate spousal support after three months.

However, in the case of a sponsor who pledges the support of his or her new spouse, this obligation can last up to ten years. Ouch!

DUTY TO SUPPORT CHILDREN

What about your spouse's children?

In most cases, there is no duty to support your spouse's children from a prior relationship. Under California law, a person has the legal obligation to support a child only under specific circumstances, such as when a party is the biological parent of the child, a party has adopted the child, when the child was conceived during the marriage and the parties were living together, or where a party has held him or herself out in the community as the child's parent.

However, in the case of a sponsor, the duty to support exists, even if the party had not formed a relationship with the child. Again, based on the sponsor's pledge to support the spouse and his or her children, the obligation can last up to ten years!

WITHDRAWAL OF THE AFFIDAVIT WILL NOT HELP!

In a couple of appellate court decisions addressing this issue, the sponsors argued that the duty to support terminated when the affidavit of support was withdrawn. To support their argument, these sponsors cited the written position of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which states that the sponsor can retract the Affidavit of Support anytime until the adjustment of status process is complete.

Unfortunately for these sponsors, the courts of appeals have disagreed. All relevant court decisions have held that the affidavit of support is an enforceable contract and that it is binding at the moment it is signed.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Before signing an Affidavit of Support, a sponsor would be wise to remember the old proverb, "marry in haste, repent in leisure." Indeed, those who bring new spouses into this country, and subsequently discover that they have made a mistake, may have to live with the unpleasant consequences for a long time.

Copyright 2006 Law Offices of Donald P. Schweitzer About The Author: Donald P. Schweitzer
Law Offices of Donald P. Schweitzer
201 South Lake Avenue, Suite 700
Pasadena, California 91101
(626) 683-8113
don@PasadenaLawOffice.com
http://www.PasadenaDivorce.com

Saturday, November 19, 2011

No Scam Directory Of Russian Marriage Agencies

The New Directory Of Russian Marriage Agencies has announced the launch of the new version of their website at http://www.getrussianbride.info. The owners and operators of online introductions agencies specializing in Russian mail order bride services are welcome to submit their websites for listing. This is a great opportunity to get targeted, high quality traffic to their online dating website provided your agency complies with the International Marriage Brocker Regulations Act within the terms of pursuing anti-scam policy. We also accept agencies introducing Ukrainian, Belorussian, other FSU countries, as well as any other agency working by mail order bride method.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Latest additions to blacklist of Russian scammers

* Rita Muftahutdinova (Tomsk, Russia)
* Anastasiya Pushkareva ( Albrest, Russia)
* Elena Marshanova (Suslonger, Russia)
* Alena Lebedkina
* Anastasiya Belljanina
* Svetlana Mikhneva
* Elena Ergardt (Kaliningrad, Russia)
* Svetlana Mihneva aka Svetlana Shustowa
* Dariya Chekanowa
* Natalya Suvorova
More additions to come soon.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Pistures of Russian Scammers

We have just updated our blacklist with some pictures, that have been noticed to be used by Russian online dating scam artists. Nobody still knows who stands behind these pretty faces, but we know for sure that if you receive an unsolicited offer of contact with any of these images attached, you are most probably being attempted to be scammed. Put them on you personal Russian scammers blacklist too and stay alert and vigilant!











Russian Romance scam perpetrators are seeking new ways of getting money out of your wallet, gentlemen, and it happens from time to time that a love letter from a certain beautiful Irina or Nastya that you discovered in your mailbox have been actually composed by a male "correspondence partner" posing as a beautiful Russian girl.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Scammer from Ukraine

Late in February 2010 a new suspected scammer was reported, this time it was a certain girl by name Marina (or someone posing as "Marina"), from Ukrainian city of Khmelnitsky, who didn't reveal her Second Name. The e-mail address this Russian romance scammer used was mmmarinary@gmail.com. The person using, this identity in correspondence, uses (or pretends to be using) a translation agency and she contacts men with an aparent intention to ask them for money to pay for translations. And, guess what? Another man she wrote to was smart enough to anticipate the imminent request of funds and wrote to Marina that there are some Russian girls in the Russian (Ukrainian) online dating industry who would make living by defrauding western men of money under the pretext they need cash to pay to a translator. After such reply Marina interrupted correspondence and never showed up again. We believe this evidence is enough to mark Marina from Khmelnitsky (Khmelnitskiy) as scammer and put this person's known identity details on blacklist. Attention: be aware that the photo may belong to a differnet person that could be completely unaware someone uses it.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

How Russian Prostitution Is Linked To Russian Mail Order Brides

Researcher Donna Hughes discusses the rise of "marriage agencies" in response to a growing supply and demand for "Russian brides". The introduction of Russian women into the market (of pre-arranged marriages) saw demand grow even greater. In 1998, there were over 200 agencies operating in the United States which had helped spur 747 U.S. fiancee visas issued to Russian women and 282 visas issued to women from Ukraine in 1997.

The results from such arranged marriages vary... However, many women are willing to take the chance, whether through marriage agencies or through independent migration to Western sex industries. As scholars Sue Bridger and Rebecca Kay argue, when conventional employment prospects are so poor, ordinary jobs are by no means risk-free and the spectre of years of poverty haunts millions, they may well feel they have very little to lose." Scholar Laura Agustin’s research with various sex workers in Europe vividly demonstrates the dilemma. In one interview, a Ukrainian woman who had migrated to Spain reflected on her decision to migrate:

    Life is very hard there, because there is no work. Today I sent money to my mother… to pay for her house. You work, work, work and then they don’t pay you, because there’s no money. For example, I worked in an ashtray factory, and when there was no money to pay me they said "take ashtrays", 100 ashtrays. So? Can you eat ashtrays?


From the October 2006 research by Katherine P. Avgerinos "From Vixen to Victim: The Sensationalization and Normalization of Prostitution in Post-Soviet Russia".

Katherine P. Avgerinos graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Slavic Studies and History from Connecticut College, where she served as both the Chair of the Slavic Studies Student Advisory Board and the President of the Russian Club.