1,100 Approved Fiance Petitions are Recalled
June 8, 2006

Speaking of criminal background checks, as of March 5, 2006, US CIS was mandated by federal statute to conduct background checks on all U.S. citizens seeking to petition their foreign fiancés. The federal statute, known as the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act, was enacted in order to protect foreign fiances from the unknown dangers, such as the potential for domestic abuse, that could arise as a result of their future spouse’s criminal backgrounds.

However, apparently by mistake, CIS has approved more than 1,100 such petitions without having the requisite investigations take place and has even forwarded these files to U.S. consular posts across globe for further processing. The 95 consular posts now in possession of these files have been instructed to forward the paperwork back to the U.S. so the required background checks for the petitioning U.S. citizen can be completed.