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History
- Referred to consumer protection
- Referred to consumer protection
Companion bill
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Requires information on violence against women including domestic violence and human trafficking to be provided to foreign, prospective wives coming to this country
In Assembly Committee · Economic Development · Sponsor Felix Ortiz
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S3752
Title of bill
An act to amend the general business law, in relation to educating foreign women entering this country as prospective spouses about the history of the men they may be marrying and their rights as residents of the United States if they become victims of domestic violence
Purpose
To amend the general business law, to educate foreign women entering this country as perspective spouses about the history of the men they may be marrying and their rights as residents of the United States if they become victims of domestic violence.
Read the full memo (714 words)
Summary of provisions
Amends the general business law by adding a new article 28-CC, to regulate international marriage brokers operating within the state and to prevent foreign women from becoming victims of domestic violence.
An international marriage broker operating within the state is required to file a disclosure form and a fifty thousand dollar surety bond with the secretary of state to insure compliance of this act. The international marriage broker shall be required to disclose the following information: the business' name, address, and telephone number; if applicable, the corporation or partnership's name, address and telephone number employed by the broker; all internet web sites owned or operated by the broker; and a copy of a valid photograph of each employees or agent employed by the broker. An international marriage broker shall also notify the department of state in writing within thirty days from the renewal date of the bond of any changes to the business' name, address, telephone number or agents. The secretary of state shall post the information submitted by an international marriage broker on the department's web site.
An international marriage broker shall be required to provide a recruit, a person who is not a citizen or resident of the United States, with a basic right information pamphlet in her or his language and a written consent form allowing the broker to release personal information about the recruit to the client. The basic right information pamphlet shall include, but not limited to, the emergency telephone numbers of the local police and fire departments where the recruit will be residing; the client's marital status and the number of foreign fiancee or finance visas that she or he has applied for over her or his lifetime; immigration relief information, information on the warning signs of domestic violence; and the hotlines numbers of domestic violence and sexual assault services in New York State and the United States.
Justification
In 1999, the Immigration and Naturalization Service commissioned a study that found more than 200 international marriage brokers operating around the globe, arranging between .,000 and 6,000 marriages between American men and foreign women every year. Based on the 1995 statistics, there are between 20,000 to 30,000 women who have
entered the United States using an international marriage broker in the past five years. Most of the foreign brides advertised by the international marriage brokers come from countries where women have few educational or professional opportunities. Unfortunately, women meeting their husbands through brokers frequently have little opportunity to get to know their prospective spouses or assess their potential for violence. They also have little knowledge of their rights as victims of domestic violence in this country. In 1953, the Commonwealth Fund estimated that seven percent of American women who are married or living with someone are physically abused in a year's time, and the incidence is higher in mail-order marriages.
In 2005, the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act was passed to provide foreign citizens with information and protection against domestic violence from United States citizens. In New York State, social referral services are defined and limited by the amount they can charge a client for providing services. Although, there are no statutes or regulations in this state that oversees international marriage brokers to prevent domestic violence against foreign women. The purpose of this act is to inform prospective spouses of foreign birth, who marry United States citizens, of their rights as residents of this country if they become victims of domestic violence.
Prior legislative history
2007/08 - A.7634 - Referred to Economic Development 2009/10 - A.6404 - Held in Economic Development
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it has become a law.
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