• Is it possible to exchange e-mail directly with the ladies as I would like to receive their additional photos.
• Where do I send and receive my e-mails?
• Do I have to open all of my incoming e-mails?
• Do I have to reply to all messages? If I do not reply will women know that I am not interested?
• What about if a woman that I wrote doesn't want to have correspondence with me? Do I loose a credit? In this case do you inform me?
• Can I send a photo attached with my e-mail?
• Are my e-mails translated for the women?
• What about the privacy of my messages I send to women?
• Do you allow direct contact information exchange in letters?
• Can I send my email address to a woman through a letter, so she can answer me back privately?
• How do the women get the mail from me? Does a staff member phone them, mail a copy, how?
• When I open a letter and read it I am charged. Ok, but if I close it to answer it later am I charged again for the same letter?
• When I write a letter I get a message, letter not sent. It also says to contact administrator! Okay, what does that mean? I have plenty of credits.
• I would like to know if there is a limit to the number of words or characters allowed when emailing a lady for the cost.
• I tried sending a letter but it does not show in my out box or that my account has been charges a credit.
• It seems like I am being deducted 2 credits for each letter I send, when it should be one?
• Does the lady type her own letter to me using your equipment? I received a letter addressed to a different man, signed by another woman, and by content of the letter I see it was not a reply to my letter.
• I was wondering how the translations are made for the ladies and me. Are the letters translated by computer, or are they translated by human translators, or maybe some combination of both? I'm curious because I have read that computer translations are very rough and don't have the same flow as the original letter
• How can you assure me and other men that if we write several ladies, our private letters will not be shown to various ladies who may know each other?
• How does the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005 in the USA affect your services on correspondence? It was signed into law Jan. 6, 2006 and became effective March 6, 2006.
• A Copy of the International marriage broker act for your reference!

Is it possible to exchange e-mail directly with the ladies as I would like to receive their additional photos.
Sorry, we don't allow foreign men and Ukrainian women to exchange direct e-mail addresses while they correspond using our e-mail forwarding system. BUT you can exchange phone numbers and ask for woman's e-mail address during the phone conversation

Where do I send and receive my e-mails?
You may send email messages from the site while you are browsing women?s photo catalog by clicking on the "E-mail me now" link in the woman's profile. When a woman sends you a letter, it arrives in your Inbox on the site and the server automatically sends notification about a new letter from woman to the email address you used when you registered. You then go to your mailbox on the site where you can see a list of all the incoming e-mails from women. Each e-mail will be accompanied by the woman's photo (icon) and short information; by clicking the icon or "view link you can then view there profile and bigger sized photos of the woman you choose. After reading the profile and seeing pictures you can decide whether or not you want to open the letter from this woman and find out more about her. You will not be charged for messages you do not open.

Do I have to open all of my incoming e-mails?
Absolutely not!! Before opening a letter you are able to view the woman's profile with bigger sized photos and decide whether you like this woman and want to get to know her better. Only if you are interested in this women (note, she is interested in you after viewing your profile) should you open a letter of introduction from this women.

Do I have to reply to all messages? If I do not reply will women know that I am not interested?
You do not have to reply to all messages from women. If you do not reply the woman, she will know and understand that you are not interested in her. When a woman sends her letter of introduction to one or several foreign men she knows that not all of them would reply to her, the same as she doesn't reply to all foreign men who try to get in contact with her.

What about if a woman that I wrote doesn't want to have correspondence with me? Do I loose a credit? In this case do you inform me?
Yes, you do lose a credit for the letter you sent. If you are not sure that you will get a positive reply from a woman you like, we would advise you to use the option Inquiry. The inquiry is a smaller monetary risk for you than a letter; an inquiry costs less than a letter. When a woman receives such an inquiry from a man, she reviews his profile and decides whether it would be interesting for her to correspond with that man and learn more about him.

Can I send a photo attached with my e-mail?
You actually can not send attachments with your letters to women if you use our e-mail forwarding system, meaning write letter in the form on the web-site. If you want to send some additional photos to a woman, we prefer you to send them as files attached to a message through our Support Center. You just indicate ID of the lady, as well as you can write any instructions to us in this kind of letter. We forward attached files to the women your photo will be printed with the last letter you send to this woman. The cost for this is found in price list

Are my e-mails translated for the women?
All the emails you send to the women are translated into Russian if the woman needs translation; all letters from women to you are also translated into English. There is no additional charge to you or the women for this complimentary service, the cost of the translation it is included into the price of each letter you send or receive.

What about the privacy of my messages I send to women?
The agency staff who translates your correspondence will know your identity, but are professionals, accustomed to assisting in communications of the most intimate nature. And will not discuss anything you write.

Do you allow direct contact information exchange in letters?
Yes, you can send/ receive postal address and telephone number of any woman in letters through our e-mail forwarding system if the woman is willing to exchange this information. But we do not allow exchanging e-mail addresses.

Can I send my email address to a woman through a letter, so she can answer me back privately?
Sorry, no. You can ask a woman for her phone number and then exchange e-mail addresses during your telephone conversation.

How do the women get the mail from me? Does a staff member phone them, mail a copy, how?
You send your e-mail to a chosen woman, and your e-mail message is received in our agency. Our interpreters translate your message into lady's native language (Russian) and then the manager informs the woman on the phone that a message is waiting for her. If you contact a woman for the first time together with your letter she receives your profile information and a photo of you from your ad on-line in our Gentlemen Catalog. When your women receives your letter - women usually prefer to come to the office to pick their letters up - the woman is able to write a response immediately in the office or she might want to think it over at home and then bring her reply to you later to be translate and forwarded to you. Sometimes your letters can be read over the phone, so she would start thinking about her answer to you and giver her reply over the phone...

When I open a letter and read it I am charged. Ok, but if I close it to answer it later am I charged again for the same letter?
No! If you opened a letter once, the status of the letter is changed to "opened" and you will be never charged for reading it again. But sometimes mistakes happen! Just let us know and we will refund that credit.

When I write a letter I get a message, letter not sent. It also says to contact administrator! Okay, what does that mean? I have plenty of credits.
The system doesn't allow you to send a a new letter to the same woman within 2 minutes after you sent your first letter to her - this is the way we try to save you from sending duplicates letters. But if you want to be sure whether you?re women has received your letter you can contact us and we will confirm that your letter has been received. Another way to get sure your letter was sent is to check your "outbox" (there you should see the letter you just sent) you?re your payment history.

I would like to know if there is a limit to the number of words or characters allowed when emailing a lady for the cost.
Yes, it is 10000 characters (three sheets of paper when the letter is printed). If your letter exceeds this number of characters, you will be asked to make it shorter or divide into parts.

I tried sending a letter but it does not show in my out box or that my account has been charges a credit.
If the letter is not in your "outbox" and your payment history has no records about this letter, it means the letter was not sent. Possible problems: there was something wrong with the server right at the moment you sent the letter, or your letter was too long. Though we have a limit of 10000 characters for each letter sent by a man, we have faced the following problem: our client tries to send a letter or part of his letter in Russian, and due to the settings for the encoding each Russian letter acquires several digits code, which make 1 Cyrillic letter 7 characters. So, the letter becomes too long (about 7 times longer); and letters of more than 10000 characters limit can't be sent. We advise you to send yur letters in English, but if you want to surprise your Russian bride with your knowledge of the Russian language, please, send your letter as attached .doc file to service@abridefromodessa.com and also do not forget to mention the women?s profile ID and name of the woman your letter is for, we will register the letter manually and forward your letter in a readable format to be delivered to your women.

It seems like I am being deducted 2 credits for each letter I send, when it should be one?
It is not possible - the system works automatically, credits are deducted automatically for each letter you read and each letter you send. Besides, every letter you send or read is recorded in your payment history. If you still have doubts that you were charged twice for the same letter, please, contact us - we will check and refund you credit in this case if you were charged for a duplicate letters.

Does the lady type her own letter to me using your equipment? I received a letter addressed to a different man, signed by another woman, and by content of the letter I see it was not a reply to my letter.
No, ladies do not type their messages themselves, they usually bring hand-written letters (or dictate their letters on the phone - our staff translates and types the messages, then the messages are sent to you. It is quite possible you have received completely different letter - from a different woman to a different foreign man. Mistakes can happen

I was wondering how the translations are made for the ladies and me. Are the letters translated by computer, or are they translated by human translators, or maybe some combination of both? I'm curious because I have read that computer translations are very rough and don't have the same flow as the original letter
It is our rule and our policy that all letters are human translated. You are very right about computer translations - they are "word by word" translations, the programs takes the first meaning of the word from a dictionary, which sometimes makes a sentence senseless (especially if we take into consideration the word-order and different grammar structures in Russian and English).

How can you assure me and other men that if we write several ladies, our private letters will not be shown to various ladies who may know each other?
We can promise that the agency staff will not tell the girls that they get letters from the same men - first of all we understand that men and women want to keep their relations in private, and also because our financial profit depends on number of letters foreign men send to women - the more letters men write the more our profit is. If we tell our women that this man writes to every single woman in the agency, girls will not reply to such man, and we will lose our profit. But we can't make sure that the women do not share information about the letters they get themselves: often girls bring their friends to the agency to search for a foreign man, we have sisters as our clients, and of course we can't forbid them to share the experience of communicating with this or that man.

How does the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005 in the USA affect your services on correspondence? It was signed into law Jan. 6, 2006 and became effective March 6, 2006.
International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005 imposes restrictions on communication between our women-clients and foreign men: according to the new Law there should not be any contact between a foreign woman (a client of the marriage agency) and a man from the United Sates before the man disclosed, and the woman read US client's background information, such as marital history, information about children, arrests or convictions. The marriage agency is the party that is responsible for collecting of this information from the US client and passing it to the women client in her native language. There are civil and criminal penalties on the broker for violations of this Law. But, this is the Law of the USA and it applies to US companies owned and operated in the USA, (even if they have a matchmaker subsidiary or sub-division abroad.) It would likely be very difficult to enforce this law on a non-US company. Since our agency is officially registered in Ukraine, the penalties by this Law can't be imposed on us, thus we continue delivering our services the way we did it, we do not forbid US clients to exchange direct contact information with the women. BUT: what is more important is how non-compliance with this Law could affect your bride's chances to get Fiancee Visa: if in the beginning of your contact the woman did not have all this information, it is possible that she will NOT get her Fiancee Visa. We strongly recommend you to consult your lawyer regarding the provisions of International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005.

The ?International Marriage Broker Act of 2005?, part of Congressional bill H.R. 3402, was signed into law Jan. 6, 2006 and became effective March 6, 2006.
Based on our client?s many questions and to avoid misunderstandings, a bride from Odessa has decided to explain in simpler terms what the ?International Marriage Broker Act? is about, and how it impacts American citizens seeking marriage to a foreign nationals of any country. In particular we have addressed portions of the Act that directly affect abridefromodessa.com release of client contact information and Fiance' Visa related issues.

REASON FOR THE LAWS PROPOSAL:
To address, identify, and reduce cases of domestic violence committed by US citizens against foreign citizens that have immigrated, or are in the process of immigrating to the USA.

EXCERPTS FROM THE BILL ITSELF:
This Act may be cited as the "Violence against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005".

LIMITATION ON SHARING INFORMATION ABOUT FOREIGN NATIONAL CLIENTS (FEMALE CLIENTS):
"An international marriage broker shall not provide any United States client or representative with the personal contact information of any foreign national client unless and until the international marriage broker has":

• 1. Performed a search of the National Sex Offender Public Registry, or of the relevant State sex offender public registry for any State not yet participating in the National Sex Offender Public Registry in which the United States client has resided during the previous 20 years, for information regarding the United States client
• 2. Collected background information about the United States client; provided to the foreign national client in the foreign national client?s primary language, a copy of any records retrieved from the search required or documentation confirming that such search retrieved no records
• 3. In the foreign national client?s primary language, a copy of the background information collected by the international marriage broker; and in the foreign national client?s primary language (or in English or other appropriate language if there is no translation available into the client?s primary language), the information pamphlet (see the ?informative pamphlet explanation below).
• 4. Received from the foreign national client a signed, written consent, in the foreign national client?s primary language, to release the foreign national client?s personal contact information to the specific United States client.
• 5. FEDERAL CIVIL PENALTY - an international marriage broker that violates (or attempts to violate) is subject to a civil penalty of not less than $5,000 and not more than $25,000 for each such violation.
• 6. FEDERAL CRIMINAL PENALTY - in circumstances in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, an international marriage broker that, within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, violates (or attempts to violate) shall be fined in accordance with title 18, United States Code, or imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or both.

CHANGES IN PROFILE AND REGISTRATION PROCEDURES TO ACHIEVE AND MAINTAIN COMPLIANCE WITH THIS LAW BY A Bride from Odessa Agency
Based on this new law Abridefromodessa.com (marriage and Introductions agency) will need to obtain additional information from US clients regarding the topics listed below:

• 1. Information on criminal convictions, including certain misdemeanors
• 2. Previous K visa applications submitted by our US clients
• 3. Information on any criminal convictions such as: Domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, stalking, sexual exploitation, abusive sexual contact, kidnapping / abduction, homicide / murder, manslaughter, rape, torture, trafficking in a slave trade, holding hostage, and unlawful criminal restraint. At least three convictions for crimes relating to a controlled substance or alcohol require us to investigate also.
• 4. Under this new law, Abridefromodessa agency is required as of March 6th of 2006 will start checking every US client for marital history and domestic violence or other violent criminal history. Abridefromodessa agency will notify clients that are foreign nationals (female clients) with background information on US clients resulting from the mandatory queries of Federal and State public registries for sex offenders and collected from United States clients.
• 5. A bride from Odessa - the international marriage broker will collect a certification signed (in written, electronic, or other form) by the United States client accompanied by documentation or an attestation of the following background information about the United States client:

Any temporary or permanent civil protection order or restraining order issued against the United States client; Any Federal, State, or local arrest or conviction of the United States client for homicide, murder, manslaughter, assault, battery, domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, abusive sexual contact, sexual exploitation, incest, child abuse or neglect, torture, trafficking, peonage, holding hostage, involuntary servitude, slave trade, kidnapping, abduction, unlawful criminal restraint, false imprisonment, or stalking. Any Federal, State, or local arrest or conviction of the United States client for solely, principally, or incidentally engaging in prostitution; a direct or indirect attempt to procure prostitutes or persons for the purpose of prostitution; receiving, in whole or in part, of the proceeds of prostitution. Any Federal, State, or local arrest or conviction of the United States client for offenses related to controlled substances or alcohol; marital history of the United States client, including whether the client is currently married, whether the client has previously been married and how many times, how previous marriages of the client were terminated and the date of termination, and whether the client has previously sponsored an alien to whom the client was engaged or married.

The ages of any of the United States client?s children who are under the age of 18, and all states and countries in which the United States client has resided since the client was 18 years of age.

CHANGES IN SERVICE PROVIDING TO OUR FEMALE CLIENTS AT A BRIDE FROM ODESSA .COM

• 1. Under this new law, we have to provide our female clients the results of domestic violence checks on US male clients before we can release ANY direct contact information of female clients to the US male clients.
• 2. A bride from Odessa will provide an informative pamphlet to female clients (see section Informative pamphlet below) once it has been officially released by US Government.
• 3. SEARCH OF PUBLIC SEX OFFENDER REGISTRIES: Each international marriage broker shall search the National Sex Offender Public Registry or State sex offender public registry, as required under paragraph
• 4. COLLECTION OF BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Each international marriage broker shall also collect the background information about the United States client to whom the personal contact information of a foreign national client would be provided.

CONSULAR REGULATIONS FOR K VISA APPLICANTS:

• 1. The Consulate or Embassy of US will verify that the petitioner has not, previous to the pending petition:
• 2. Have two or more applications submitted before for aliens
• 3. If the petitioner has had a petition submitted previously and it was approved, 2 years must have elapsed since the filing of such previously approved petition. The Secretary of Homeland Security may, in the Secretary?s discretion, waive the limitations if justification exists for such a waiver. Except in extraordinary circumstances, such a waiver shall not be granted if the petitioner has a record of violent criminal offenses against a person or persons.
• 4. The Consulate has to provide a foreign woman with the US Government issued information pamphlet (see section below for information pamphlet). The pamphlet will be mailed by the Secretary of State to each applicant for a K nonimmigrant visa at the same time that the instruction packet regarding the visa application process is mailed to said applicant. The pamphlet so mailed shall be in the primary language of the applicant or in English if no translation into the applicant?s primary language is available.

REASONS FOR WAIVING THE LIMITATIONS AND OR EXCEPTIONS:

• 1. The petitioner was acting in self-defense
• 2. The petitioner was found to have violated a protection order intended to protect the petitioner
• 3. The petitioner committed, was arrested for, was convicted of, or pled guilty to committing a crime that did NOT result in serious bodily injury or subjected another individual to extreme cruelty.
• In acting on applications under this subparagraph, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall consider any credible evidence relevant to the application. The determination of what evidence is credible and the weight to be given that evidence shall be within the sole discretion of the Secretary.

A MULTIPLE K (FIANCEE OR WIFE) VISA PETITIONS TRACKING DATABASE
The Secretary of Homeland Security will create a database for the purpose of tracking multiple visa petitions filed. Upon approval of a second visa petition for a fiance'? (e) or spouse filed by the same United States citizen petitioner, the petitioner will be notified by the Secretary that information concerning the petitioner has been entered into the multiple visa petitions tracking database. All subsequent fiance'e? (e) or spouse nonimmigrant visa petitions filed by that petitioner will be entered in the database. Once a petitioner has had two finance? (e) or spousal petitions approved if a subsequent petition is filed under such section less than 10 years after the date the first visa petition was filed, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall notify both the petitioner and beneficiary of any such subsequent petition about the number of previously approved fiance'e? (e) or spousal petitions listed in the database. A copy of the information and resources pamphlet on domestic violence will be mailed to the beneficiary along with the notification required.

VISA INTERVIEWS AT THE CONSULATE / US EMBASSY IN YOUR WOMAN?S COUNTRY

• 1. During an interview with an applicant for a K nonimmigrant visa, consular officers shall provide information, in the primary language of the visa applicant, on protection orders or criminal convictions collected on applicant.
• 2. Provide a copy of the pamphlet developed in English or another appropriate language and provide an oral summary, in the primary language of the visa applicant, of that pamphlet
• 3. Ask the applicant, in the primary language of the applicant, whether an international marriage broker has facilitated the relationship between the applicant and the United States petitioner, and, if so, obtain the identity of the international marriage broker from the applicant and confirm that the international marriage broker provided to the applicant the information and materials required
• In acting on applications under this subparagraph, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall consider any credible evidence relevant to the application. The determination of what evidence is credible and the weight to be given that evidence shall be within the sole discretion of the Secretary.

INFORMATIONAL PAMPHLET FOR FOREIGN WOMEN
There will be a pamphlet developed for foreign women that has to be provided by International marriage brokers to them. The Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, will develop an information pamphlet on legal rights and resources for immigrant victims of domestic violence and distribute and make such pamphlet available.

The information pamphlet will include information on the following:

• 1. The K nonimmigrant visa application process and the marriage-based immigration process, including conditional residence and adjustment of status.
• 2. The illegality of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse in the United States and the dynamics of domestic violence.
• 3. Domestic violence and sexual assault services in the United States, including the National Domestic Violence Hotline and the National Sexual Assault Hotline.
• 4. The legal rights of immigrant victims of abuse and other crimes in immigration, criminal justice, family law, and other matters, including access to protection orders.
• 5. The obligations of parents to provide child support for children.
• 6. Marriage fraud under United States immigration laws and the penalties for committing such fraud.
• 7. A warning concerning the potential use of K nonimmigrant visas by United States citizens who have a history of committing domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, or other crimes and an explanation that such acts may not have resulted in a criminal record for such a citizen.
• 8. In order to best serve the language groups having the greatest concentration of K nonimmigrant visa applicants, the information pamphlet will be translated by the Secretary of State into foreign languages, including Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Chinese, Ukrainian, Thai, Korean, Polish, Japanese, French, Arabic, Portuguese, Hindi, and such other languages as the Secretary of State, in the Secretary?s discretion, may specify.

CONFIDENTIALITY

• 1. In fulfilling the requirements, an international marriage broker shall disclose the relationship of the United States client to individuals who were issued a protection order or restraining order or of any other victims of crimes as described, but shall not disclose the name or location information of such individuals.
• 2. PENALTY FOR MISUSE OF INFORMATION.?a person who knowingly discloses, uses, or causes to be used any information obtained by an international marriage broker as a result of the obligations for any purpose shall be fined not more than 1 year, or both. These penalties are in addition to any other civil or criminal liability under Federal or State law which a person may be subject to for the misuse of that information, including threatening, intimidating, or harassing any individual.

• 1. International marriage broker - a corporation, partnership, business, individual, or other legal entity, whether or not organized under any law of the United States, that charges fees for providing dating, matrimonial, matchmaking services, or social referrals between United States citizens or nationals or aliens lawfully admitted to the United States as permanent residents and foreign national clients by providing personal contact information or otherwise facilitating communication between individuals.
• 2. K NONIMMIGRANT VISA ? A nonimmigrant visa of the Immigration and Nationality Act
• 3. PERSONAL CONTACT INFORMATION - information, or a forum to obtain such information, that would permit individuals to contact each other, including? the name or residential, postal, electronic mail, or instant message address of an individual; the telephone, pager, cell phone, or fax number, or voice message mailbox of an individual; or the provision of an opportunity for an in-person meeting. EXCEPTION - such term does not include a photograph or general information about the background or interests of a person.
• 4. REPRESENTATIVE - With respect to an international marriage broker, the person or entity acting on behalf of such broker. Such a representative may be a recruiter, agent, independent contractor, or other international marriage broker or other person conveying information about or to a United States client or foreign national client, whether or not the person or entity receives remuneration.
• 5. STATE - includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
• 6. UNITED STATES - When used in a geographic sense, includes all the States.
• 7. UNITED STATES CLIENT - means a United States citizen or other individual who resides in the United States and who utilizes the services of an international marriage broker, if a payment is made or a debt is incurred to utilize such services.
• 8. FOREIGN NATIONAL CLIENT - a person who is not a United States citizen or national or an alien lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence and who utilizes the services of an international marriage broker. Such term includes an alien residing in the United States who is in the United States as a result of utilizing the services of an international marriage broker and any alien recruited by an international marriage broker or representative of such broker.