What is a mail order spouse? Do mail order brides still exist? Read this guide to find out. But first, let’s summarize the content – if you don’t want to read the whole article, here’s what you need to know:
- A mail order bride is a foreign lady who is looking for a partner for a serious romantic relationship from another country.
- It still works in 2024. What’s more, it actually works much better in 2024 than a decade ago—with today’s convenient and trusted mail bride sites, finding a bride is easier than ever.
- Yes, there are special websites for this purpose—you can’t find a mail bride on Facebook or Tinder. The platforms like SofiaDate, SakuraDate, LatiDate are available for both mobile and PC users, they are trustworthy, popular, and real.
- The most popular countries for finding a bride are Ukraine, the Philippines, China, Colombia, and Mexico.
Now let’s dive a bit deeper into the ton of other questions popping.
Who are mail order brides?
What is a mail order bride? Who is she? Why is she looking for a partner abroad? Here are the answers.
Mail order bride history: How it’s started?
From the first “tobacco” brides in Jamestown to “Pelican” brides in other colonies, to Asian “picture” brides moving to the US in the 19th century, to European brides who decided to find a husband in the US during the 1848-1855 gold rush, the concept of mail brides has not changed drastically. Until the 1990s, the mechanism was simple: women sent their photos and descriptions to newspapers or catalogs, men chose among them, and then, they started exchanging letters.
Today, it changed.
Mail order bride nowadays: How is it going?
But the main idea is still the same: women send photos, men choose, and then, they start exchanging messages. The main difference is that today, it’s probably 100 times more convenient than even 30 years ago—now, the only thing both parties need is a stable Internet connection. Well, to be honest, it doesn’t even have to be stable: we know there are at least a few thousand of mail brides in Cuba, and this island is well-known for its awful access to the Internet.
Anyway, today, the process has changed and become much, much easier and faster. We’ll cover the “how it works” question later, and now, let’s answer another popular question.
What are mail order brides today? Who are they and why are they avoiding local potential partners, looking for love in other countries instead?
Most brides are from 3 regions: Asia (both Eastern and Southeastern), South America (incl. Mexico), and Eastern Europe. Most of them are single ladies in their 30s and 40s, but it depends on the region: Asian mail order brides are slightly older (the average age of a MOB in China is 35 years old) and brides from Slavic countries are younger (the average age of Belarusian brides is 27 years old, for example). 70% of them have no children, 60% of them are Christian, and 26% of them are advanced English speakers (48% of all mail brides describe their English level as intermediate). They are also very educated (63% graduated from a university).
Why are they doing it?
Actually, the most common reason is pretty similar to the reason why you’re looking for a bride abroad: it’s difficult for them to find what they need in their countries so they decided to find a foreign partner. For some of them, it’s about loyalty—men from certain countries are well-known for their infidelity. In Vietnam, for example, having a “small wife” (basically cheating) is a cultural thing and they don’t even consider it a problem. For some, it’s about societal pressure—in China, they call single women in their 30s “sheng nu”, and “leftover ladies”. For the others, it’s about respect—South American societies are very “machismo”, and in “machismo” culture, there’s no place for treating a woman with respect.
So the reasons might differ, but what they all want is a loyal man who would love them, treat them with respect, and care for them.
Can you still get a mail order bride? Is this phenomenon alive in 2024?
Are mail order brides real?
Yes, the mail order bride phenomenon is alive.
The Anti Mail-Order Spouse Act in the Philippines didn’t kill it, the Venezuelan crisis didn’t kill it, COVID didn’t kill it, the Russo-Ukrainian war didn’t kill it—the industry is on its rise and the number of potential brides is increasing every single year. More and more women create accounts on sites like SofiaDate because they believe they can find a real, loving, and respectful man there.
But it doesn’t mean you need to begin this journey right away. Read our guides first—we explain how to get a mail bride, why it’s legal to marry them, how much it costs, and which country to choose. Just read the guides and you’ll learn all the information you need about foreign brides!
How do mail order bride work?
So, how do mail order brides work?
The process is pretty simple, especially if you are not a complete rookie in online dating. Well, even if you are, it’s still simple. Here’s how it looks for women:
- A foreign lady creates a profile on a MOB site and uploads her best pictures.
- Then, she goes through the ID verification process. Not on every site, though.
- If everything is ok, she starts searching for men and chatting with them. Typically, it’s free for women to send messages and use the chat feature.
- She agrees to meet a man and says yes after several dates.
- Then, she gets her K-1 visa and moves to the US.
For men, the process is slightly different.
- A man creates a profile on a MOB site and uploads his best pictures.
- Then, he can start browsing ladies’ profiles and watch their photos. ID verification is not required for men, it’s the brides who must verify their profiles.
- Then, he starts searching for women and chatting with them. 99% of MOB sites are not free for men which means a male user must purchase credits/subscriptions first.
- He meets his bride in real life and proposes to her.
- Then, he files the petition for a foreign fiance and waits for her K-1 visa.
You see, it’s very similar to what you’ve already seen on other dating sites. The main difference is that MOB sites are not free and that they have a wider assortment of tools. Video chats, gifts, voice calls—they are much more advanced than non-international dating sites.
How successful are mail order marriages?
So, do mail order marriages still exist? The answer is yes. 19,825 Fiance(e) visas were issued to foreign nationals in 2023 and the number is surely going to rise in 2024 because we still aren’t back to the pre-COVID level of K-1 visas.
But do mail order marriages work? Or maybe all those thousands of marriages are just fraud and they all get divorced during the first year?
No, they don’t get divorced, and yes, these marriages work. Let’s talk about numbers.
- First of all, you need to know that in the US, the divorce rate in interracial marriages is higher than that in the same-race/ethnicity marriages.
- Second, according to the statistics, if the husband and wife were born in “culturally distant” countries, the divorce risks are higher for them than for the same race/ethnicity marriages.
These two facts mean that mail order marriages—which are both interracial and between people from “culturally distant” countries—have no chance of success. Right?
Let’s add another fact. Russia, one of the most popular mail bride countries, has one of the highest divorce rates in the world (higher than 65%). Add this information to those 2 facts and it might look like the marriage with a Russian girl makes literally no sense because it will end in a divorce very soon.
However, the reality is different. In reality, the divorce rate in mail-order marriages between American men and Russian women is more than 10% lower than the divorce rate in the US (35.8% vs 48%). Just think about it: despite all the numbers, the marriages between Russian women and American men are actually less likely to end in divorce than the marriages between Americans. And it’s not only about Russia, of course, it’s just that only information about this country is available. In reality, mail order marriages are stable, happy, and successful no matter the nationality of your foreign bride.
Conclusion
So… Are mail order brides still a thing? Yes, and the chances are much higher that your marriage will be successful with a foreign lady than with an American woman. Foreign ladies The only challenge here is finding the right dating platform, but you can consider it done—mobile websites like SofiaDate, SakuraDate, and LatiDate are trusted, verified, and offer everything a regular user might need, from detailed profiles to proper bonuses to try the features.