Russian mail order wives are now a step up or marrying up for even the best educated and wealthiest of Americans. The Internet has simplified the process of finding a woman who is younger, taller, prettier, smarter, sexier, and better-educated than you would be able to attract at home.
The girl next door can now reside anywhere in the world - from Moscow to Kiev to Manila.
While I consider this is the golden age of email order brides - and not a means for nerdy or cruel adult men to exploit impoverished or compliant females - I believe the opportunity will be dying inside 5 to 10 years.
Here's why:
1. Oil
Oil costs are destined to rise dramatically. A number of economists are predicting $20/gal gasoline. At half that amount, worldwide air travel will become prohibitively expensive.
Electricity would be able to be generated for your home or electric car from solar, wind, or geothermal resources, but airplanes need aviation fuel. Lots of it.
If oil prices triple or more, which is a apparent prospect, intercontinental travel will turn out to be prohibitedly high-priced for the average man.
2. IMBRA
The International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005 (IMBRA) calls for background checks on American men looking to file immigrant or fiancee visa petitions for foreign women - if they were introduced through an international marriage agency.
Some dating agencies (Yahoo!, Match.com) are exempt.
An International Marriage Broker (IMB) is an entity - U.S. or foreign based - that offers matchmaking or social referrals between U.S. citizens/permanent residents and foreign nationals for a fee.
Passed in the wake of the Anastasia King murder allegedly to protect foreign brides, all it does is prevent American men from petitioning the foreign fiancee of choice.
International Marriage Brokers are required to:
- examine U.S. sex offender public registries for information on the U.S. clients
- collect criminal and marital background information on the American client, including how prior marriages ended
- supply this information to the foreign woman in her native language
- provide foreign clients with a government produced pamphlet detailing her legal rights in the U.S.
- obtain the foreign client's signed consent to give her personal information to the U.S. client
- limit of 2 fiance(e) visa petitions with at least 2 years between filings
While it should be easy to get around the law, why compel Americans to lie to marry the woman of their dreams?
As the world economy gets worse, anticipate even more restrictive immigration laws.
Since passage of IMBRA, foreign brides have been killed - by husbands who found their wives by the use of exempt agencies.
Unless you take measures to shield yourself, as an American man looking for a mail order bride, your efforts to bring in a foreign fiance(e) can be hindered.
No disclosures shelter American women from American men with criminal pasts. And there's that blasted Constitution (what's left of it).
Noble intentions make bad law. And I'm not even sure of the good intentions in the case of IMBRA.
If gay marriage becomes law and opens same-sex spouses to immigration benefits, you can expect Congress to make it exceptionally difficult for anyone to bring a spouse home.
Find your Russian, Chinese, Filipina, or Brazilian mail order wife before it becomes an impractical ordeal.
3. American Men Are Still Valued Abroad
For thousands of foreign women, American husbands are nevertheless considered a good catch and a desirable match. Go figure.
I'm not certain if I am flattered or terrified.
Many foreign women view American men as better husbands, and not just on a economic level. Hollywood movies showing women's equality in marriage and relationships have no doubt added to the perceptions.
After a couple of divorces, I have become more jaded concerning marriage. As an alternative of falling into a relationship, why not hunt for exactly what you desire without neighborhood fix-ups or sorting through women in bars.
My recommendations:
For more youthful men, girls from Russia, the Ukraine, and the former Soviet Republics, are the sexiest and most beautiful females on the planet.
Go for it. Don't apologize or settle. One will discover so many who are the right age, well-educated, and whose looks blow you away.
Caveat - keep an eye on the age differences. For Russian women, 10 to 15 years younger will work fine. Larger age contrasts will feed your ego but could trigger problems down the road.
For mature or more traditional gentlemen, nothing tops the Philippines. Filipinas are the most dutiful, family oriented females I have ever lived among.
Young brides are not much of a problem in the Philippines. As a rule, Filipinas stay married until the husband throws her out. While a Vice-Consul in Manila, I approved visas for wives 50+ years younger than their American husbands.
For men who get retirement pensions or Social Security, I would consider retiring in the Philippines with a young spouse. Immigration goes both ways. And a "fixed income" in the P.I. is a wonderful thing.
Golden Age of Worldwide Dating and eMail Order Brides:
For American men, you are approaching the end of the golden era for marriage and family.
The social stock of American men will never be higher.
International travel will never be this cheap again.
You have never been more able to uncover and communicate with the right woman for you without all of the social and cultural restrictions of the past.
Before governments as well as busybodies once again interfere in the course of love, marriage, and family, grab your perfect mail order wife.
Dating, romance, and marriage have changed forever.
Charles Lamm is a former Vice-Consul in Seoul and Manila, retired immigration attorney, and writer now living in Florida.
