Ukraine Bride

Ukraine Bride

Russian Dating Questions:

Do people really order brides through the mail?

So i’ve heard that you can order brides through the mail from places like Russia and Ukraine. Is that true? Can it even be legal? That’s so ………strange, and it seems wrong too. Enlighten me? I’m a bit misinformed i think.

No, and yes it is illegal.

In the late 1800′s, it was common for US men to write to women of other countries, and invite them to the US for marriage. They would then pay the passage for the woman to come to the US and they would marry. This is where the term “mail order bride” came from.

Through the 1900′s the rules evolved, and it became necessary for a man to go to the foreign country to meet the woman before brining her to the US. It was relatively cheap and easy to get a US Visa at that time, and this is the period when many men would bring women to the US for prostitution, and women would marry men “for a visa” or “for their money”. This is the basis of all the stories you hear about women coming to the US for a visa, divorcing the man, and taking all his money (or bringing her whole family from the mafia).

As of 1991, the rules have become such that it is physically impossible to “mail order” a bride.

A man must meet the woman at least 1 time in the past 2 years, and provide considerable documentation that there is a real relationship (and trust me – 1 meeting in 2 years does not constitute a “relationship” to the embassy). The process of applying and getting approval for the woman to even apply for a visa takes roughly 1 year.

The man must disclose any criminal background, if he has been married before, if they met through a dating site, etc, etc.

Then, the woman gets to apply for a visa, and has to go to the US embassy in person to present documentation on the relationship, be interviewed, have medical exams,etc. This adds another 3-6 months to the process if all goes right and the embassy does not ask for more information.

When the woman arrives in the US, she is bound to the man for 2 years as her visa is “conditional”. If she divorces him, she must return to her own country, even if she remarries another man (who must then go through the same 2 year application process to bring her back). There are very few loopholes in that law. And, the US looks very closely at the 2nd application, and a 3rd is rarely if ever granted.

Figure it takes 2 years for a man and woman with a real relationship to be together in the US. I have friends in Canada who indicate the process is just as long there (a bit longer, actually).

It is all set up to ensure that people have a real relationship. Anyone who has not gone through the process has no clue how hard it is for people with real relationships, nor how well it weeds out ‘fakes’.