Are mail order brides legal? If they are, is it legal to “buy” a bride in the US, the UK, Canada, or any other country? What laws affect mail order brides entering the US and what else do you need to know about the mail order bride legality? Continue reading—we’re going to answer all your questions about the subject right away. But first, here’s a list of the most important and interesting facts about mail order brides and the mail order bride industry:
- The best legal way to get a mail order bride right now is online dating sites—they are convenient and affordable
- The best legitimate mail order bride sites available today are SofiaDate , SakuraDate , and LatiDate
- The most popular MOB nationalities are Ukrainian, Filipino, and Colombian, with Filipinas topping the list
- The two main laws that affect MOB legality in the United States are IMBRA and VAWA
- Marrying a mail order bride is legal in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and in the absolute majority of the world's countries
- The most popular visa type for mail order marriages is K-1 visa—in 2022, 21,351 of K-1 visas were issued to foreigners
Quick answer: Is it legal to mail order a bride?
Yes. In the absolute majority of countries (including the US, the UK, and Canada), it’s 100% legal to marry foreign brides. Whether it’s a K-1 visa in the US, an X visa in the UK, or a Y visa in Canada, you will not have any problems with bringing your mail bride to your country if your relationship is genuine and you can prove it.
However, you might face certain challenges if you choose an unsafe mail order bride service with fake profiles—that’s why it’s always important to choose only legit mail order bride platforms. So you can choose one of the most trusted and legit mail order bride sites like SofiaDate , SakuraDate , and LatiDate : they have a good reputation and only real foreign women, with no fake accounts.
What laws affect mail order brides?
The United States protects immigrants from abuse and harm. When it comes to mail order brides, there are two acts used for their protection: IMBRA and VAWA. Let's talk about them.
IMBRA
IMBRA refers to the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act passed in 2005. The main goal of this Act is to protect marriage-based green-card immigrants from abuse by providing an immigrant with the criminal background of their American spouse/fiance and helping people understand their legal rights.
Another important provision of IMBRA is that if a couple meets with the help of an international marriage broker, this fact must be disclosed to USCIS. From the legal point of view, most today's mail order bride websites are nothing more than dating sites that do not fall under the criteria of an IMB—but it's not always that simple. In short, it's you who must prove that a dating website is not a broker.
Since you're going to use online dating sites, you may get an RFE (Request for Evidence) from USCIS. It's a request for additional information, and it means that a USCIS officer needs to get more info about the dating site you met your bride on.
What should you do with it?
Well, if you're using one of the websites mentioned above, for example, SofiaDate, it's very likely that the TOS (Terms Of Service, Terms and Conditions, etc.) and an email from the website should be enough. However, it's also possible that you'll have to write a cover letter to explain all the details to USCIS.
But again, according to the definition of an "International Marriage Broker," a website is considered one if it "matches US citizens/residents with aliens as their principal business," and that's not what modern dating websites are—so there’s nothing to worry about.
Take another look at one of those mail order bride services we mentioned before; for example, if you open the disclaimer of SofiaDate, you'll find that it operates as a "communication website" without "providing matchmaking or dating services." That’s the part most mail order bride agencies include in their Terms and Conditions in order not to be considered IMBs.
VAWA
In short, VAWA (the Violence Against Women Act of 1994) is a federal law that protects survivors of violence. If a bride is a victim of emotional or physical abuse, she can file VAWA anytime—after that, she will not have to rely on her abuser. She will be able to get a legal status (green card) in the US without the participation of a partner.
VAWA might sound like an easy way to cheat the system and become a permanent resident through a simple petition. Still, it's really not that simple because a person who applies for VAWA must not do anything that may conflict with the "grounds of inadmissibility" and prove they are the victim of "battery or extreme cruelty."
The main goal of VAWA is to protect those who suffer from violence, and foreign mail order brides are one of the most vulnerable categories in this regard. However, unlike IMBRA, VAWA does not affect the process of getting a K-1 visa for a bride, and you don't need to provide any additional evidence to make it work. It's just another level of protection for those who have experienced domestic violence.
Most popular mail order brides' nationalities among Western men
If you’re going to find your future spouse in another country, you need to choose the country first. Of course, there are a lot of international dating websites that cover almost all the world’s regions, and it’s possible to find a foreign bride from almost any country. However, there are still more popular and less popular regions in the world of international brides. The most popular ones are Eastern Europe, Asia, and Latin America, while the least popular regions are Africa and Oceania. As for the most popular countries, here they are:
- Ukraine. In 2022, 474 Ukrainian brides entered the US on a K-1 visa, reflecting a decline attributed to the ongoing war; for comparison, in 2021, there were 617 K-1 visas issued to Ukrainians. SofiaDate stands out as the optimal choice to meet Ukrainian brides.
- The Philippines. In 2022, Filipino women emerged as the most sought-after brides globally, with almost 5,000 K-1 visas issued to Filipino nationals, surpassing the numbers from any other region. For those looking to meet Filipino brides, SakuraDate stands out as the best dating site.
- Colombia. In 2022, 1,006 K-1 visas were issued to Colombians, solidifying Colombia's position as the top mail bride country in Latin America. Recognizing the popularity of brides from Colombia, LatiDate stands out as the best dating site to meet them.
Of course, that’s not all. There are thousands of women from China and Japan, Mexico and Brazil, as well as Polish and Russian mail order brides.
Mail order bride legality by country
Marrying foreign women is legal in most countries, but in each country, there are certain differences and details you need to be aware of. Let’s talk about how it works in different countries.
USA 🇺🇸
In the United States, you can meet a woman on any of those international dating sites and bring her to the country. The only requirement is that you must have met at least once during the previous 2 years—and of course, you need to prove that your relationship is “bona fide,” e.g., real and genuine.
There are two options if you’re an American citizen: you can apply for a K-1 visa, bring your prospective bride to the US, and get married there, or you can marry outside the country, apply for a CR-1 visa, and bring her to the US as your wife, not a bride. A spousal visa is slightly more expensive but also slightly faster to get (not in 100% of cases, though).
Canada 🇨🇦
So, are mail order spouses illegal in Canada? No. If you’re a Canadian citizen or resident, you can marry a foreign woman and bring her to the country legally. You must be legally married for at least a year, and of course, there must be no history of immigration violations. You'll have to apply for a sponsor application, which means that you must also be able to support your partner or spouse financially. If all the requirements are met, your bride or wife will get her visa in 7-12 months.
UK 🇬🇧
Such marriages are also legal in the United Kingdom. If you're already married, your wife can enter the UK on a Spouse Visa (similar to a CR-1 visa in the US), or you can bring your bride to the UK on a Fiance visa (similar to a K-1 visa in the US), get married there, and switch to the Spouse visa later.
As a Spouse visa holder, your wife will be able to work and study in the UK and even apply for permanent residence after 5 years of living in the country.
Australia 🇦🇺
There is a Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 820) in Australia—the applicant is expected to marry after entering the country on this visa (pretty much similar to how the K-1 visa works), and after that, they can apply for a Spouse visa (subclass 801). The latter is a permanent visa, which allows a spouse of an Australian citizen or permanent resident to live in the country permanently.
Germany 🇩🇪
If you're a German citizen, your bride can be granted a Visa for Intended Marriage—you must schedule a date for the wedding and get a certificate of intended marriage in order to apply. Your bride must also have at least basic German skills because proof of German knowledge is also necessary for this visa.
After getting a visa, your bride will be able to enter the country, and after the marriage, she'll be able to get a Family Reunion visa, which allows her to stay in Germany for 5 years. In 5 years, your wife will be able to become a permanent resident.
Switzerland 🇨🇭
Are mail order spouses illegal in this country? In short, they are not. Your bride will have to apply for a Swiss Visitor visa—after that, you'll be able to marry her within Switzerland. When it's done, your wife will be entitled to the B permit. Permit B is issued for a period of 5 years, after which your wife will be able to apply for a permanent residence permit.
Where a mail order spouse is illegal?
Technically, men from almost any country can marry a foreign woman. However, there are some countries where a foreigner can't marry local women. For example, you can technically marry a woman from Iran, but it's definitely not recommended because it's extremely dangerous. And obviously, there are also closed countries like North Korea where the citizens can't marry outside their country, but it's not like they prohibit mail order brides specifically.
❌ Only one country has anti mail order bride laws—ironically, it's the #1 mail bride country in the world. We're talking about the Philippines, where there is the Anti Mail Order Bride Act, which prohibits the business of organizing matchmaking/marriage agencies that would offer Filipinos to foreign nationals. The good news is that this act only covers Filipino-based businesses, and it's obvious that international dating sites with Filipino women are not registered there.
How to marry a mail order bride: Legal aspects in US
Are mail order spouses illegal in the US? As you already know, it’s 100% legal to marry mail brides and bring them to this country.
There are two visa types you can choose from if you want your partner to become a US permanent resident: a K-1 visa and a CR-1 visa. There are several differences, but the main one is about where you're going to get married: if you want to get married in the US, you need a K-1 visa, and if you want to marry her outside the country, it's the CR-1 visa you need.
More than 21,000 K-1 visas were issued to foreigners in the US, so it’s a pretty common option for those who want to bring a mail order wife to America. Let’s talk about the process of getting a visa.
- First, you’ll have to assemble your I-129F package—write a petition and a cover letter, pay the fee, and provide original statements with an intent to get married after entering the US.
- Wait. Bringing your bride to the US will take 12-24 months or so; it’s not a fast thing to do.
- Sooner or later, your bride will have to apply for the visa by completing Form DS-160.
- After that, she'll have to visit the visa interview with USCIS officers. They'll ask a lot of questions like "What's your partner's full name?" and "Do you have any wedding plans?" and if everything goes right, your bride will get her visa.
- Next, she'll be able to enter the United States, and you'll have to marry within 90 days.
- When it's done, she'll have to file Form I-485 to become a US permanent resident and get her green card.
You need to understand that there must be no red flags for USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services) officers. Some of the most common red flags are a significant age gap, different religions, no common language (very poor English skills of a bride), and failure to provide evidence of a genuine relationship. You must provide evidence of your in-person meetings (such as hotel reservations, photos, and flight tickets), and it's also important to prove that your relationship is real: joint bank accounts, chat records, phone records, engagement ring receipts, statements from family, etc.
Conclusion: Why mail order brides it’s not human trafficking?
Still have questions like “Are mail order brides illegal?”
Well, as you can see from this guide, it’s completely legal, and mail order brides can enter any country and become permanent residents there. However, even though there are thousands of success stories and a lot of happily married mail order brides, some people still think this has something to do with human trafficking.
What you need to know here is that mail order brides have nothing to do with that.
It's actually the opposite of mail order brides. All those brides create accounts on dating sites of their own free will because they think that foreign men make better husbands or because they want to live in a better country.
The whole process of "buying" a bride is nothing more than just chatting with a girl you like, impressing her, and asking her out. It’s all about building a romantic relationship with someone from another country, and it’s as far from human trafficking as possible.
Remember that you must find legal mail order brides on legit mail order brides agencies/websites. In this case, you can be 100% sure all those women are real, and you will have no problems later.
Disclaimer: The above is a sponsored post, the views expressed are those of the sponsor/author and do not represent the stand and views of Outlook Editorial.
