How Does a Mail Order Bride Service Work?

...
http://www.rd.com/images/content/071306/28061MailOrderBride.jpg

The main form of arranged marriage in the United States comes from mail order bride services. These services allow men to browse women who they pay to marry them. In most cases there are no laws surrounding the practice, as long as the union is consensual by the bride and the groom alike.

Finding a Bride

Mail order bride services are plentiful on the Internet. It is probably more accurate to call the industry the email order bride service with today's technology. Finding a potential mail order bride is quite simple by logging on to one of the many websites, creating an account, and browsing the classified sections of women. Once you have found a potential bride whom you like you can move on to the next step.

The Process

Once you have found the woman whom you would like to pursue, you will need to go through the website's specific process to contact the woman. Mail order brides work much like a dating website. After going through the necessary steps, you will be given the contact information on how to communicate with your potential mail order bride. If after communicating you and the woman agree that you want to marry, you pay the service for the connection and move on with the marriage process.

The Marriage

At this point in the mail order process, things flow the same as they would if you were to meet a woman in the usual way. You must decide where, when and how you plan to get married. If you are planning to get married in the United States, you will need to go through the correct procedures for the marriage to be legal, and for your new bride to be eligible for citizenship.

Citizenship

Citizenship starts with a K-1 Fiance visa. This visa is good for 90 days, long enough for the couple to get married. After this, the couple can then be sponsored for a green card for the mail order bride. After two years, for the bride to remain in the country, the couple must prove that they were married in good faith. This process involves the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) reviewing joint financial records, wedding photos, vacation photos, and any other evidence that would prove that the wedding was real and not just to gain citizenship.

If the couple cannot prove the marriage was in good faith, or if the mail order bride does not show up for the session, the green card will be revoked and the bride will no longer be legally residing in the United States. If approved, the condition will be removed from the green card, and the mail order bride will be eligible for full citizenship.

Caution

Mail order brides are not slaves. They are also not prostitutes. As such, certain standards are in place to protect the women involved in the mail order bride system. These protections include: not violating the Illegal Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, not engaging in illegal alien smuggling or using illegal aliens for immoral reasons, and not participating in involuntary servitude or illegal prostitution.