But before you dive deep into a new relationship, you want to make sure it’s a safe bet. For this, you may browse for statistics on international marriage. But the good news is you don’t have to spend so much time searching for numbers. We have done this for you.
This time, we will provide you with the most comprehensive collection of mail order bride statistics – relevant numbers and facts only.
Mail Order Brides Statistics: Mean Age, Occupation, and Other Statistics
Mail order brides fall under the category of K-1 (fiancé visa) receivers. Visa statistics reports reflect current mail order bride marriage trends more accurately as they receive comprehensive information about the applicants. So check essential mail-order bride info of recent years (2014-2018) below:
An Average Mail Order Bride Is 20-30 Years Old
The median age of mail order brides is between 20 and 30 years – over 4,500 RapidVisa K-1 applicants were in this age group. Women in their 30s and 40s comprise only 1,885 applicants. Older women constitute the tiniest portion of applicants.
Seventy Percent of Mail Order Brides Have a Job
Seventy percent of K-1 applicants in 2014-2018 had a job. Twenty percent indicated no occupation, while 8% were students.
As for occupations, most women worked in the service industry – caregivers, domestic helpers, waitresses. Also, many women were sales representatives, teachers, managers, etc.
What States Mail Order Brides Arrive In?
Most mail order brides choose the following states as their destinations:
- California – 6,312.
- Texas – 2,671.
- New York – 3,244.
- Florida – 3,144.
- Washington – 1,367.
Facts About Mail Order Brides’ Husbands
Mail order brides marry guys across all age groups. However, most mail-order brides’ husbands are in their late 40s and 50s. On average, K-1 sponsors are 42 years old. As for ethnic distribution, white men account for 60% of all the sponsors. As for occupations, these guys are retirees, drivers, and business owners.
Are Mail Order Brides Gold Diggers?
Over 13% of K-1 sponsors have an average income greater than $100,000. However, most mail-order brides’ husbands earn $45,000 per year, which is 23.7% lower than the national average. So contrarily to popular belief, mail order brides marry average Americans – a few of them are gold diggers.
What Are the Most Popular Mail Order Bride Countries?
Mail-order brides come from developing countries, but some nations produce the most international marriages. Here is the number of American fiancé (K-1) visas by country in 2019:
- The Philippines – 7,139.
- Vietnam – 1,782.
- Mexico – 1,676.
- The UK – 1,435.
- Dominican Republic – 1,270.
- China – 1,135.
- Brazil – 1,065.
- Colombia – 1,014.
- Ukraine – 860.
- Thailand – 855.
- Russia – 815.
Overall, the American government issued over 35 thousand K-1 visas, and Asian countries account for 43% of all international marriages.
As you can see, the Philippines, Vietnam, the UK, and the Dominican Republic are some of the most popular destinations for foreign wives and mail-order brides. According to the Center of Immigration Studies, Americans comprise 40% – 50% of foreign husbands for women from developing nations.
A Generalized Mail Order Bride Portrait
Let’s describe a generalized portrait of a mail order bride:
| Characteristic | Value |
| Method of self-advertising | Online dating websites and matchmaking services |
| Age | 20-40 years |
| Marital status | Single, divorced due to average marriage age of 20-25 years. |
| Cultural background | Traditional cultures and orthodox gender roles. Simply put, men earn money, while women bear children. |
| Occupation status | Part-time and full-time employment, typically in the service industry. |
| Median income | As little as $3,000-$4,000 per year. |
| English proficiency | From none to intermediate. |
| Living conditions | She has little purchasing power and struggles to make ends meet. Local living costs don’t match the median income, contributing to poverty. |
| Location of the marriage interest | She is looking for a guy from a developed country, typically the United States, the UK, Canada, Western Europe, and Australia. |
The Type of Relationship Mail Order Brides Look For
Mail-order brides migrate from second and third-world countries to developed nations. It dictates the relationship model they search for.
Due to cultural and economic conditions, most mail-order brides search for men who lead the relationship and believe in traditional gender roles. These women get ready to tie the knot and go through the life journey with their husbands.
Most mail-order women perceive life satisfaction through family success – a cozy home, a happy husband, and smiling children.
It’s a win-win for both spouses in this kind of relationship as more and more guys search for affectionate, loving, devoted, and caring women. Most importantly, they look for ladies who visualize marriage as a partnership rather than a competition of responsibilities. It’s a union where both spouses play their specific roles and contribute toward mutual happiness.
Western men miss it in Western women but benefit from it to the fullest when marrying ladies from developing nations.
Your Marriage Goals Determine Your Success
As you already know, mail-order brides look for marriage specifically. They want to bring consistency to their lives through marriage. Up to 95% of mail order brides only agree to go further if you seek a wife specifically. Only a few women would list themselves on matchmaking websites to get laid.
So you might waste your time if you aim for sex tourism. Keep in mind that no woman would wait for a guy who is thousands of miles away to spend a night with him and never see him again.
What if you want to marry and search for a silent, obedient servant rather than a wife – say unicorn? It’s an unrealistic scenario, and you will break apart as long as your mail order bride realizes your true intentions.
While most of these ladies come from patriarchic countries, they search for love and care in the first place.
Given that, you will succeed with 99% mail order brides if you:
- Want to establish a family.
- Aim for a healthy relationship with an equal distribution of domestic responsibilities. If you’re both employed, you have to share domestic work equally. If you want your woman to embrace most household chores, let her leave her job.
- Listen to your woman and consider her choices, visions, and opinions. Checking mail order bride facts will help you learn general trends. But you may deal with an outstanding personality that doesn’t fit any descriptions. The relationship is about listening to your partner. Consider this when you start dating a mail-order bride.
- Ready to accept children if there are any. These days, a divorced European mail order bride might have a child.
Main Reasons Why Developing Nations Produce the Most Mail Order Brides
It’s believed that so many mail-order brides come from second and third-world countries due to worsening economic and social conditions. Indeed, in most developing countries, a household should live for around $1,500 per month (without rend) to fulfill their needs and ensure comfortable living conditions. Yet, wages are low and insufficient to cover even the basic needs.
Worse yet, the CoVID-19 pandemic diminished life quality for over 97 million people globally, turning them to extreme poverty.
So yes, mail-order brides objectively search for better living conditions. However, low wages are far from the only factors to drive women to search for husbands abroad. Here are some of the most frequent reasons why women DO SO:
Aversion to Local Men
Mail-order brides indicate that they avert from local men because of their inability to sustain a family and excessive, often self-excluding expectations toward their spouses.
Asian and Eastern European men represent patriarchal societies at their finest, often demanding their wives to subordinate, work full-time, and do housework. On top of that, they consider women of their nation demanding and expecting too much. On the other hand, women resist patriarchal norms, searching for an escape.
Interest in American Lifestyle
Most mail-order brides can judge American lifestyle and values from media – TV series, movies, TV shows, etc. American men stand in their eyes as the following:
- Caring, supportive, and committed to the relationship.
- Capable of feeding the family.
- Loving, understanding, and helpful at home.
- Educated and well-mannered.
Therefore, mail-order brides portray American guys as better alternatives to men of their nation.
Reviewing Mail Order Brides Success Rates
The mail-order bride industry has been booming since the 1990s. Economically distressed countries have always provided American men with lovely women ready to become homemakers.
If you take the K-1 admissions, they remain consistent over the years, totaling 30,000 cases yearly from the early 2000s. Let’s take a closer look at the success rates of these relationships.
How Many Mail Order Marriages End in Divorce?
The Institute of Family Studies provides eye-opening insights regarding marriage stability among immigrant families.
Statistics show that immigrants are more stable in marriage than native-born Americans. Thus, the national average marriage success rate among native-born Americans is 60%. On the contrary, it can reach up to 80% among immigrant families. So only 20% of immigrant families end in divorce.
Researchers suggest that family success in foreign-born Americans comes from a cultural background. Asian, African, and South American spouses appreciate family values and go through life challenges together.
The same goes for mail-order brides. The United States Census Bureau indicates that marriage success is 44% higher among foreign-born Americans. Thus, 36.4% of native-born and 20.3% of foreign-born Americans have ever divorced, respectively. As a result, the mail order bride divorce rate falls within the 20% range. So if you ever marry a mail-order bride, you will reduce divorce chances by 44%.
What About Online Dating Statistics?
If you want to marry a mail-order bride, you should search for one online. Or do you? Let’s get into online dating statistics and success rates below.
How Many Online Relationships Work Out?
According to the Statista Research Department, 77% of dating app and website users get on a date with someone they met online.
But what about marriages? This research states that online relationships deliver surprising results – 39% end in marriage.
Why People Use Dating Sites?
In 2019, 49% of users responded that they searched for an exclusive partner on dating websites.
Thirty-nine percent said they wanted to have something funny, and only 17% said they cheated on their spouse/partner.
It means that at least 50% of all mail-order brides seek marriage in particular. On top of that, marriage-oriented women comprise a greater portion of audiences on matchmaking websites.
How Many Online Relationships End in Divorce?
The University of Chicago states that families resulting from online relationships are more stable and happier than those who meet offline.
Researchers revealed that 6% of online-driven marriages end in divorce compared to 7.6% of offline families. It’s a 21% difference in favor of online dating.
On top of that, the mean happiness score is 3% higher in online-driven marriages. These findings align with positive mail order marriage statistics, proving that international marriage is ultimately more stable.
What Online Dating Benefits Users Indicate?
Thirty-eight percent of online daters indicate that they feel less pressure. Another 37% of users say they get to know a person better through online conversation (due to less stress). But most importantly, online dating blurs country borders, enabling thousands of people across the globe to meet each other effortlessly.
Summarizing Online Dating Statistics
Online dating is still booming now, and it is one of the most effective ways to meet a mail-order bride online. Contrary to popular beliefs, most people search for commitment and love on dating sites, just like they do offline.
What differentiates online dating is that people can meet a significant other across the globe, having much wider choices than ever before.
