FACTS ABOUT MAIL-ORDER BRIDES

MAIL-ORDER SERVICES, ESPECIALLY THOSE FOUND

ONLINE, ARE NOT “SELLING” BRIDES. ON THE

CONTRARY, THE BRIDES THEMSELVES

VOLUNTARILY POST THEIR PICTURES, LIKES,

DISLIKES AND WHICH COUNTRY THEY ARE

INTERESTED IN FINDING A HUSBAND FROM

IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY THE

INSTITUTION OF “PICTURE BRIDES” DEVELOPED

DUE TO IMMIGRATION RESTRICTIONS. THE

JAPANESE-AMERICAN PASSPORT AGREEMENT

OF 1907 ALLOWED JAPAN TO GRANT PASSPORTS

TO THE WIVES OF IMMIGRANTS TO AMERICA

IN 1994 A MOVIE CALLED PICTURE BRIDE WAS MADE

BY HAWAII-BORN DIRECTOR KAYO HATTA. THE

FILM TELLS THE STORY OF RIYO, A JAPANESE

WOMAN WHOSE PHOTOGRAPH EXCHANGE WITH A

PLANTATION WORKER LEADS HER TO HAWAII.

THE MAJORITY OF THE WOMEN LISTED IN THE

TWENTIETH-CENTURY AND TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY

SERVICES ARE FROM SOUTHEAST ASIA, COUNTRIES

OF THE FORMER SOVIET UNION AND TO A LESSER

EXTENT LATIN AMERICA

RECENTLY, COUPLES HAVE BEEN ON A PROGRAM

CALLED 90 DAY FIANCÉ THAT DOCUMENTS THE

STRUGGLES THEY HAVE THANKS TO THEIR

DIFFERING CULTURES. SOME FAMILIES DO NOT

UNDERSTAND WHY A PERSON WOULD GO

OVERSEAS TO FIND A SPOUSE

ON JANUARY 6, 2006, PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH

SIGNED THE INTERNATIONAL MARRIAGE BROKER

REGULATION ACT OF 2005 (IMBRA) AS PART OF

H.R. 3402, THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE REAUTHORIZATION ACT

OF 2005. THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE LAW ARE

CONTROVERSIAL AND SOME COMMENTATORS

HAVE CLAIMED THAT IT PRESUMES THAT

AMERICAN MEN ARE ABUSERS

THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL MURDERS OF MAIL-ORDER

BRIDES IN SOUTH KOREA. ON MAY 24, 2011, ONE SOUTH

KOREAN MAN STABBED HIS VIETNAMESE WIFE TO

DEATH WHILE THE COUPLE’S NINETEEN DAY OLD

BABY LAY NEXT TO HER

WOMEN IN RUSSIA, UKRAINE, BELARUS, AND OTHER

EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES ARE COMMON

WHITE MAIL-ORDER BRIDE CANDIDATES