A mail-order bride is a woman who lists herself in catalogs and is selected by a man for marriage. In the twentieth century, the trend was primarily towards women living in developing countries seeking men in more developed nations. In the twenty-first century, the trend is russian brides new zealand based primarily on internet-based meeting places which do not per se qualify as mail-order bride services.

Mail-order brides work with “international marriage agencies”. American men who had headed west across the United States to work out on the frontier. European American men found financial success in the migration West, but the one thing that was missing was the company of a wife. Very few women lived there at this time, so it was hard for these men to settle down and start a family.

Asian men also worked through mail-order agencies to find wives as they worked overseas in the 1800s. Key variables determining the relationship between migration and marriage were demographics, legal policies, cultural perceptions and technology. Imbalances between the number of available women and the number of men desiring partners created a demand for immigrant women. Women in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and other Eastern European countries are common mail-order bride candidates. Economic and social conditions for women in Russia and other Postsoviet countries are a motivational factor in finding foreign arrangements.

Postsoviet countries such as Lithuania, Latvia, Georgia and Armenia. Finding a foreign husband gives a woman a chance to leave her country and find better economic opportunities. Marriage is a substantial part of Russian culture, with 30 years being the age at which a woman is considered an “old maid”. Many international brides come from developing countries in Asia. The countries the women come from are faced with unemployment, malnutrition and inflation.

Since 2003, the Government of Australia’s resolve to decrease what was deemed “inappropriate immigration” by then-Prime Minister John Howard has gained momentum. Initial reactions to the program were mixed. In 2005, President Alexander Lukashenko attempted to regulate “marriage agencies” in Belarus and make it difficult for them to operate. He believed that Western men were draining his country of women of child-bearing age. There have been reported instances in which foreign spouses have abandoned their Canadian sponsors upon arrival in Canada or soon thereafter, often collecting welfare, which the sponsor is obligated to repay.