Mail Order Bride Biz Booming

The Post's front page story today is about the flourishing mail order bride business from Russia and Poland, noting "The Russian Advertiser...has an entire classified-ad section devoted to 'delovoy brak,' or 'business marriages'" A Post reporter, posing as someone needing a green card, learned it would cost $31,500—"$25,000 would go to the fiancée"—"$10,000 given up front and $15,000 paid after the green-card interview"—and "$6,500 would go to the agency for paperwork." The Post also has an amazing first-person account from "Ivan", a Sheepshead Bay construction worker who accepted $10,000 from a Polish woman who wanted a green card: "Her name was Yelena. She was really hot, in her 20s... Everything I told her to do, she did. I would scare her on purpose. I would say, 'If you don't do so and so, I am going to report you.' She was shoplifting like crazy from the stores. She was probably working as an escort... We had sex. I think she was cheating on me with other guys. I felt like she wanted to marry someone else...I've never seen anyone drink that much vodka. This girl partied like an animal. She went to the Tunnel, to the Underground, all the clubs. She knew everyone there."

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By Jen Chung in News on July 19, 2009 2:10 PM

Comments [rss]

KiljoyWasHere

Referring to the receiver of the cash as the "fiancée" is one place where a gender-neutral term has made things hella confusing.

Quidnam

This sounds better than most "traditional" marriages...

firewire

watch season two of hbo's 'the wire' for reference.

JacqueMehoff

an old co-worker called me in the early 90's asking me to marry his Nigerian sister. we didn't talk about money but I just got my own place and was drunk almost every night. can't have someone messing that up, right?

But ask me now and it's a different story.

Rfive

Back in the early 90s, I was offered between $5-8K to marry 3 different women so they could get green cards. One from Iran, Jamaica and Spain. Thank god I didn't. And it looks as if the price has gone up tremendously.

contrabalance

More recently, around 2002-3, my Thai boss offered me $15k to marry his daughter -- $8k upfront, the rest after green card, plus he'd pay our rent for the required year of marital bliss. Only caveat: "No Boom-boom. Unless if she want then okay."

Creepy, yeah, but the only reason I didn't take him up on it was because my girlfriend at the time just wouldn't condone it. Which I thought was selfish, ’cause what's the big deal right it's just pretend?

[sigh] ... in my early 20s shit like that seemed a whole lot simpler.

just saying

I'm calling BS on this one. A hot Eastern European woman will pay $31,500 for some guy to marry her so she can get a green card? Just where would such a woman get this kind of money? Don't forget that she can't work here legally.

What makes you think that a "hot woman" wanting a green card couldn't just trick some moron into marrying her and not pay him anything?

Dream on, but this story is just a fantasy AND a cheesy way for the Post to increase sales.

GREGORYABUTLER

Ever heard of a "green card marriage"?

Spirit of 76

What makes you think that a "hot woman" wanting a green card couldn't just trick some moron into marrying her and not pay him anything?

You apparently don't understand the phrase "$10,000 given up front and $15,000 paid after the green-card interview." Here it is in a nutshell: No $10k, no marriage. Pay $10k, get married and take off without paying the extra $15k, no green card and you've blown $10k for nothing.

just saying

And you apparently don't understand the concept that a hot woman doesn't have to pay a man to marry her.

Do you really believe that there aren't plenty of vain men who can be tricked into marriage by a "hot" woman who just wants a green card?

Trilby16

I am confused. The mail-order brides are paying the dudes to marry them??? Don't the brides usually get, um, bought? Could someone explain this to me please?

jaycjay

Simple enough, the story's not about "mail-order brides," and the Post article doesn't state that is. The subheading on that article is "BRAZEN NUPTIAL FRAUDS."

The mail-order bride business is certainly shady, but at least on the part of the person from this country it's legal (the legality of what the "bride" is doing depend on her actual intentions). These are scam marriages done for profit with the intention of committing immigration fraud.

Rocknrope

Thanks for the clarification. I too was confused by the term "Mail Order Brides", which is not being accurately described in this post.

trafka

Yelena is not even a polish name. Besides I don't know anyone from Poland willing to pay money to come to the States anymore, it's not the 80's and if you're a looser you can still work legally in UK with all the benefits since all the borders in Europe are gone, stoopid NYpost.

jaycjay

The article says it happened in the late '90s. It also says "All names have been changed." But yeah, they should have at least used a Polish name.

Spirit of 76

One of the cutest girls I ever knew was from the Eastern bloc. Lots of guys would have paid to marry her, not vice versa.

Peter

Mail-order brides are a favorite blogosphere theme, though in the context of pathologically introverted Beta loser nerds who can't get laid to save their lives and have to resort to buying women. It looks like the Post article involves immigration scams, something quite different.