Mail-Order-Bride Research Paper

Mail-Order-Bride Research Paper

1. a.) Determine the size of the mail-order-bride industry in the United States and worldwide.

The mail-order bride industry in the United States may seem large and it is growing rapidly. According to Robert Siegel author of “Profile: Efforts Under Way to Propose Legislation to Regulate mail-order bride industry,” it was estimated that in 2002 more than 30,000 foreign women arrived in the United States to get married (Siegel). Compare that figure to a 1998 study done by Robert J. Scholes author of The “Mail-Order Bride” Industry and its impact on U.S. Immigration, which found that mail-order bride “services result in 4,000 to 6,000 marriages between U.S. men and foreign brides each year”(Scholes). The US government also estimates that one-third to one-half of the 37,000 women entering the US in 2005 on fiancée or spousal visas were as the result of a match-making agency (Abidi). That means in 2005 there were approximately 12,000 to 18,500 women brought into the United States for marriage through a mail-order bride or a similar type of match-making agency.

In terms of dollars and cents the mail-order bride industry is not struggling by any means. A typical agency that has 15,000 clients can make anywhere from $6,000 to $10,000 per client (Lyod). That means an agency could be pulling in 90 million to 150 million dollars in annual revenue. “These businesses can be highly profitable” according to Bob Burrows, president of Cherry Blossoms, an international dating and bride website. Burrows reports that his agency serves over 1,000 men per month who pay up to $200 each. This amount comes to an annual revenue of 2.4 million dollars for a single agency in 1998. The main source of income when running a mail-order bride agency is the revenue generated from catalog subscriptions and trips. A common misconception is that the women are selling their bodies similar to prostitution. However, the agencies are gaining money through...