Intermarriage is at an all-time high in the US, yet international dating still seems like a foreign concept to so many American guys. I’m here to guide you through the endless avenues dating sites and apps make available, whether you’re into passionate Latina girls, sophisticated European ladies, or mysterious Asian beauties.
Best Mail Order Brides & Dating Websites 2024
Here are a few reliable platforms to start your foray into international dating:
SofiaDate gets my vote for its impressive dating profiles and free video gallery. Its flexible search tools are invaluable for finding compatible matches fast, and the activity panel will keep you appraised of all the views, likes, and messages you receive. Registration is free, and so are 30 complimentary credits.
SofiaDate
Created in 2020, SofiaDate is now one of the most popular mail order brides websites for those interested in meeting a European woman. Most ladies on SofiaDate are from Slavic countries (Ukraine, Poland) and most of them are in their 30s. One of the main reasons why this mail order bride site is worth the money is the quality of profiles—they all are incredibly detailed and real here. Just like all the top mail order bride sites, SofiaDate isn’t 100% free. There are several free features here and you can even start chatting with some Russian mail order brides for free, but if you’re going to enjoy all the messaging tools, you’ll need to purchase some credits.
- Enough premium tools for all kinds of interaction (live chat, emails, gift delivery)
- It’s possible to request the contact details of any mail order bride on SofiaDate
- The interface of the website is intuitive and easy to use
- Every new member gets 20 credits for free
- No mobile app
- No video chat
SakuraDate
SakuraDate is one of the newest mail order brides sites out there—it was created in 2023, but it’s already one of the largest and generally one of the best mail order bride services for those who want to meet an Asian woman. Almost all Asian countries are covered, and there are thousands of women from such “mail order bride” countries as the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand. SakuraDate has a lot of interesting features: thus, here, you can request the contact info of any user, exchange photos and videos, and even buy a real gift and get it delivered to your partner. SakuraDate isn’t 100% free but there’s a nice welcome bonus so that you don’t need to pay right away.
- User-friendly mobile version of the site
- A generous welcome bonus (up to 10 minutes of live chat for free)
- Extremely detailed profiles
- A great search tool
- Easy-to-use, modern, and fresh interface
- A very convenient live chat tool
- You can’t chat or send gifts for free
- There is no mobile app
La-Date
La-Date is probably the best mail order brides site for you if you’re interested in women from South America—there are thousands of ladies from Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, and other countries here. La-Date was created in 2019, and today, it’s one of the largest mail order bride websites available (with more than 1,600,000 monthly visits). This mail order bride service has a convenient credit-based system where you only pay for the things you use and therefore, you can control how much you spend. However, it’s not required to buy credits right away: you can sign up, browse the profiles of the ladies, and even chat for a few minutes for free due to the welcome bonus. All the messaging tools are, of course, paid, as well as the gift delivery service.
- A convenient and intuitive interface
- A very fast registration process and 20 free credits for new users
- A great search tool makes it easy to find mail order brides
- The response rate is around 80% or even higher
- The absolute majority of female profiles are ID-verified
- No video chat
- No phone calls
- No mobile app
GoldenBride
GoldenBride is the oldest online dating site on this list: it was created in 2013 and this surely means something in the mail order bride industry. With 300,000 monthly visits, it’s one of the largest dating sites with Eastern European women right now: there are thousands of Polish, Ukrainian, and Russian women there. There are several messaging tools on GoldenBride (live chat, emails, voice calls), and you can also have a video call on this mail order bride site. GoldenBride is free to register and it’s free to browse profiles here, but obviously, you’ll have to pay to communicate with the ladies on this site.
- A lot of messaging tools
- A well-optimized Android app
- Voice call translation
- Video calls
- The absolute majority of mail order bride profiles are verified by ID
- No iOS app
- Not that many active users as on other sites on our rating
LatiDate
LatiDate is another new mail order bride site—it was created in 2023. However, even though it’s new, it’s already good enough to make it to the top list of mail order bride sites. The majority of female users here are from Hispanic countries, and most of them are from Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil. Their profiles are extremely detailed, the response rate is around 80% which is a great result, and the assortment of features available on LatiDate is also pretty wide (live chat, email, gift delivery). This mail order bride service offers a lot of free features—you can browse profiles and even chat with those real mail order brides for a few minutes after the registration even if you have 0 credits!
- Very useful welcome bonus
- Fresh and simple design
- A great search tool
- The female profiles are very detailed (each girl here has at least 10 photos)
- A professional customer support team
- Real gift delivery
- You can request a real-life date with any mail order bride on the site!
- No mobile app
- You can’t have a video chat with mail order brides
How to Get a Mail Order Bride?
So, can you really mail order a bride? And are mail order brides a thing in 2024?
The short answer to both questions is “yes”, but it’s not that simple. You can’t just type “mail order bride sites” in Google and start using the first site you find—in this case, your chances of losing money are pretty high. What you need to do is to analyze and test the mail order brides services to choose the best ones—and when we say “test” we mean actual testing. Or, you can just choose a mail order bride website from the top list above because these sites are already tested and proven to be legit and real.
But anyway, choosing a website with legit mail order brides is only the first step. Here are the following steps:
- Sign up and answer the questions.
It’s very important to not skip all those questions during the registration on a mail order bride platform because answering these questions will be beneficial later. If you do everything right, your profile will look more detailed (and therefore more attractive and trustworthy), and you’ll also get better matches.
- Upload a photo.
Uploading at least a few photos is very important, because without a picture, you can’t expect to get a lot of attention on a dating site. Choose a picture where you’re smiling and looking at the camera, a photo that represents your personality and hobbies, a full-body photo, etc. Avoid group pictures.
- Claim your bonus.
Most mail order bride sites are not free to use, but almost all of them offer certain welcome bonuses to new users. On SofiaDate and SakuraDate, for example, you’ll get 20 credits for free which means you’ll be able to chat with any mail order bride for 10 minutes. On these sites, the bonus credits are assigned to new users automatically, but on some platforms, a user must confirm his email address or claim the bonus manually.
- Take a look at the female profiles and google their photos.
If you see that their photos are used on other mail order brides websites, it’s definitely a red flag and you probably shouldn’t use this online dating site.
- Buy some credits, chat with the ladies, and don’t rush.
Remember that mail order brides are real women who are there for love and serious relationships, and you can’t just move too quickly with them. Slow down and show that you can be a gentleman—that’s how it works with most mail order brides.
- Ask them on a date and meet them in person.
Online dating is great, but if you’re really going to find a mail order bride, you need to go offline sooner or later. We believe that 3-4 months of online dating is enough to understand whether this person is what you really need, but of course, it’s up to you to decide. What we wanted to say here is that you shouldn’t delay your first real-life too much.
What Are Mail Order Brides Sites, and How Do They Work?
A mail order bride site is a niche dating platform that hosts profiles of male and female singles interested in serious, exclusive relationships leading to international marriages and families. Like traditional dating sites, mail order bride platforms enable users to create dating profiles, search for potential matches, chat, and engage in other forms of communication. Unlike traditional dating sites, these platforms typically operate internationally or within a specific region, such as Latin America, Europe, or Asia.
Moreover, mail order bride sites are typically more conscious of the potential risks of online dating. Many reputable platforms employ user verification beyond a simple email confirmation. They usually require users to provide short video clips to confirm the appearance of profile owners, and the most diligent websites come with ID verification that verifies users’ identities.
Still, like traditional dating platforms, mail order bride sites cannot guarantee successful matches. The success of your search and relationships depends purely on your activity and experience in building lasting connections online. Dating sites merely provide tools to make your search easier and smoother.
Are Mail Order Bride Sites Legitimate?
— Are mail order brides illegal?
— No, they are not.
Most mail order bride sites are legitimate businesses. They belong to large corporations that run and support large networks of regional and niche platforms. As a result, most platforms within one family share the same look and feel. On the one hand, that makes navigation easier for users who enjoy experimenting with different dating destinations. But on the other hand, similar designs may look suspicious, even when there’s nothing sinister about it.
To be extra sure about a dating site’s status, check out its Terms and Conditions to see who owns it and what jurisdiction it falls under. You can also address any lingering doubts and questions to the support team, who should be able to provide additional information.
Pros & Cons of Using Online Mail Order Brides Services
Like all services, mail order bride platforms aren’t without their drawbacks, but most of the time, they are outweighed by the benefits. Consider our take on the pros and cons and analyze what matters more to you.
- Niche dating sites have impressive dating pools across different dating destinations
- Most mail order brides are intent on long-term relationships and marriage
- Search filters facilitate finding a woman who fits your type perfectly
- Diverse communication tools enable comfortable long-distance relationships
- Many dating platforms offer flower and gift delivery services to bridge the distance
- There’s always a risk of running into gold diggers and scammers, regardless of the safety precautions in place
- Most reputable mail order bride sites require a monthly subscription or a purchase of credits
- Language barriers can prevent successful relationships on dating platforms without built-in translation software
- Few mail order bride platforms can boast dedicated mobile apps, and web versions aren’t as suitable for use on mobile devices
For the most part, the benefits and drawbacks of mail order bride dating are well balanced, so it’s up to you to decide if it’s worth trying.
How to Choose the Best Mail Order Website?
If you brave the world of mail order bride dating, selecting the website is the first and most critical step. Here’s what you should always consider before making the choice:
- Dating site reputation. Check out user reviews on Reddit and Quora, as well as feedback aggregators like SiteJabber, and consider expert reviews to get an in-depth take on free and premium features.
- Profile quality. Skim a few profiles that catch your eye and decide if there are enough photos, videos, and personal details to get you interested in learning more. User verification (video or ID) is also a major advantage for any mail order bride site.
- Value for money. Learn about the current rates, special offers, and welcome bonuses, as well as the cost of different communication services, to decide if they are worth the money and whether you can afford them.
- Ease of use. Considering you’ll be using a mail order bride site for a few months, it should be convenient and smooth without causing undue annoyance.
- Response rate. If you get free credits, message a few ladies and see how many respond. It should be enough to gauge the likelihood of connecting with women you might be interested in.
We also encourage you to contact the support team to gauge their response time and usefulness. That may come in handy if you encounter suspicious user activity or subscription cancellations.
Are Mail Order Bride Sites Different From Regular Dating Sites?
So, whats a mail order bride website? It’s not a place where you can “buy” a mail order bride, it’s an international dating platform where most of the users are focused on a serious relationship with a foreign person. These websites have several differences from “traditional” dating platforms.
- Mail order bride services usually have very detailed profiles. This is especially the case when it comes to female profiles—typically, an average female profile on a good and legit mail order brides site has 5-10 high-quality pictures and a detailed profile bio. This makes it much easier to find a perfect match and to begin communication.
- Mail order bride sites are usually not free to use. While “traditional” dating sites are often free, mail order bride websites typically have a credit-based or a premium membership system where users (usually, only male users) need to pay in order to get access to messaging tools. It’s all about high-quality online dating, and high-quality online dating can’t be free. Free sites are full of scammers and bots, and the chances of meeting a scammer or a bot on a paid mail order bride site are much lower.
- More features and messaging tools. When you’re dating someone from another country, you need more than just a live chat. That’s why most mail order bride sites have such extra features as virtual and real gifts, voice calls, video calls, etc. On some of them (like SofiaDate), you can even request the contact information of your bride to continue communication outside the dating site!
- The quality of customer support service on mail order bride websites is typically higher than on other online dating services. The MOB sites we selected, for example, have professional support specialists who can help you fix any issue ASAP.
These are not all the differences. Thus, mail order bride sites often have an ID verification tool which adds to safety—we’re going to talk about this a little later.
Will I Have to Pay for a Mail-Order Bride, and How Much?
How much does a mail order bride cost? As we just mentioned, you don’t “buy” brides online, that’s not how it works. You can meet her online, chat with her, then meet her in person, and bring her to the United States—and none of these steps is 100% free.
- First of all, mail order brides websites are paid. Typically, men pay around $100-$200 per month for these sites, but it depends on the features you’re going to use (if we’re talking about credit-based platforms).
- Then, you’ll have to meet your bride in person. Here, you need to understand there are affordable regions (like South America) and there are expensive regions (like Asia). A day in Colombia, for example, will cost you $30-$501 while in Japan, you’ll have to pay at least $50-$100 per day2. So, let’s say, a 1-week trip to your bride’s country will cost you $600-$3,000, depending on the country, the season, and other factors.
- Then, you’ll have to marry your bride and bring her to the United States. The best option here is a K-1 fiancé(e) visa, and the government fee is $8003 for it.
We didn’t mention the wedding here because a wedding party might cost you $500 in some cases and up to $50,000 in other cases (but the good news is that most mail order bride countries are not that expensive).
Mail Order Bride Scams
Over 70,000 Americans fell prey to online romance scams in 2022, losing $1.3 billion4. There’s no telling how many of these losses were caused by mail order bride services, but the common scams remain largely the same across the board. Therefore, learning how to avoid red flags is critical, whichever type of online dating you settle on. Here are a few common examples of online romance scams to avoid:
- “I’m sick and need your help covering medical bills/I need money to cover bail.” Ignore all requests for money, even if the story looks realistic and sad. The moment you wire the money, the scammer will disappear, or they’ll try to squeeze even more cash out of you.
- “I know a sure way to double your money in a month.” Cryptocurrency scams are especially popular. Remember that deals that look too good to be true are always scams that will lead to nothing but losses and regrets.
- “I love you so much, so let’s get married immediately.” Love at first sight can be a thing, but online relationships that move too fast rarely lead to anything good. Set up a pace that’s comfortable for both of you and don’t rush into anything headfirst.
- “Tell me all about yourself; don’t spare any detail.” Scammers can use your personal information, especially your full name, phone number, address, SSN, and credit card info. It can lead to credit card or gift card scams and identity theft.
- “Can you please receive a payment/shipment for me?” Although the requests seem innocuous, they’ll likely lead to you disclosing your personal details, accepting fraudulent transactions, or having to pay for purchases upon delivery.
So, what should you do if you run across any of these scams? Block the user immediately and report them to the dating site administration. Their profile should be removed to keep the dating community safe.
Meet Our Team
In Experts We Trust
Sources of Information:
- https://www.trip.com/ (Trip to Colombia) ↩︎
- https://www.trip.com/ (Trip to Japan) ↩︎
- https://www.boundless.com/ ↩︎
- https://www.ftc.gov/ ↩︎