Choosing An International Marriage Agency (Mail Order Bride Service)

by jamiemorrow

International Introductions

It is unfortunate that when you venture outside of the United States for love that you need to be extra careful with the women you court and the dating services you use. The prevalence of dishonesty, fraud, and neglectful service from international marriage agencies is very high. These guidelines will help you select a marriage agency (mail order bride service) with integrity and capability.

Are The Women Profiled Real?

Do not use an international marriage agency strictly based on the number of beautiful women profiled on the website. Any agency that has a high percentage of beautiful women should be suspect. Beautiful women are naturally rare and the most sought out women are beautiful. So it would only make sense that the most attractive women would have the highest turnover in a marriage agency. The best looking women will find a man sooner because they have more suitors and in turn they will be more difficult for a marriage agency to replace because there are fewer beautiful women available. To work around this, it is a common practice for foreign marriage agencies to show beautiful women as unattached regardless if they are married or with boyfriend. Two other common practices to inflate the beauty and number of women in an agency is the theft of photos from other marriage and model agencies websites, and illicit arrangements with local photographers for the purchase of personal photos of women without their consent or knowledge.

Beautiful women profiled in a marriage agency are meaningless if they are not available and unfortunately that is often the case. Many international marriage agencies will do whatever it takes to lure beautiful women to join. This is a translated example of an ad placed by a Colombian marriage agency in the local paper: “[Colombian marriage agency] invites all women interested in meeting American and European gentlemen with the opportunity of participating in a visa raffle enroll and participate in social events, free photographic session." There is no visa raffle in Colombia this marriage agency like others is trying to entice women to join under a false pretense of getting a travel visa. So instead of attracting women looking for love they attract women trying to leave the country. The fact that you may end up with a woman that is hiding her true intent for marrying you is obviously of no concern to such agencies. By using a trusted marriage agency the beauty you see will be real and available.

Do They Have Good Referrals?

A good marriage agency should be able to provide you with many referrals. Talk to there past clients on their experience with the agency and the experience of other Americans they might of met while using the marriage agency services. If the agency provides introduction events ask them how many guys attended the last event. Ask if they were all successful in finding a likely wife. If the answer is yes then ask for the contact information for all these men. If everyone got what they came for then the agency should be eager to provide all the glowing references. If the answer is no all the men were not successful find out why, ask what the agency could have done differently to have helped those men. Be sure everything they tell you is consistent and reasonable. A good marriage agency will be able to provide ample referrals to back up their services. Your best insurance on the quality of the marriage agency is plenty of positive customer experiences.

Do They Have Real Testimonials

Do not rely on website testimonials that can be fabricated unless they can be traced to a source. Find out who said what about whom and then verify the accuracy of the quote. It is unlikely the agency will tell you, most international marriage agencies follow the precept that the bigger the lie the more likely you will believe it. Use a marriage agency that will show you the source and full context of all their quoted material.

Do They Have A Positive Reputation?

A marriage agency should have a good reputation find out by accessing the dating forums that specializes in the region of the world you are interested in. Ask the marriage agency what are the largest active forums in their industry. Go there and search on a particular agency in the forum’s archives. Post a question asking about the good and the bad agencies. An agency with a good reputation should not fear the spotlight of the open forums. An agency with a good reputation would participate in the forums and have a history of dialogue that can be used to evaluate their services. Don’t make your selection a guessing game when the recorded history is out there for a sound judgment on the best marriage agency to use. A marriage agency that claims not to know any international dating forums is lying.

Is The Owner Trustworthy?

Talk to the owner is he a man you can trust. How long has he been in business and can he verify a record of success. Be cautious of any push to get you to sign-up prior to the next upcoming event, you dictate the deadlines not the marriage agency. Ask the owner what distinguishes their agency from the others and why you will be more successful under their care. Are you going to be treated as an individual or as part of the pack? Ask as many questions as possible to scrutinize all aspects of the service you are interested in. Your trip itinerary needs to be clearly defined. Understand the details and specifics that will make your travels to find a wife successful.

Do They Have An Established Office With Experience Support?

When you use an international marriage agency that does not have a staffed office at your arrival destination you must rely on temporary, free lance labor. Such help will rarely have your long-term best interest in mind. In poor, developing countries survival often brings out the worse in people. We have seen many examples of free lance translators taking advantage of Americans through theft, dishonesty and manipulation. In corrupt third world countries a lot of effort is required to find competent individuals with integrity and reliability that can be trusted, particularly in delicate, private, emotional matters. A qualified intermediary takes training and experience. You will get neither of this with most marriage agencies where the only requirement is that they speak your language. The difference between foreign women and American women requires a cultural navigation best guided by trained professional matchmakers that will help you bridge the cultural differences and build a successful relationship. You are best served by an established local office that supports you with full-time, experienced, trained, dedicated, professional matchmakers who can properly assist you.

Are They A Middleman?

Most international marriage agencies on the Internet are resellers and franchises. They are marketing middlemen that associate with foreign local marriage agencies. They fabricate an alternative website and use the database of girls from the independent foreign agency which has its own separate website that actually provides the services. Anytime an extra layer is added you can expect increased delays, miscommunications and problems. Deal with a trusted source and verify they are not just a commissioned agent with a good tongue for promotion and hype.

Are They An Objective Source Of Information?

Many marriage agencies will create phony dating directory websites or dating forums that will try to mislead you into thinking they are an objective, independent source of information and advice on mail order brides. They will then recommend particular marriage agencies that unbeknown to you they own. Their objective is to sucker you and others as a valid resource on mail order brides when they are nothing more then advertisement that funnels you to a deceptive marriage agency. These false dating directories and forums are not easy to detect without a knowledgeable eye. While legitimate dating directories can be a valuable resource it is best to use a variety of the above check methods for validating a quality marriage agency.

Do They Have a Stated Policy to Prevent You from Being Scammed by Scheming Women?

Find out what steps the marriage agency takes to protect you from insincere women. How often do they remove such women from their website? What is considered unacceptable behavior from the female members? How does the agency protect its female members? Do not trust any agency that promises prevention due to their screening process. You can not screen out scammers you can only remove those that are caught in the act.

What Happens When You Use A Bad Marriage Agency?

Obviously you lose time and money but you also perpetuate the continued theft and disservice for those that will follow in your footsteps. By not scrutinizing the marriage agency track record and referrals you allow the non-honest marriage agencies another day to prey on the unsuspecting. Most but not all of the dishonest agencies will have much lower prices than the legitimate marriage agency because their intention is to do very little so it’s easy to flout discounted prices for services and promises that will never materialize. By following the above precautious in the selection of your agent the international path for finding a quality wife will be well worth the effort.

About the author, Jamie Morrow is the owner of International Introductions a marriage agency specializing in Latin women. His expertise is in the Latin mail order brides industry. He can be reached at: [email protected]