How Much Is a Mail Order Bride? Full Cost Breakdown

Americans spend over $120,000 on dating throughout their lifetimes. Most believe dating is more expensive than being single, and 51% cancel dates because they are out of money. So why would you ever consider looking for a mail order bride if it’s likely to be even more expensive? 

But is it, really? How much is a mail order spouse? Can international dating be affordable? We’re here to walk you through the estimates and calculations to help you plan a budget before you decide if mail order brides are as good for your wallet as they are for your heart and soul.

Average mail order bride cost	From $5,000
Most popular countries with foreign brides	The Philippines, Mexico, Colombia, Ukraine, Vietnam
The most expensive mail order bride countries	Japan, Dominican Republic, Sweden
​​The cheapest mail order bride countries	Colombia, Mexico, Ukraine

Top-3 mail order brides sites

What is included in the mail order bride price?

There’s no short and sweet answer to “How much is a mail order bride?” There are too many factors to consider and account for. We’ll detail all the major expenses and explain how they contribute to the overall cost to give you all the necessary tools to stay within your dating budget.

Online dating expenses

The mail order wife cost will depend on where you meet online. For example, the lucky few manage to meet through social media or online gaming, which doesn’t introduce any additional expenses. 

However, most couples meet through niche online dating platforms, most of which are freemium. Basic membership will let you through the door, but you’ll need to upgrade to actually meet potential matches. These dating sites use monthly subscriptions and credit-based fees. The former are pretty simple: the longer plan you choose, the less you pay. The costs range from $20 to $200+ per month, depending on the membership tier and extra features. 

Estimating the monthly budget for credit-based mail order bride dating sites takes some work since they offer various features, credit bundles, and rates. Here’s a monthly budget estimate based on average dating site charges:

Service	Price	Monthly usage	Cost
Live chat	$0.4/minute	300 minutes	$120
Letters	$6	5 letters	$30
Photo messages	$2	10 photos	$20
Video messages	$10	5 videos	$50

Use these estimates to adjust your dating site usage. For example, photo messages are much cheaper than videos, but they don’t offer the same connection, so you can limit the number of video clips to one per week to preserve your credit balance.

International travel spending

Visiting your bride is much like any other international vacation but with a gorgeous tour guide waiting to meet you at the arrival airport. So here’s a quick rundown of everything you’ll likely spend money on:

• Round-trip flights to your bride’s homeland. You’ll need to visit her at least once to meet in person, gauge your chemistry and compatibility, and propose. In most cases, you’ll take at least two or three trips before your bride can finally come to the US.
• Hotel or Airbnb stay. Plan a 7 to 14-day stay in your bride’s hometown for every trip. This duration will let you get to know each other better without disrupting your lives or being too overwhelming for either of you. 
• Meals and entertainment. Remember that you’ll likely have to foot the bill at the end of every date, even if you only spend evenings together. You can rely on a hotel restaurant or street food for the rest of your meals. 
• Local transportation. You’ll need to research the most convenient local mode of transportation since renting a car isn’t always the best solution. In old European cities, you can get away with walking on foot or using public transit, while busy Asian streets are better suited for tiny taxis.
• Gifts for your bride. They aren’t mandatory, but any woman will appreciate tokens of affection, especially if you remember her preferences and account for them when choosing gifts. 
• A one-way ticket to the US for your bride. Once your bride’s K-1 visa is approved, you can help her book a ticket to join you in the States. Remember that one-way tickets are typically more expensive than roundtrip rates.
• Shipping charges. If your bride has quite a few belongings she wants to bring into her new life, you’ll incur additional international shipping charges. Although they can be pretty hefty, it’s still cheaper than trying to fit everything into checked luggage on her flight.

To get a precise estimate for international travel spending, you need to specify your destination, trip duration, and season. You can find a detailed breakdown at the bottom of this post.

Immigration paperwork filing fees

Before your bride can apply for a nonimmigrant K-1 visa, you must file a petition, along with a slew of other papers to prove your relationship, your ability to support your future wife financially, etc. Once your petition is approved, your bride can fill out a visa application form and complete a medical examination with vaccination and an embassy interview. In most cases, these two forms are enough to bring your bride to the States.

From there, you will only have 90 days to get married, or your bride will violate the terms of her fiance visa and may be deported. If you successfully formalize your relationship, you can then help your new wife file for an adjustment of status and work permit. 

You’ll find the detailed info on each form, including their filing fees, in the table below:

Form	Name	Filing Fee
Form I-129F	Petition for Alien Fiance	$675
Form DS-160	Application for a Nonimmigrant Visa	$260
	Medical examination and vaccination fees	$300
Form I-485	Adjustment of Status	$1,440
Form I-765	Application for Employment Authorization	$260

So, the whole package totals $2,935, but you will only have to pay around $1,300 initially and handle the adjustment of status and work permit when necessary. 

Use the US Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Bureau of Consular Affairs websites to learn more about the application process and the current fees.

Notice that this sum does not include the immigration attorney fees. If you can’t make sense of the legal requirements or face any issues throughout the filing process, you may need to hire a lawyer to facilitate the process. Their hourly rates range from $150 to $500 per hour, though some charge flat rates per visa applicant.

Wedding spending

We won’t focus much on wedding planning and budgeting because it’s not exclusive to international dating. Every woman, local or foreign, has certain wedding day expectations, and meeting them is usually up to her parents and her future husband. Let us merely note the biggest wedding expenses and US averages to help you estimate:

• Wedding reception venue — $12,800+
• Engagement ring — $2,000-$5,500
• Live band performance — $4,300+
• Wedding photography services — $2,900+
• Wedding florist services — $2,800+
• Rehearsal dinner — $2,700+
• Wedding dress — $2,000+

The average cost of a wedding in the US is now over $33,000. 

Average cost of mail order bride

You now know the major spending categories, but how much does it cost to get a mail order bride? Here are the average estimates:

Therefore, the minimum mail order bride price is around $5,000. If you go all out with travel and the wedding, the cost can rise up to $45,000.

Can you buy a wife?

No, you cannot buy a wife. 

You won’t find an online catalog of ready-made, on-demand wives where you can compare their looks and interests like you would the smartphone specs on Amazon before completing your checkout. Any website that lists mail order bride prices or offers next-month delivery is a scam.

What you can do is explore international dating and build a relationship with a foreign girl who wants to marry you. Any related expenses, like the ones we’ve listed above, add to your dating budget, which some misconstrue as the “cost of a mail order bride”.

What else can affect mail order bride price?

As we’ve mentioned, too many factors affect the mail order bride prices for anyone to offer a precise estimate. But some things affect the bottom line more than others, adding extra zeros to the sum. Here are a few factors to keep an eye on if you want to keep the mail order bride budget in check:

• Hidden fees, automatic charges, and online dating mishaps. Read the fine print carefully when you upgrade to a premium membership on a dating site. You want to avoid platforms with automatic subscription charges or top-ups. Moreover, you should be careful with premium tools. For example, opening photos and videos from every eager girl who contacts you will burn through your credits in one day. Instead, you want to check their profiles and chat a bit to decide if you really want to get to know them better.
• Tourist hotspots and high seasons will double travel expenses. Travel spending is the biggest contributor to the mail order bride price, and there are too many factors affecting it. For example, traveling during the high season (which is different for every country) will increase the cost of plane tickets and hotel stays. Flying to the capital is usually cheaper than other small cities, but big cities also have the highest hotel and Airbnb rates. 
• The 90-day wedding deadline will incur extra charges. If you decide to host a ceremony and reception, the short deadline will make it extra expensive. Considering most venues and services will have been booked for months already, you’ll have to pay extra to plan a wedding on a tight deadline. Moreover, you’ll still have to settle for what’s available on short notice even after overpaying. If celebrating your marriage is that important, consider a courthouse ceremony to fulfill the K-1 visa conditions and plan a second ceremony and reception a little down the line to get everything just right.
• Wedding destination. According to the Wedding Price Index, few destinations are more expensive than the US, so you may be tempted to host a ceremony and reception in your bride’s country. But remember that it will limit the number of guests on your side. Alternatively, a US-based ceremony is more expensive, and you’ll likely have to help your bride’s family arrange a visit, adding to the overall budget.

These are just a few considerations to keep in mind when planning your international dating budget. Although it’s impossible to predict every unforeseeable obstacle and circumstance, research and planning should help you keep expenses under control without too much overspending.

How to save money: Tips to reduce the cost of mail order bride

The average cost of a mail order bride is way above your regular dating expenses, even over a few years, it would take you to tie the knot. That’s why it’s extra important to be smart about your spending and use all the tricks you can to preserve your savings. We’ve come up with a few suggestions that are guaranteed 

• Use a VPN to book plane tickets and a hotel. Airline rates are much like the stock market, prone to volatility and arbitrary jumps and slumps. Of course, the vacation season and Christmas holidays will have the highest rates, but they’ll also increase the price if they notice you checking out the prices several times. To eliminate this effect, clear your browser cookies or use a VPN using servers in different countries to find the lowest rates. You can save up to 30% on airfare if you’re lucky.
• Research the prices if you plan to bring expensive gifts. For example, jewelry and perfumes can be cheaper in Eastern European countries than in the US or the UK. Buying locally can save you up to 50%, but you must remember the customs fees. If your gift is expensive, you may have to cover the duty while entering the country.
• Stay with your girlfriend instead of a hotel. That’s not viable on your first visit when you don’t know each other well, but you can save on the hotel stay if you convince your bride to open her home to you on your following visits. Besides, this arrangement will give you a preview of cohabitation and each other’s habits.
• Start researching the immigration process early on. Although applying for a K-1 visa isn’t difficult, there are lots of tiny details you can miss. Not only will any errors extend your wait, but it can also require the help of an immigration attorney, increasing your mail order bride expenses. 
• Research local restaurants and entertainment. Although you can rely on your girlfriend to offer suggestions, she may be tempted to take you to high-end places that’ll charge more because you’re a tourist. Exploring the popular eateries, their rates, and menus will help you estimate the dinner bill and suggest alternatives.

It’s a lot to take in and remember, especially when you’re already nervous about meeting your foreign girlfriend for the first time. Start by implementing one of two of our suggestions and focus on having a good time rather than counting every penny spent, or you’ll waste your first meeting. And it will forever be associated with calculations instead of romance and flirting.

Mail order bride pricing for different countries

Now that we’ve discussed every aspect of the mail order bride cost in detail, let’s look at the hard numbers concerning the biggest unknown—international travel. Of course, these are rough estimates that can change depending on the season and other factors we’ve discussed. But you can use the same resources we rely on (Skyscanner, Budgetyourtrip, etc.) to get a more precise budget estimate.

Country	Round-trip	Hotel	Meals	Visa for US citizens	Total
The Philippines	$1,200	$700	$200	Not required	$2,100
Mexico	$450	$600	$300	Not required	$1,350
Colombia	$500	$350	$150	Not required	$1,000
Vietnam	$1,200	$350	$150	$25	$1,725
Ukraine	$800	$200	$150	Not required	$1,150
Russia	$1,100	$500	$150	$185	$1,975
Dominican Republic	$500	$1,400	$500	Not required	$2,400

Note: the rates in the table apply to round-trip flights from New York City to the country’s capitals, and the hotel and meals expenses are calculated for a seven-day stay.

Important: Considering the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, both countries are Level 4 (Do Not Travel), according to the Department of State’s Travel Advisory. If you decide to take the risk, you can get to Ukraine by flying to Warsaw (Poland) or Vienna (Austria) and take a train from there. Most airlines do not travel to Russia, but you can find a limited number of flights connecting through Istanbul (Turkey) or Baku (Azerbaijan).

Conclusion

The average cost of a mail order bride is around $5,000 if you account for online dating site membership, international travel, and immigration paperwork filing fees. You can use our calculations and estimates to start saving up but remember that you won’t have to pay everything upfront like you would when shopping online. International dating site fees are pretty manageable to fit into your monthly budget, but you might dip into your savings to go visit your bride and help cover her visa fees and relocation expenses. Besides, you can use our tips to get the best deals and lower expenses. Still, we hope all the numbers and calculations don’t turn you off the idea of dating a mail order bride. After all, anything you spend is an investment into your happily ever after with a gorgeous, exciting, and loving partner.