90 Day Fiancé



The new TLC (The Learning Channel) show 90-Day Fiancé "offers a never before seen look into the world of international dating and matrimony." The show follows five American men that have filed for K-1 visas, also known as 90-day fiancé visas, for their potential foreign spouses from Russia, the Philippines, Colombia, Ukraine and Brazil. These visas allow potential foreign spouses to spend ninety days in the U.S. In that ninety days, the couple must get married or the non U.S. citizen must return to their country. This show provides an important look into the cultural negotiations that accompany international dating, but still reproduces negative stereotypes surrounding so called "mail order brides." Throughout the first three episodes of the show, the families and friends of each American man question the nature of their relationships. Louis's ex-wife asks him if his fiancé from the Philippines, Aya, is a mail order bride. Louis gets defensive and claims the website they met through is not 'an international marriage broker'. While that may be true, since Louis and Aya's relationship began online, it resembles many relationships that are started through international marriage brokers. Mike's family worries that his fiancé Aziza is using him for a green card and an opportunity to leave Russia, since she was denied for a work visa. The common concerns most people express regarding international relationships are that either the woman is a victimized mail order bride, purchased by a potentially abusive American husband, or that the foreign spouse is a scammer, only interested in securing a green card.