Russian Green Card Marriages Are Big Biz in NY

By Drew Nelles, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 19, 2009 4:34 PM CDT

(Newser) – Russian women are so eager for green cards that one New York-area weekly devotes an entire page to marriage ads, the New York Post reports. A Post reporter, posing as an immigrant angling for a green card, contacted a marriage broker and got the going rate: $31,500, $6,500 of which goes to the broker. "It's a big business," one official admits. "It's really prevalent among that community."

Officials interview immigrant couples to detect sham marriages, but it "goes really easy," the broker assured the reporter. And there’s ample incentive to enter a so-called “business marriage,” or delavoy brok. "I get calls asking me to marry one of these girls every other week," one Ukranian-American man says. "It's easy money. And the girls are really hot."

[Images (1)]

[Quotes (1)]

The cost of arranging a sham marriage can be as much as $31,500. (Shutterstock)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

I am 41, nice looking woman, long time in the country, citizen. Offering delavoy brok to a serious man, age 38-52. - classified ad in the Russian Advertiser

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

AP Photo

35 Brutally Honest Reasons Men Say No to Sex (The Stir)

Man in Mugshot Explains Why He Has Half a Head (HuffPost)

Another Sign Rihanna and Chris Brown Might Get Back Together? (Celebuzz)

These Exes Were Spotted Making Out … and That's a Bad Thing (Bleacher Report)

Did We All Kill Whitney Houston---Or Did We Prolong Her Life? (Slate)

Partner Links

A snapshot of the day's best news stories.

View Larger Grid

All Today Yesterday Pick a Date

COMMENTS

Read the comment policy

Showing 3 of 4 comments

riffran

Jul 20, 2009 7:51 AM CDT

good luck mlove.........The two Russian ladies that I have met, were very smart..(and a bit feisty)..lol....and very good people...I helped one in RN school, with micro...the women was brilliant, but had a little bit of a barrier with english....only started learning it 6 months before enrolling in school here...hubby was a Russian translator in the ARMY

Observer

Jul 19, 2009 11:30 AM CDT

Count me in. I just need to ditch the wife I have now. And I wouldn't even understand what the Russkie would be bitching about! Sounds too good to be true.

Reader68389796

Jul 19, 2009 10:36 AM CDT

And with new technology today, anyone caught soliciting these women a mandatory 25 years. I bet you we have less of these creeps in our beautiful country.

What's Popular Now on Facebook

Rick Santorum: Birth Control Is 'Not OK'

E-Cigarette Explodes in Man's Mouth

New York Post (Source Grid »)

One man's story of his sham marriage
New York Post

Gays seek marriage-like immigration rights
Associated Press

World • Lifestyle • US

marriage • green card • Russians • immigrant • brokers

More Newser Stories

Taiwan Bridles Foreign Wife Brokers

Lawmakers angry over unions built on 'weak foundations'

(NEWSER) - Taiwan is clamping down on companies that arrange quicky foreign marriages for male customers, the BBC reports. Many Taiwanese men say they fly to Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia and Vietnam for brides because women in Taiwan are putting off marriage for career. But officials say cross-border weddings are built on "weak foundations," and women's groups complain that such unions amount to the buying and selling of brides. More»

New US Tax Law Looks Heartless to Foreign Workers

Would-be tax evaders will pay, but so will wealthy green-card holders

(NEWSER) - A new tax law set up to help troops and veterans, offset by taxing wealthy Americans who give up citizenship to beat the IRS, hits some others in the wallet, Portfolio reports. Long-term, legal foreign workers who return home will see unrealized capital gains taxed—potentially damaging the perception of the US as welcoming to overseas talent, say critics. More»

FBI Bails on Immigrant Probes as Backlogs Mount

Backlog means immigrants will be granted residency before background checks

(NEWSER) - Immigration officials are expected to grant green cards to tens of thousands of aliens before required FBI background checks, because the Department of Homeland Security is struggling under a ballooning backlog, McClatchy Newspapers reports. Background checks would be performed after immigrants are granted residency, which could be revoked if problems turn up later. More»

Feds Bust Sham Craigslist Marriage

Russian woman looking for green card found hubby in ad

(NEWSER) - It was a match made not in heaven but on Craigslist, and the Russian bride and American groom are charged with staging a sham marriage to get her a green card. The woman posted not-so-subtle ads: "Green Card Marriage—Will Pay $300/Month. Total $15,000," the LA Times reports. She got a taker, along with the attention of customs officials. More»

Missing GI's Wife Faces Deportation

Feds may send Boston- area woman home to Dominican Republic

(NEWSER) - While the US military searches for MIA Army specialist Alex Jimenez, the US government may be looking to deport his wife. Yaderlin Jimenez snuck into the country from the Dominican Republic six years ago; Alex, who disappeared in Iraq with two other soldiers last month, had tried in vain to get his wife of three years a green card. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website