Real Eyes

Just for clarification as it has come up a few times, in Canada now, an immigrant spouse no longer gets permanent residence automatically. The law changed as a result of marriage fraud. I believe there is a three year waiting period now, though I may be wrong on that, it could be two years. In addition, Canadian embassies interview the spouse, and they have a wide latitude to deny a claim for a spouse to enter Canada, even if the couple is already married. I know the US does as well, but it seems to be rubber stamped more. One case of fraud was detected in the embassy in India, and the spouse denied a visa. His Canadian wife fought that through her Member of Parliament, so her husband received a visa. He left her within a week of landing in Canada (that was when spouses obtained permanent residence immediately). It was immigrant communities in Toronto, particularly the South Asian community, that lobbied for the change in the legislation. I believe the reason was because spouses are on the hook for any social benefits paid anywhere in the country to the absconding spouse.

They may have married even without the ability to obtain a green card. That is the real test. The point is, I don't believe any of the other foreign spouses married solely to obtain a green card, without any feeling or desire for their partner. Their marriages may not last, but that doesn't mean they entered into those marriages in order to emigrate to the U.S. Not every person wants to live in America. The only couples this season where the green card may be at the core of the relationship are Alla/Matt and Nicole/Azan.

No, they may have all applied for green cards. It doesn't mean they married for a green card.

No, I don't think most people would say he has to be sufficiently deferential, grateful, etc. But people know a scam when they see one. I married a foreigner. We've been married over 32 years. I never expected him to be deferential to me when he emigrated (nor was he, he is strong willed), or grateful (I was grateful to have him in my life and vice versa). Yes, I expected him to be affectionate (though not in public, but having sex was never a problem for us, HAHA), and supportive, as I was supportive of him. That is what marriage is. I think what people object to here is that it is so obvious that Mohamed had no intention of making a life with Danielle. For him, she was a means to an end. That doesn't mean Danielle is blameless in all of this, she is not. But it does make a mockery of the K1 visa system when someone can play it so easily with no consequences. I take into account there is editing, and probably goading to do certain things for television drama. That doesn't change the fact that everything Mohamed spouts is for the benefit of Mohamed. He is a user and probably a sociopath.

Whether she was pissed is irrelevant. Mohamed was scamming women with his "poor me" routine.

Well that was accurate, wasn't it? If he is not deported, I wonder how he'll make money once he's no longer on the TLC/fame gravy train.

I do believe Devar loves Melanie. Their situation is different from that of Danielle and Mohamed. So, I don't think her comments to Mo were pot meet kettle. I don't think Paola is looking at leaving Russ. I think a lot of this is drama for the program. I do think Mo played Danielle. I think he is a very manipulative con man, and he turns himself into the victim in every situation. I don't have sympathy for Danielle, I think she is manipulative in her own way. I'm not even certain she wants Mo, but rather, she wants the TLC gravy train to continue as long as it can. I disagree that they all married for a green card. I doubt Alexei married for a green card. I doubt Noon married for a green card. I don't even believe Devar or Paola married for green cards.

Yes, but if you are not a citizen, you can be removed from the country. All that is needed to deport someone is "clear and convincing evidence". Non citizens do not have the same rights in law as do citizens. If the INS determines Mohamed should not be allowed to stay in the US, he can be deported. Danielle cannot be.

It isn't his bad behaviour that is an affront to America. It is that he obviously married Danielle in order to get a green card. He had no intention of staying with her, no matter what he states. He also does not have as much right as Danielle to be in the US. She has her right by birth. He is not even a citizen.

For all who are speculating on "love" in Ukraine, I am ethnically Ukrainian, married to a Ukrainian man, and I have spent a considerable amount of time in Ukraine. Most women in Ukraine marry Ukrainian men for love. Before the collapse of the USSR, age disparate relationships were rare, and people married very young, under 25. They usually lived with their parents until they could obtain their own apartment, which in Kyiv (where my husband is from), could be a decade or more. People usually went on lists for apartments at their workplace, and that is how apartments were distributed. After the collapse of the USSR, Ukrainian women (and Russians for a time) flocked to meet Western men. The system had collapsed, life was very difficult (people lined up for bread in Moscow), and marrying a Western man was an escape from grinding poverty. Mail order bride sites developed in both countries. When Putin came to power, he eventually destroyed the "mail order bride" industry in Russia. It is still a MAJOR source of income in Ukraine, for translators, flower delivery people, hotels, restaurants, taxis, etc., and the women advertising themselves on the sites. Pay per letter sites are common, with maybe 10% of girls listed receiving 99% of the letters, and pay per view porn is common in Ukraine as well. A significant number of women, including married women, supplement their incomes by writing to Western men. Currently, Ukraine's economy is a basket case. Ukrainians are literate and well educated, but the average income is under $3000 annually. People survive because most have housing and most have ties to a village, so they can supply themselves with food. My husband's relatives are from the city, and he supplements them to survive. This, too, is common, as over 5 million Ukrainians work abroad. In regions in Western Ukraine now, electricity has been cut to tens of thousands of homes, because people don't have money to pay for it. I don't know what will happen this winter, as gas prices, per the IMF, are no longer subsidized. The country is mired in corruption, with no future. That is why Alla is willing to marry a man she doesn't love. She wants to get out of Ukraine, she wants to ensure her son has a future, and Matt is her ticket out. From her perspective, she could do worse. He is not as old as many Americans who go to Ukraine to look for foreign wives (20 plus age differences are not unusual, but those marriages rarely last beyond citizenship, and most men are looking for young women they could not score at home). He is good looking and in good shape (very rare among Ukrainian bride seekers). From what I have seen in the program, he is also far more normal than most mail order bride seekers. So, from Alla's perspective, she has chosen a guy with a poor track record, but he is attractive and doesn't seem to be a control freak. He is weak, and most Ukrainians are not, but I think she can live with this because he seems kind. So, I would say that, in the "mail order bride" business with which Ukrainian women are now very familiar, love is not a prerequistive to marriage, in fact, love just does not exist in the overwhelming majority of these transactions. Some women hope it will develop over time. Those same Ukrainian women likely would be willing to marry a rich Ukrainian man, but those are few. If they were to marry the "average Ivan" in Ukraine, they would definitely be seeking a love match.

Insecurity, probably. Not unusual given his life circumstances.

Orthodox Jewish women, and Hassidic Jewish women wear wigs. Men don't. They wear hats. Most Jews from the former Soviet Union are not particularly religious. I doubt religion had anything to do with that wig.

It was on the show yesterday. Devar and Melanie decided to play a joke on Bev.

No, Alexei is originally from Ukraine (Kriviy Rih, I believe). His family speaks a mixture of Russian, Ukrainian, and surzhik, which is a mixture of Russian and Ukrainian.

That is untrue about Ukraine. Ukrainian peasants, which was about 80% of the Ukrainian population, were always able to marry who they wished, which usually meant another peasant. Most marriages in Ukraine, either on the Right Bank (west of the Dnipro River) or Left Bank (East of the Dnipro River) were not arranged. To those who state all the couples are in it for a green card, I disagree. I doubt Anfisa is marrying for a green card. America is not the number 1 destination anymore for Russians. I also doubt Pedro is in it solely for a green card. I believe he is lust, perhaps even in love, with Chantal. Alla is marrying for a green card, and Azan and Lowo are looking for green cards as well.