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Hundreds of American men marry Ukrainian women every year, but a lot of people still don’t have a clear answer to this simple question: are Ukrainian brides legitimate?

Our answer is yes:

  • They are legit
  • It’s legal to marry them
  • You can find thousands of real Ukrainian brides online

But every point here has its own nuances. Let’s be more detailed.

What does “Ukrainian bride” really mean?

A Ukrainian mail order bride is a woman from Ukraine who uses specialized dating services to find a husband from another country. If she’s not from Ukraine, she’s not a Ukrainian bride. If she’s not using a dating service and only wants to meet offline, she’s not a mail order bride because this only applies to those who use MOB websites. If she’s not interested in finding a husband, she’s not a bride, it’s pretty clear.

So to be a Ukrainian mail bride, a woman from this country should:

Typically, these women are in their late 20s and early 30s, the average age of a Ukrainian mail bride is around 31 years old. 

How to find legitimate Ukrainian brides online

find Ukrainian bride

Remember that when it comes to the Ukrainian brides legitimacy subject, it’s extremely important to choose the right dating app. It’s the first and the most important step to take because if you screw it up, everything will go wrong. That’s not the only step, of course, but if you use a fake/scam dating website, you will obviously never find love there, and you will most likely lose money. 

The “right” dating app is:

  • Reputable and trusted
  • With real users
  • With good anti-scam measures
  • With a transparent pricing policy

That’s not all, of course. We’re going to cover this topic and explain how to spot a fake website a bit later. 

Trusted dating sites to meet real Ukrainian women

5.0
(2614 votes)
4.8
(1063 votes)
4.7
(3851 votes)
4.6
(2118 votes)
4.5
(3471 votes)
4.4
(3531 votes)

Are Ukrainian brides a scam or a real opportunity?

131 Ukrainian women entered the US on a K-1 (fiancée) visa in 2023, and this number makes Ukraine one of the most popular bride countries in Europe — but don’t forget that they have a war right now, which has affected the number of brides moving to the US. Before the war, in 2021, they had 617 successful K-1 visa applications! The numbers are going to recover in the future, of course, but even 131 K-1 visas are enough to say with confidence: Ukrainian mail order brides are not a scam. We know that there are more than 15,000 potential mail order brides on the top 3 Ukrainian MOB websites, and who knows how many more of them use other dating platforms. 

So it’s definitely possible to find love in Ukraine; you just need to be careful.

For example, you need to understand how to spot a fake dating app. 

How to spot a fake “Ukrainian bride” site

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First, check the reputation of the site. We highly recommend reading both user and expert reviews because all of them are important. Check this SofiaDate review, for example—these experts have tested a dating app for 7 days and analyzed literally every detail in order to understand if it’s actually good.
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Second, make sure the profiles are real. If there’s an ID verification tool on the site, it’s good: you just need to focus on ID-verified accounts. If there is no such tool, it’s not a problem—you can google the photos of the ladies to make sure they are not fake accounts.
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Third, pay attention to how the ladies communicate. Do they send you suspicious links? Do they offer to “continue communication on another website”? Do they even chat like real people or like AI-powered bots?
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The fourth step is to check if there are any hidden fees. Read the Terms and Conditions page very carefully, especially that part about the credits cost and premium features.
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And the last thing to do is to make sure the site offers a lot of interesting services. It’s not necessarily, and it’s not actually about spotting fake websites, it’s more about spotting low-quality platforms. If a website offers only live chat in 2025, it’s not what you need.

Are marriages with Ukrainian women successful?

Dating Ukrainian Women is fun and awesome, but what about marrying them? Is it true that they have an extremely high divorce rate in Ukraine? 

In short, yes. Ukraine has one of the highest divorce rates in the world — it’s 3.2 divorces per 1,000 present population. In the United States, for example, it’s 2.5 divorces per 1,000 people. But that doesn’t mean that your marriage with a Ukrainian woman is doomed to fail, of course. 

The important part here is that it’s Ukraine that has a high divorce rate, not Ukrainian women who get married abroad. According to some sources, the divorce rate in American-Slavic marriages in the US was between 35% and 41%, and the national average for all marriages in the United States is around 50%. 50% of marriages in the US end in divorce or separation, so in fact, the divorce rate in American-Slavic marriages is even lower than that!

Meet Ukrainian bride now

Malvina Veronika Profile image 1
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Malvina Veronika, 20
Odesa, Ukraine
Anna Profile image 1
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Anna, 47
Kramatorsk, Ukraine
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Olena, 23
Ukraine, Kharkiv
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Victoria, 26
Kiev, Ukraine
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Iryna, 51
Ukraine, Kiev
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Olga, 22
Rivne, Ukraine
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So, we’re finally here. Are Ukrainian brides actually legal in Ukraine and in the US? 

Yes! Ukraine doesn’t limit its citizens in this regard and any Ukrainian woman can get married to a foreign man in Ukraine without any problems. As for the US, it’s legal, too — you can marry your partner in Ukraine or in the US. You’ll also be able to bring your bride/wife to the US legally — if you’re going to marry her in the US, you’ll need a K-1 visa, and if you marry her in another country, it’s a CR-1 visa. Let’s compare these options: 

VisaK-1CR-1
When to applyBefore the marriageAfter the marriage
PriceAround $2,500Around $1,550
Timeline9.5 months10 months 
Main requirementsSponsor is a US citizen, must plan to marry within 90 days, must be free to marry, income must meet 100% of Federal Poverty GuidelinesSponsor is a US citizen or a permanent resident, and the same income requirement
Work and TravelCan’t work until the adjustment of status is filed, can’t leave the US until her green card is approvedCan work and travel
Approval rate75%91-92%

Conclusion

So, let’s write this down one more time: Are Ukrainian brides legal? They 100% are, but only if both you and your bride meet certain requirements. If your relationship is real and you can prove it, if you meet the income requirements, and if yours and your bride’s papers are in order, you’ll be able to bring her to the US and marry her there. Or, you can marry her outside the country and bring her to the US as your wife, not your bride. It doesn’t matter, really—what matters is that it’s 100% legal and possible to find love in Ukraine even without leaving your home. 

FAQ

Can you really find love with a Ukrainian woman online?

Yes, you can. There are lots of fake dating sites and bots, but at the same time, there are tens of thousands of real Ukrainian women who are dreaming of meeting a foreign man right now. And most of these women use mail order bride sites, so it’s the best place to meet them.

Why are Ukrainian women interested in foreigners?

A lot of them think that foreign men make better husbands. Westerners think Ukrainian women make great wives, and we have a mirror situation here — a lot of Ukrainian brides believe that men from the West are more respectful and loyal than local men.  

Is it expensive to find a Ukrainian bride?

No. Well, it’s certainly not free, and you’ll need to pay for the visa and for a trip to Ukraine, but it’s definitely not more expensive than getting any other bride from any other country. It’s more expensive than finding a bride in your country, though.

anna keller
Ideologist and Chief Editor
International dating expert with more than 10 years of experience. Anna has been connecting American and European men with the ladies from all over the world since 2008. Anna specializes in both online and offline dating, and knows everything about mail order bride services.