Looking for a partner abroad may seem crazy, but if you think of governments allowing entry to specialists needed in certain industries on special skilled or talent visas, you will realize that there is a point.

If you are able to get a better quality foreign candidate who doesn’t happen to live in your country and you are simply unable to get enough of such people locally to satisfy the demand, then international dating as a phenomenon becomes understandable.

International dating as a solution to a problem

Governments offer immigration to people who could contribute to a country as a specialist to qualified candidates who are hard to get locally. In a similar fashion, people who are dating internationally seek a partner elsewhere because in the local singles market they are unable to get a relationship with a person of this quality.

Certainly, love or “chemistry”, in other words, mutual attraction as well as alignment of values and goals is required to be able to build a good romantic relationship, whether it begins through an international dating site or via a chance meeting through friends.

But overall, looking for a partner abroad via international dating sites has more similarities with a job search or filling a vacancy in a company than with the usual “stumble about” way of finding a partner to spend the rest of your life with.

For some reason, hooking up with someone in a bar seems to be seen in today’s society as a more appropriate way to connect than interviewing potential candidates online without booze or non-committal sex, typical of “real life” romances, most of which are short-lived (and this is why so many people are single).

It seems that governments don’t mind people who come to work for the country’s benefit and immigrants are now being appreciated as important contributors to the national wealth and prosperity.

But in terms of international dating, the outlook is still somewhat concerned, just like 30 years ago immigrants were seen rather as a burden than contributors to the society’s diversity and human capital.

International dating wouldn’t exist if it weren’t solving a real life problem where dating markets are prohibitive in terms of finding a suitable partner of certain qualities.

International dating as a solution to a problem

How successful are international couples?

At present time, there is no open statistics on success rate of international couples in terms of longevity. As we know, 30-60% of all marriages entered in a regular way end up in divorce, depending on the country.

The divorce rate also changes by year. Hard times may exacerbate or bring down the divorce rate.

The rate of divorces as compared to the period spent in a marriage would be also an interesting statistics to look at.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that international couples are just as successful as the couple who started a relationship though a local dating channel, whether online or through friends, family, or place of study.

Studies have shown that satisfaction in a marriage greatly depends on how well the partner compares to husbands or wives of one’s friends. In other words, if the spouse it “hotter” (which includes both personal and physical qualities) than wives or husbands of one’s friends, then the person feels more satisfied.

In this sense, when you are getting a partner from an external dating market who seems wonderful by local standards, you are likely to feel satisfied and happy about your choice, which directly influences the level of satisfaction and happiness in a marriage.  People who are happy in a marriage rarely divorce.

As long as both partners feel that they did well in their choice of a partner and the mutual attraction is present, a marriage is likely to be seen as satisfying and happy from the point of view of participating spouses.

Read also:

• What is one quality in a man which makes a woman fall in love with him?
• Success rate of international dating couples
• How to make sure the woman I liked on the dating site responds?
• Structured courtship vs. building love