Millions of Americans have started using international dating sites to seek a cross cultural relationship in recent times. Dating someone from another country is an exciting experience, but it can also be tricky and a rather significant jump outside of one’s comfort zone.
So, how does one go about dating someone from another country and how can you find the best potential matches for you? Here are some practical tips!
Which Are The Top Places To Look For Long Distance Relationships Today?
- SofiaDate — The perfect site to meet Eastern European women
- LaDate — The go-to online community for Latina women looking for foreigners
- SakuraDate — One of the largest and best sites to date Asian beauties
- EasternHoneys — A great site to find and build a future with a Slavic girl you met online
- TheLuckyDate — A great international site for meeting girls from a different country, be it in Asia or Eastern Europe
How To Engage In A Long Distance Relationship And Deal With The Inevitable Cultural Differences?
Making a relationship work with a partner from a different culture can bring its challenges – from the language to cultural barriers and other differences.
While such issues can sometimes lead to a break even in a long-standing relationship, they are perfectly manageable. In fact, they can even make cross cultural relationships even more interesting and beautiful.
So, here are our tips for how to date someone from another country and make it work.
How To Keep The Flame Alive From A Distance?
Maintaining a long distance relationship is almost never something you are meant to stick to forever, even if some people are able to do just that. Instead, dating someone from the other end of the world is meant to be a short-term solution until the two of you are able to meet in person.
So, the trick to dating someone from another country is to make the whole experience as personal as possible. Stuff such as frequent video calls can make the experience less challenging and more exciting, but, personally, the key to stay the course in the long-run is to genuinely become friends with your date.
The become a best friend with someone you’re dating online, all you need is honest and open communication. Whether through text or through video chat, people can get incredibly close over time if they remain open to one another, regardless of which countries they are from.
The Trick To Dealing With Language Barriers When Cross-Country Dating
A language barrier is the first and most normal thing you can encounter when you start dating outside your home country.
When dating someone from another country who doesn’t happen to be an English language native speaker, there is more than one course you can take to solve this issue and build a healthy relationship.
First, you can look for someone who has at least some basic English skills – this way you can start helping them improve their English with a little effort while you’re getting to know each other.
Alternatively, many international dating sites have professional translator services. Lastly, you can also put in a little effort yourself and learn a bit of the other person’s language, which can be quite exciting in and of itself.
Overall, however, women on international dating sites are usually looking to improve their English anyway, so, language barriers usually don’t last very long.
Embracing Other Cultures And Their Differences
The fact that different countries can have drastically varying cultures and traditions is one of the big reasons to decide to try dating someone from another culture in the first place.
Some cultures can appear incompatible at first glance, but in reality, this is almost never the case.
There are things to be watchful for, of course – how to interact with her family and friends, when to meet her family in the first place, how family-oriented her culture is, what are the norms about public displays of affection, what the dating culture is like, what are the prevalent gender norms, and so on.
All of these vary from country to country, but all of them can also be researched and followed rather easily today.
It’s Important To Be Attuned To Other Places’ Values, Traditions, And Social Norms
When people meet on a first date with someone from another country or even when you just start chatting with them online, you rarely think to have to talk about politics or religion.
Yet, you’ll be surprised how often the cultural norms and differences in different countries directly stem from the political and religious cultures there. Whether you’re dating someone from Latin America, East Asia, Africa, or Eastern Europe, the first thing to research usually is the sociopolitical and religious environments there, and everything that stems from that.
Understanding The Complex Dynamics Of A Long Distance Relationship
Navigating long-distance relationships is a matter of commitment and communication – even more so than dating lif in person!
This is because both written and even video communication can leave a lot up to interpretation (or misinterpretation!) and it’s crucial to make sure that all your feelings, thoughts, and intentions are always clear during your online conversations.
There may be a few months or even a year or so before you start visiting each other’s home countries. Until that fun day, you should spend your online life together getting as close and honest with each other as possible.
It’s No Longer A Matter Of Just Letters And Pigeons
Thankfully, online dating is much easier today than it has ever been before. Even if you and your partner don’t share a native language, conversations can be incredibly easy using any of dozens if not hundreds different websites and apps out there.
Phone calls are also an option, as are video chats/calls, streaming, and so on. Plus, even if you don’t share a language with your partner and you don’t feel like hiring a translator to help you out, there are even language translation programs nowadays that can solve this issue while both of you are improving your language skills.
Where To Look For A Date From Another Country?
Choosing the right site is always the first step to international dating, as a lot of websites and services aren’t all that trustworthy or safe from scams. So, here are our suggestion for safe and effective online international dating:
SakuraDate
A huge database of verified women’s profiles from dozens of Asian countries await Western men on Sakuradate.
Pros
- Lots of profiles
- Great customer service
- Excellent communication features
- Top matchmaking and search filter tools
Cons
- No mobile app yet
- The credit system can get expensive if you use all of the site’s features
OrchidRomance
Another top site for meeting ladies from all over Asia.
Pros
- Sleek and user-friendly design
- Professional and responsive customer support
- Great profile verification and anti-scam tools
- Numerous communication tools
Cons
- The credit system can be a bit too elaborate for some people
- No mobile app
La Date
The biggest and best site for dating women from the Latin world.
Pros
- A lot of Latina women’s profiles
- Top notch profile verification and safety features
- Excellent customer support
- Lots of different communication features
Cons
- Most worthwhile tools aren’t free.
- No mobile app
- No video chats feature
TheLuckyDate
A site that specializes in international dating with women from all over the world, not just a specific country, region, or continent.
Pros
- A slick and modern design
- Transparent and fair pricing
- Great customer service
- Lots of trustworthy safety features
Cons
- No mobile app
- The array of communication features can be expanded further
SofiaDate
With a decade of experience behind it, SofiaDate is one of the best and safest sites for dating Slavic women today.
Pros
- Thorough verification process
- Quite a few nice free features
- Free credits for first-time users
- Lots of advanced communication options
- Fair and reasonable pricing
Cons
- No mobile app
- There have been some customer support issues in the past
BravoDate
A great platform with a large user base from Eastern Europe.
Pros
- Quick, free, and easy registration
- Trustworthy profile verification process
- Lots of communication features
- Slavic girls on BravoDate are genuinely looking to move abroad for serious long-term relationships
Cons
- Search tools can be improved
- No mobile app
Commuting To Other Countries For A Date – Do’s And Don’ts
The end goal of most long-distance online relationships is for the two people to eventually start meeting in person and for one partner to one day move abroad and start their life together with their loved on in their own country.
One does not just up and visit another country on a whim, however – at least not unless you have near-unlimited cash to spend.
So, as you’re building a hopefully serious relationship online with your potential partner, you should slowly start planning for your first meeting in real life. This includes things, such as:
- Make sure you learn a bit of the local language – even if your loved one knows/is learning English, any country worth visiting is best appreciated if you know at least a bit of the local tongue.
- Prepare your budget.
- Research your traveling and staying options – when to book a flight, where to stay (hotel, motel, airbnb, etc).
- Plan your your activities once you meet in person – a cross-country trip, restaurants, dates, entertainment, and so on.
- Talk it through with your partner – what would they like, what are their preferences and No-Nos, etc.
The Unavoidable Issue Of Immigration And Visa Application
One of the more daunting parts of international or “mail order” relationships is the immigration and visa issues you and your foreign partner are going to have to deal with eventually.
While these can seem scary at first, they are perfectly doable and very much worth going through if you’ve found the right person for you.
Here’s what you can expect:
- Applying for a K-1 fiancé visa.
- Prepare all the required documentation, including medical examinations. Make sure you’ve got copies of everything translated into English from your spouse’s country’s language.
- Factor all the necessary fees into your budget ahead of time.
- Pass the USCIS interview together with your partner. Obviously, they will need to have worked on their English language skills before that.
- Buy plane tickets for you and your spouse to the US.
- Get married either before applying for the K-1 visa or no later than 90 days after coming to the US.
The wait times for a K-1 visa vary but are usually over 6 months and up to a year. This can feel frustrating at first, but is unavoidable. Plus, you can use the time to further work on your relationship with your partner, help them improve their language skills, get ready for their new life, and so on.
Tips For Fostering A Genuine Relationship Based On Trust, Respect, And Love
Long-distance, online, and/or text based relationships and conversations can be tricky to manage. It’s important to avoid unnecessary drama and conflicts that may get in the way of your growing feelings for one another. Here are some tips for how to do that:
- Be honest with each other
- Be upfront about your intentions and how you view your relationship and its future.
- Discuss your expectations.
- Discuss any issues from past relationships, especially if either of you has had previous international relationships.
- Accept the cultural differences between you, do your research, and consider compromises wherever necessary.
- Be patient and always seek mutual understanding to avoid unnecessary conflicts.
- Be authentic and express yourself clearly, especially when it comes to written communication.
In Conclusion
As some final thoughts, cross-country dating is certainly an exciting and unique experience, but it does have its potential pitfalls you’d need to watch out for.
Online communication in and of itself is tricky to manage, as it can lead to much more misunderstandings than simply talking with someone in real life. Long-distance relationships are also hard, because of the lack of in-person time.
Lastly, dating someone from another country obviously leads to lots of logistic issues too.
All of this can be worked through, however, especially if you arm yourself with enough patience and preparation. And, once you go through the process, you’ll be rewarded with a truly unique, fulfilling, and pleasurable relationship.
