A middle-class American male with a job can woo and win a Russian mail order wife with a beauty and grace he could never find at home.

Even for the wealthiest American men, marrying a Russian or Brazilian woman with model attractiveness and professional education is rather easy. The Internet has simplified the means of finding a woman who is younger, taller, prettier, smarter, sexier, and better-educated than you would be able to charm at home.

The girl next door can now live anywhere in the world - from Moscow to Kiev to Manila.

Despite the fact that I believe this is the golden age of email order brides - and not a way for nerdy or abusive adult males to exploit disadvantaged or compliant females - I think the window will be closing within 5 to 10 years.

Here's why:

1. Oil

Oil prices are destined to increase dramatically. Some economists are predicting $20/gal gasoline. At half that amount, international air travel will become prohibitively expensive.

Electrical power can be produced for your home or electric automobile from solar, wind, or geothermal sources, but airplanes require gasoline. Lots of it.

If oil prices triple or more, which is a distinct possibility, international travel could turn out to be prohibitedly high-priced for the average man.

2. IMBRA

The International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005 (IMBRA) requires background checks on American men looking to file immigrant or fiancee visa petitions for foreign women - if they were introduced through a marriage agency.

Some dating agencies (Yahoo!, Match.com) are exempt.

An International Marriage Broker (IMB) is an entity - U.S. or foreign based - that provides matchmaking or social referrals connecting U.S. citizens/permanent residents and foreign nationals for a fee.

Allegedly to protect foreign brides after the high profile murder of Anastasia King, all it does is prevent American men from petitioning the foreign fiancee of choice.

International Marriage Brokers must:

• search U.S. sex offender public registries for information on the American petitioner

• collect criminal and marital background information on the U.S. client, including how prior marriages ended

• give this information to the foreign woman in her native language

• provide foreign fiancees with a government produced pamphlet detailing her legal rights in the U.S.

• obtain the foreign client's signed consent to give her personal information to the U.S. client

• limit of 2 fiance(e) visa petitions with at least 2 years between filings

All of these restrictions apply to IMB arranged matches, so there are many ways around the law.

As the world economy gets worse, expect even more restrictive immigration legislation.

Anastasia King is not the only woman to fall victim to an abusive and sinister spouse. If this is so important for foreign fiancees, why not make a law that applies to all women?

Unless you take measures to shield yourself, as an American man looking for a mail order bride, your hard work to bring in a foreign fiance(e) can be hindered.

No state investigates American men for disclosure to American women prior to issuance of a marriage license. And there is that pesky Constitution (what's left of it).

Good intentions make bad law. And I'm not even certain of the good intentions in the case of IMBRA.

If the courts uphold same-sex marriage, expect spousal and fiance(e) petitions to be restricted further.

Find your Russian, Ukrainian, or Latvian mail order wife before it turns into an impractical ordeal.

3. American Men Are Still Valued Abroad

For many foreign women, American husbands are nevertheless considered a good catch and a favorable match. Go figure.

I'm not sure if I am flattered or frightened.

For whatever reason, many foreign women look upon American men as first-class husband material.

After a pair of divorces, I have become more jaded regarding marriage. Instead of falling into a relationship, why not search for exactly what you crave without neighborhood fix-ups or sorting through women in bars.

My recommendations:

For more youthful men, females from Russia, the Ukraine, and the former Soviet Republics, are the sexiest and most beautiful females on the planet.

Go for it. Don't express regret or compromise. One will discover so many who are the right age, well-educated, and whose appearance blow you away.

Caveat - examine the age differences. For Russian women, a 10 to 15 year age difference should not be an issue. A larger age disparity could be risky.

For mature or more traditional men, nothing beats the Philippines. Filipinas are the most devout, family oriented ladies I have ever lived among.

Young brides are not much of a problem in the Philippines. As a rule, Filipinas stay married until the husband throws her out. While a Vice-Consul in Manila, I issued visas for wives 50+ years younger than their American husbands.

For men who receive pensions or Social Security, I would mull over living in the Philippines with a young wife. Her country may be a better place to live. And a "fixed income" in the P.I. is a wonderful thing.

Golden Age of Global Dating and eMail Order Brides:

I believe the window for winning your mail order wife could close within 5 to 10 years. Act before costs and added government regulations further limit your freedom.

You will never have a higher place in the minds of foreign brides to be.

You will never be able to attract a more desirable wife or mother for your children.

You have never been more able to locate and make contact with the right woman for you without all of the social and cultural boundaries of the past.

Before governments as well as busybodies once again interfere in the course of love, marriage, and family, seize your ideal mail order wife.

Dating, romance, and marriage will be changed forever.