In one survey of origin households in Vietnam, researchers asked the parents of marriage migrants why their daughters chose to migrate to Taiwan.
[4] All of these factors (lack of education, disadvantage, and advanced age) typically contribute to trouble in finding a bride locally and thus increase the desire to enter a migrant marriage.
For many Taiwanese men, migrant marriages can seem like an easy solution to their household troubles, as a wife can act as a reproductive unit, a housekeeper, and a nurse to his parents.
Despite increased resources and amenities, migrant brides often find it difficult to deal with cultural and other issues, some of which include large age gaps with their husbands, demanding in-laws, and difficulties with the language barrier.
[7] In Taiwanese society, all migrant brides are often stigmatized for their poor class, gender position, and the commodified nature of their marriage (Wang 2008).
In the nation's mainstream media, they are often portrayed as either "passive victims" or "materialistic gold diggers," and their husbands are often seen as being morally and intellectually inferior.
Though in recent years public officials in Taiwan have increasingly promoted fertility, in 2004 the Vice Minister of Education Chou Tsan-Te expressed his concern about the "low quality" of immigrants and remarked that "foreign brides should not have so many children.
Taiwanese men tend to look at their brides as a financial investment, and expect to be repaid for their monetary loss through reproductive and domestic work.
[9] Migrant brides are often expected to work long hours in the household, constantly serve their husband's parents, and prove their worth by bearing healthy children.
[11] Many brides experience what is known as the "Taiwan Disillusionment," where due to their inferior position in their own family and in Taiwanese society in general, they attempt to obtain divorces.
While some brides who obtain divorces return home to Vietnam, others, realizing some of the amenities they have grown accustomed to would be loss to them, often stay and try to find work in Taiwan.
[12] Because a migrant bride is often extremely dependent on her husband upon arriving in Taiwan, it is easy for her to fall victim to abuse or human trafficking.
Taiwanese men often bar their foreign wives from making friends or phone calls, and migrant brides are often unaware of the local laws they can use to assert their rights.
[5] For those who do not speak Mandarin, getting help is almost impossible, and furthermore, those who do know the language claim that local authorities and shelters treat them as second-class citizens and often refuse to listen to their stories.
Therefore the Taiwanese government was put under a lot of pressure to solve the issue, not only from domestic media but also from the international community (for example the United Nations) who perceived the foreign brides phenomenon as part of an anti-trafficking campaign.
This did not necessarily solve the issue as many of these non-profit organizations were the original commercial brokers that just changed their names and the way of charging fees for services.
[13] In early April 2007, police in Ho Chi Minh City broke up a matchmaking ring and arrested two suspected marriage brokers.
In order to enable foreign brides to communicate better with their new family members and to assist their children with studying or finding a new job, Mandarin and Taiwanese language classes are provided.