Omar (from Syria) and Avery (from Columbus,Ohio) / What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

We have been avid watchers of the television series 90 Day Fiancé from its beginning. The hit series is now in its seventh season. We were watching when the original people were on the show. Now, the time of the first wave of contestants on the show has ended and now-and-then, they return to a type of reunion organized by the show’s producers. The show puts together a couple from different cultures who have met online and now meet for the first time in person. They have 90 days to decide if they will get married based on the rules for a A K-1 visa. This visa is issued to the fiancé of a United States citizen to enter the United States and requires a foreigner to marry his or her U.S. citizen petitioner within 90 days of entry, or depart the United States.

For example, a new couple on the show is puts together the nineteen-year old Avery 19 from Columbus, Ohio with twenty-four year old Omar, a Muslim from Latakia, Syria. Avery has converted to Muslim and is planning to relocate to Syria. But since Syria is so dangerous, they meet in Lebanon. But it is not just Avery and Omar as Avery’s mother has come along as she thinks her daughter has lost her mind. You get the picture.

Nicole (from Florida) and Azan (from Morocco)

The program 90 Day Fiancé is often similar to watching the beginnings of a train wreck in slow motion. The show taps into the voyeuristic desire of many people to peek into the world of another couple, especially a couple whose relationship seems far worse than that of the audience. Yet within all the failures, there are those few relationships that blossom on camera under the watchful camera crew of the reality show. The show has become a big hit and is at the center of a new era of reality television programming based around watching relationships of people from different cultures.

It is often funny to watch and we end up rooting for some of the characters while laughing or yelling at others. Yet In a world of an increasing mix of cultures, the triumphs and tragedies of the couples on 90 Day Fiancé are really taking place each day in the lives of millions of couples from different cultures.