Local boys eye NRI girls

MRIDULA CHUNDURI / TNN / Nov 23, 2006, 02:09 IST

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Telugu boys looking to go West are lining up to marry NRI girls for better career opportunities for themselves.

HYDERABAD: Wanted: An NRI girl, green card holder....One look at matrimonial ads and you know the equations are changing. It's not just "fair, homely" girls who are sought after but those who are "well educated, high-salaried and living in the US or UK."
Telugu boys looking to go West are lining up to marry NRI girls for better career opportunities for themselves.This is especially true for professionals like doctors and pharmacists.
With the UK slamming its doors on medical professionals from non-European countries, MBBS graduates have fewer options for further education or means to add to their credentials. So now, they have turned their attention to the US and girls of Indian origin there.
It's by far the easiest route to land a residency in any top American university, say medicos. "I am from Kurnool Medical College and several of my classmates are engaged now to girls who were born and brought up in America. I am also looking for a US citizen to marry. If you marry a citizen, you become a citizen too and as a citizen you have a better chance of landing a seat in top medical institutes. Otherwise, if you go on a H1 job visa, you become the responsibility of the medical institute and so have a poor chance of landing a residency,"said K Rekha Reddy.

The girls' families in the US are also happy to find Indian grooms for their daughters. "It is a matter of prestige to marry a physician—even if he is an Indian,"said D V Koti Reddy, a marriage consultant.
The boys who wish to marry a US citizen only get engaged in India and have to travel to that country and marry there for it to be valid.
Since a traditional ceremony is more or less warranted, the couples tie the knot here in front of the extended family and 'officially' register it in the States.

This year, however, there are just about four or five good 'muhurats' in December, and after a lull, the next shubh muhurat will come only after January 20.
But with the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays of these NRI families not so flexible, many are arranging by whatever means to get their daughters married off in the time available in November-December.
To meet the rush, tour operators and even marriage bureaus are doubling up as wedding planners. Says one marriage consultant, "We provide services like booking flight tickets for the wedding party, renting wedding halls and caterers. But it is presently done as a goodwill gesture and not charged."
At least 30 per cent of the marriage alliances that go through these marriage bureaus have NRI girls as their clients these days.

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